Twins Minor League Report (9/6): Larnach Launches Help Saints Slam Bats

On Tuesday, Brooks Lee his a grand slam for the Saints. It was the team's 12th grand slam of the season which is more than any other team in professional baseball right now. On Wednesday, the Saints combined to hit five more homers including a 13th grand slam. And its timing couldn't have been better. It wasn't the only grand slam in the Twins minor leagues on Wednesday. 

Check out the records of the Twins and their affiliates: 

Minnesota Twins: 73-66
St. Paul Saints: 77-56
Wichita Wind Surge: 60-67 
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 82-46
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 66-61

Let’s get to the report. As always, please feel free to discuss and ask questions. 

TRANSACTIONS
The Twins had RHP Chris Paddack make his first rehab appearance since undergoing Tommy John surgery early in the 2022 season. 

In addition, the Mussels put RHP Juan Mercedes on the Development List and activated LHP Develson Aria. 

photo by William Parmeter (Chris Paddack)

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 13, Louisville 8
Box Score
The Saints scored one run from the second inning through the eighth inning. Yet somehow they scored 13 runs in the game.. Two big innings and some big home runs helped the Saints to their 77th win of the season. 

The Saints jumped to a big lead right away with five runs in the top of the first inning. Michael Helman led off the game with a home run, a sign of things to come. After one out, Brooks Lee singled and scored on Trevor Larnach’s 13th Saints homer to give them a 3-0 lead. Kyle Garlick was hit by a pitch. That was followed by Yunior Severino’s seventh Saints homer, and 31st homer overall. 5-0 Saints. 

As noted, the Saints offense didn’t do much again until the ninth inning. The lone exception was Austin Martin’s sixth home run which came in the fourth inning. So let’s jump to the pitching. 

David Festa started and gave up two runs on three hits over 4 2/3 innings. He had six strikeouts. However, he also had six strikeouts and six walks which drove up the pitch count. Michael Boyle walked two and struck out one over the next 1 1/3 scoreless innings. Alex Scherff came on and threw a scoreless seventh inning. However, he gave up one run in the bottom of the eighth inning before leaving the game with one out and two runners on base. 

Ronny Henriquez came into the game with a 6-3 lead. However, he allowed both of the inherited runners to score, and three more runs before getting the third out of the eighth inning. 

The Saints came to bat in the ninth inning down 8-6. #OldFriend Alan Busenitz, who has spent a couple of stints in the big leagues with the Reds this season, came in for the Bats. He spent parts of 2017 and 2018 with the Twins. He spent four seasons pitching for Rakuten in Japan. He returned to the States this year. 

With that as the backdrop, the Saints put together a huge inning. Busenitz struck out the first batters. However, Austin Martin and Gilberto Celestino singled to put runners on first and third. DaShawn Keirsey came in to pinch hit and walked to load the bases. Michael Helman singled to score Martin. 

Busenitz’s night was done, and Silvino Bracho came in. Alex Kirilloff came up and drove in two runs with a single to right field to give the Saints a 9-8 lead. Brooks Lee followed with a walk to load the bases again. That brought Trevor Larnach up, and he crushed the first grand slam of his professional career to give the Saints the 13-8 lead. The grand slam was the Saints’ 13th this season. 

Henriquez came back out for the bottom of the ninth inning. He walked the first batter but responded by coaxing a double play ball. After a two-out double, he was able to record the final out of the game. 

Larnach led the way with his two home runs and six RBI. Austin Martin went 2-for-3 and was hit by a pitch. Michael Helman went 2-for-5 with his fifth homer. Alex Kirilloff went 2-for-5. Gilberto Celestino went 2-for-4. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 4, Corpus Christi 10
Box Score
The Wind Surge fell behind 5-0 through four innings. Sean Mooney made the start as an “opener” of sorts for Wichita. He walked one and struck out two batters in a scoreless first inning. Carlos Luna came in and was charged with five runs on six hits and a walk over 2 2/3 innings. He had three strikeouts and allowed three home runs. 

Down 5-0, the Wind Surge put together a burst. With one out, Ben Ross and Jake Rucker hit back-to-back singles. After a ground out advanced them with a ground out. With two outs, there was a pitching change. Aaron Sabato walked to load the bases, and Seth Gray’s eighth homer of the season cut their deficit to 5-4. Unfortunately, the Gray grand slam was the end of the Wind Surge scoring for the evening. 

Taylor Floyd gave up two runs on three hits in 1 2/3 innings. He had three strikeouts. Lefty Aaron Rozek recorded two outs. He gave up three runs on three hits (including two homers). Isaac Mattson came in and struck out five batters over two perfect innings. 

Ben Ross went 2-for-4 with a walk. Yoyner Fajardo hit his sixth triple. Aaron Sabato had a single and two walks.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 4, Wisconsin 1
Box Score
The Kernels jumped ahead 3-0 after two innings and it held up as they recorded their 82nd win of the year. 

Cedar Rapids got some help from their hosts in Appleton. Noah Miller reached first base on an error. After an Emmanuel Rodriguez single, a passed ball put runners on second and third. Soon after, Miller scored on a wild pitch. That was it, though. 

