Twins Minor League Report (9/17): Eeles and Saints Take Down Chandler

TRANSACTIONS
In addition to the roster shuffling announced yesterday to get lefty Cole Irvin on the Minnesota Twins roster, RHP Jorge Alcala was optioned to the Saints officially on Tuesday.

SAINTS SENTINEL
Indianapolis 2, St. Paul 4
Box Score
The St. Paul Saints had a few big reinforcements sent their way for the final series of the season at CHS Field. In addition to Alcala from the Twins, they received highly regarded pitchers Marco Raya and Cory Lewis from the Wichita Wind Surge on Monday.

Starting on the hill for them on Tuesday however, was right-hander Caleb Boushley, looking for his 10th Triple-A win of the season. He had a tall order in front of him as his lineup was facing Bubba Chandler, the top prospect in the Pittsburgh Pirates system (according to MLB.com).

They had faced each other already this season back on August 16th, and Boushley was fantastic in that one, matching Chandler for their six innings. The Saints ended up losing that one 3-2, could they come out on top in the rematch?

Boushley gave up a one-out walk to the MLB rehabbing Endy Rodriguez in the first, but catcher Jair Camargo cut him down at second on a steal attempt for the second out. After a single, Boushley induced a groundout to complete a scoreless first inning.

After Payton Eeles drew a leadoff walk against Chandler, the next three hitters went down in order, including a pair of strikeouts. Boushley then matched that output by going one-two-three in the second, including his first two strikeouts of the game.

Carson McCusker got a threat going in the bottom of the second, lining a 97 MPH fastball up the middle past Chandler and a shift at 109 MPH. Jair Camargo was then hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second, but Diego Castillo and Chris Williams both went down swinging.

Both pitchers worked around baserunners for the next two innings, but neither allowed any damage to the scoreboard through four. In the top of the fifth the Indianapolis lineup finally put something together against Boushley. A leadoff single and one-out double led to the first run of the game, and another RBI single followed to put the visitors up 2-0. Boushley then loaded the bases to prompt a mound visit, then got a popout to end any further threat. That’s as far as he would go, finishing five innings and allowing two earned runs on six hits and four walks, while striking out three.

The Saints weren’t about to let Boushley be the only one to allow any runs. Specifically, Payton Eeles.

He took Chandler deep for just his second home run allowed at Triple-A, going the opposite way for his seventh home run of the season with the Saints.

Austin Martin followed with a single but Chandler struck out the next two hitters to keep his team in front.

Reliever Jeff Brigham came on in the sixth and pitched a scoreless frame, allowing one hit and walking one. In the bottom half Yunior Severino and McCusker started the inning with back-to-back singles. Camargo was then hit by a pitch for the second time by Chandler to load the bases, but Camargo wasn’t happy about it as his helmet ended up in two pieces in the aftermath. After a strikeout Chandler’s outing was done, and Chris Williams drew a bases loaded walk to tie the game at two, but that’s all they would get.

The rehabbing Kody Funderburk came in from the bullpen for the seventh, and delivered two scoreless innings. He allowed just one hit and struck out two.

With Chandler out of the game the Saints took the lead in the bottom of the seventh, after Michael Helman delivered a one-out double and stole third base. An error off the bat of McCusker allowed him to score to put the home team ahead.

They tacked on another run in the bottom of the eighth thanks to the overall baseball skill of Eeles. His picture perfect bunt for a two-out hit led to a throwing error on a pickoff attempt that put him in scoring position. After a walk to Martin, Dashawn Keirsey sent one through the infield for an RBI single to make it 4-2 Saints. 

The ninth inning went to Steven Okert, and he made it a bit more interesting than it needed to be. A leadoff single and an error put the tying run on base. He beared down and struck out the next two hitters before issuing a walk to load the bases. This situation may sound familiar to Twins fans, but Okert got the job done with another strikeout to end the game.

Boushley once again matched the heralded Chandler, but this time his team came through with the victory. Eeles (2-for-4, 2 R, HR, RBI, BB), Martin (2-for-4, BB, K), Keirsey Jr. (2-for-5, RBI, 2 K), and McCusker (2-for-4, K) each had two hits to lead the way.

The teams each had 10 hits on the night, combined to go 2-for-21 with runners in scoring position with one hit apiece, and left 25 total men on base.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day - Kody Funderburk, St. Paul Saints (2 IP, H, 2 K)
Hitter of the Day - Payton Eeles, St. Paul Saints (2-for-4, 2 R, HR (7), RBI, BB, K)

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:

#2 – Brooks Lee (Minnesota) – 0-for-4, K
#5 – Zebby Matthews (Minnesota) – 4 2/3 IP, 5 H, ER, BB, 5 K

WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTER
Indianapolis @ St. Paul (6:37 PM CDT) - RHP Andrew Morris (1-0, 3.14 ERA)

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Tuesday’s game!

Interested in learning more about the Minnesota Twins' top prospects? Check out our comprehensive top prospects list that includes up-to-date stats, articles and videos about every prospect, scouting reports, and more!