Twins Minor League Report (9/9): Kernels Begin Playoffs, Wind Surge Fight for Their Spot, Jenkins CHS Field Debut

TRANSACTIONS

• Over in St. Paul, the Saints activated OF Emmanuel Rodriguez from the 7-day injured list and his rehab assignment. RHP Noah Davis was also activated, while RHP Brooks Kriske was outrighted to St. Paul from the Twins.
• With the Wind Surge, catcher Ian Daugherty was promoted from Fort Myers.
• In advance of their Midwest League Playoff series, the Cedar Rapids Kernels activated OF Caden Kendle from the 7-day injured list and transferred RHP Julio Bonilla to the Development List.
• Despite their season being over, the DSL Twins joined in on the transaction action, activating RHP Fernando Hernandez from the restricted list.

SAINTS SENTINEL
Columbus 2, St. Paul 1
Box Score
The Saints got a quality start from right-hander Andrew Morris, who lowered his ERA to 3.80 on the season, but hits were hard to come by for both teams, with the Clippers pitching matching his efforts.

He gave up both of the Columbus runs, but they were of the unearned variety in the second inning after an error from Tanner Schobel at second base. After a leadoff double in the third, Morris retired nine in a row to keep the Saints within one in the middle innings. He finished six frames, allowing three hits and two walks, while striking out two.

The Saints lineup scored their lone run of the game in the bottom of the second. Emmanuel Rodriguez drew a leadoff walk in his first at-bat back with the Saints. A wild pitch and two groundouts later he was able to score to make it 2-1.

There were obviously nothing but zeroes over the final seven innings, as each team mustered only three apiece, and they combined to go 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

Relievers Aaron Rozek (2 2/3 IP, 3 BB, 3 K) and Erasmo Ramirez (1/3 IP) finished off the final three innings for the Saints.

Gabriel Gonzalez had two of the Saints three hits, finishing 2-for-4 with two strikeouts. Jonah Bride picked up their other single. Will Holland drew two walks to turn the lineup over to Jenkins, who went 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts in his CHS Field debut. The Saints have now infamously lost 10 in a row, with the franchise record of 11 staring them down.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 4, Corpus Christi 0
Box Score
The Wichita Wind Surge began their final series of the regular season on Tuesday against the Corpus Christi Hooks. They still have a chance at securing a Texas League playoff spot, as they sit two games back of the Tulsa Drillers for second place in the North Division. The Springfield Cardinals won the first half, so despite leading the division comfortably in the second half as well, the playoff spot will go to the second place finisher.

Right-hander Sam Armstrong took to the mound for this one, and he held the Hooks scoreless over his five innings. He allowed just two hits, walked two, and struck out three to lower his ERA since coming over to the Wind Surge to 3.93. In his last three starts he’s thrown 16 innings, allowing just two earned runs on seven hits and four walks, while striking out 14. Those two earned runs also came in the first inning of the first game in that sequence, so his last 15 innings with the Wind Surge have been of the scoreless variety.

His offense put him in line for the win in this one by scoring in three of the first six innings. