Twins Minor League Report (9/19): Midwest League Championship Series Halted by Rain

TRANSACTIONS
The Saints had an active day in transactions, with a bunch of major league rehabbers joining the team across the river in St. Paul.

•  RHP Chris Paddack, RHP Jorge Alcala, and LF Joey Gallo were all sent on rehab assignments with Saints. RHP Carlos Luna was transferred to the development list. 
• RHP Curtis Taylor was promoted from the Wichita Wind Surge to the Saints.

SAINTS SENTINEL
Toledo 2, St. Paul 4
Box Score
With the plethora of major league rehabbers joining the roster, the St. Paul Saints went with a bullpen game of sorts on Tuesday. The entire staff of seven who made an appearance was basically lights out against the Mud Hens.

Hunter McMahon served as the opener and delivered a scoreless inning, working around one hit and two walks by inducing an inning-ending double-play. That would be a theme for the night, as the Saints completed four of them in total, while Toledo added three more.

Austin Schulfer was the next man up and walked one and struck out one in a scoreless second inning.

In the bottom half of the frame the Saints got their scoring started. Yunior Severino led off with a walk, and two-batters later Jair Camargo clubbed his 20th home run of the season for a 2-0 lead.

The home team then turned the ball over to their first rehabber, in right-hander Chris Paddack. It didn’t go so well after a strikeout to his first batter, as a walk and two singles loaded the bases with one out, but Paddack  bore down and struck out the next two hitters to keep the Mud Hens scoreless in the third. He went on to retire the final eight hitters he faced, picking up another strikeout in each inning to finish with five in his outing. Overall he allowed two hits, walked one, and struck out five while topping out above 98 MPH with his fastball.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Saints extended their lead to 4-0 when DaShawn Keirsey Jr. led off with a single, rehabber Nick Gordon was hit by a pitch, and rehabber Joey Gallo delivered an RBI single. Trevor Larnach followed with a single of his own to complete their two-run inning and add insurance.

After Paddack’s exit Michael Boyle (1 IP, 2 K) delivered a scoreless inning before giving way to Brock Stewart. Stewart ratcheted his fastball up to 99 MPH in his inning of work, walking one in striking out one in another scoreless frame for the pitching staff.

Another rehabber, Jorge Alcala then did the same in the eighth, giving up one hit but inducing another double-play ball. In the ninth, Jordan Balazovic allowed two walks to start the inning, but got a big double-play grounder himself to keep this one from going sideways. It could have done that, because the next batter slugged a two-run homer for Toledo’s only runs of the game. Balazovic struck out the final hitter to close out the win.

Nick Gordon (2-for-3, R, 2B, K) and Trevor Larnach (3-for-4, RBI, K) led the way with multiple hits. Joey Gallo finished 1-for-3 with a walk, RBI, and no strikeouts. Yunior Severino drew two walks and scored a run.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Great Lakes 1, Cedar Rapids 0 (Suspended in the 5th inning - Rain)
Box Score
Well, I’m not going to be able to crown the Cedar Rapids Kernels the Midwest League Champions tonight, as their game with the Great Lakes Loons was suspended in the fifth inning.

The Kernels came into the game with a 1-0 lead in the three-game series, and sent right-handed pitcher Andrew Morris to the mound. He was excellent in his five innings before the suspension, with his only blemish being a solo home run in the fourth inning. He set the Loons down in order in each of the first and third innings, needing just five pitches in the third to do so. He finished with the one run allowed on three hits, no walks, and struck out seven.

Both teams have just three hits to this point, with Emmanuel Rodriguez, Jorel Ortega, and Luke Keaschall all delivering singles. Rodriguez also stole a base but the Kernels are only 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position thus far.

Game two of this championship series will resume tomorrow at 5:30 PM, with the Kernels up to bat in the bottom of the fifth, and Luke Keaschall due up. If Cedar Rapids is unable to make a comeback, game three will be a seven inning contest after this one’s completion.

Right-hander Cory Lewis is the scheduled starter for game three, but there could be some shuffling of that due to this suspension.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day - Andrew Morris, Cedar Rapids Kernels (5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 7 K)
Hitter of the Day - Jair Camargo, St. Paul Saints (1-for-3, R, HR, 2 RBI)

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Check out our full top 20 list here and how they performed on Tuesday below!

#1 - Brooks Lee (St. Paul) - 0-for-4
#3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-2, K (game suspended)
#7 - Austin Martin (St. Paul) - 1-for-3
#10 - Luke Keaschall (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-1 (game suspended)
#13 - Kala’i Rosario (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-2 (game suspended)
#14 - Yunior Severino (St. Paul) - 0-for-2, R, 2 BB, K
#16 - Jordan Balazovic (St. Paul) - 1 IP, H, 2 BB, K

WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Toledo @ St. Paul (6:35 PM CDT) - RHP Simeon Woods Richardson (6-6, 4.92 ERA)
Great Lakes @ Cedar Rapids, Game 3 (if necessary) - RHP Cory Lewis (0-0, 2.25 ERA)

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

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!