The second inning started completely the opposite. Rehabbing lefty Aaron Ashby got a groundout and a strikeout to start the inning before issuing a walk. That ended his appearance and Brewer Fanatic’s starting pitcher of the month of August, Cameron Wagoner, entered. After a Keoni Cavaco single and a Noah Miller walk loaded the bases, Emmanuel Rodriguez drilled a two-run single up the middle to give the Kernels a 3-0 lead. 

That was it for the Kernels’ scoring until the top of the ninth inning when Jose Salas hit his fourth homer of the season. 

The Kernels had five hits with Rodriguez having two of them. He also stole his 20th base of the season. Noah Miller hit his fifth triple and a walk. 

The offense did their part, but the pitching staff was the big story on Wednesday afternoon. Cory Lewis was fantastic. He improved to 5-1 on the season thanks to five shutout innings. He gave up just one hit. He walked two and struck out three to drop his ERA with the Kernels to 2.32. 

Mike Paredes came in and got one out before giving up a single to Brock Wilken. Then the rains came. The game was delayed for just over 100 minutes. When the game continued, Ricardo Velez came in. He gave up a hit to allow the Paredes runner to score, but he gave up just two hits over 2 1/3 scoreless innings. He walked none and struck out one. Jarret Whorff got the final four outs, two on strikeouts, to record his third save. 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 6, Bradenton 5
Box Score
The game went back and forth throughout the game. Fortunately, the Mussels scored last and held on. It was 3-3 through four innings, and then it was 5-5 through seven innings. But first, the Mussels were able to use a guy with 21 career wins in the big leagues as their starting pitcher. 

Chris Paddack came to the Twins on Opening Day 2022. After just a handful of starts, his elbow blew out and soon after, he had his second Tommy John surgery. On Wednesday night in Fort Myers, he returned to the mound for his first rehab appearance. The raw numbers won’t jump out to anyone. In 2 2/3 innings, he gave up two runs on two hits and two walks. He had four strikeouts. Most impressive, at least to me, was that he was able to (or allowed to) throw 52 pitches. No real surprise that just 27 of those pitches were strikes. But, the stuff looks good.

Down 3-0 going to the bottom of the fourth inning, Danny De Andrade and Rubel Cespedes started the inning with walks. Nate Baez followed with a three-run homer to tie the game. Then in the bottom of the fifth, the innings started with singles by Jay Harry and Walker Jenkins. Jenkins stole second. Soon after, Harry scored on a wild pitch. Jenkins scored on a groundout by De Andrade to make it 5-3. However, the Marauders tied it with two runs in the top of the seventh frame.  

When Paddack was done, Jack Noble came in as the ‘Bulk’ pitcher and worked the next 5 1/3 innings. He gave up three runs on five hits. He walked one and struck out five batters. He was really only hurt by two home run balls. 

In the bottom of the eighth, the Mussels started with Rubel Cespedes and Nate Baez walks. Maddux Houghton pinch-ran for Cespedes. Alec Sayre grounded back to the pitcher who got the out at second but Sayre beat the throw to first. Houghton advanced to third base. That brought up catcher Kyle Schmidt came up and grounded to shortstop. They recorded the out at second but Schmidt’s hustle beat the throw and allowed Houghton to score the go-ahead run. 

With the one-run lead, lefty Samuel Perez came in and worked a one-two-three ninth inning to record his second save of the year. 

Jay Harry went 2-for-4. Walker Jenkins was 2-for-4 with his second stolen base.. Nate Baez’s home run was his second of the season. He also walked twice. Rubel Cespedes was 1-for-1 with three walks and stole his third base. 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter of the Day – Trevor Larnach (St. Paul) - 2-for-5, 2-HR(14), 2 R, 6 RBI, K. 
Pitcher of the Day – Cory Lewis (Cedar Rapids) - 5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 69 pitches, 45 strikes (61.1%)
Blooper of the Day - Austin Martin (St. Paul) - Great catch, but forgetting how many outs there are is always funny the next day when it gets on blooper reels. 

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on the new Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Wednesday. 

#1 - Brooks Lee (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, BB, 2 R, K
#2 - Walker Jenkins (Ft. Myers) - 2-for-4, R, SB(2)
#3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-4, 2 RBI, K, SB(20)
#6 - David Festa (St. Paul) - 4 2/3 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 6 BB, 6 K, 91 pitches, 43 strikes (47.3%)
#7 - Austin Martin (St. Paul) - 2-for-3, HBP, HR(6), 2 R, RBI
#10 - Luke Keaschall (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4 
#13 - Kala’i Rosario (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, 3 K
#14 - Yunior Severino (St. Paul) - 1-for-5, HR(7, 31), R, 2 RBI, 3 K
#17 - Danny De Andrade (Fort Myers) - 0-for-3, BB, R, RBI 
#19 - Cory Lewis (Cedar Rapids) - 5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K, 69 pitches, 45 strikes (65.2%)

WEDNESDAY’S SCHEDULE AND PITCHING PROBABLES
St. Paul @ Louisville (5:35 PM CST) - RHP Simeon Woods Richardson (5-6, 5.29 ERA)
Wichita @ Corpus Christi (6:35 PM CST) - RHP Pierson Ohl (7-3, 2.95 ERA)  
Cedar Rapids @ Wisconsin (6:40 PM CST) - RHP C.J. Culpepper (2-1, 3.58 ERA)
Bradenton @ Fort Myers (6:00 PM CST) - RHP John Klein (2-1, 2.97 ERA) 

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Wednesday’s games or any other Twins minor league topics!

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!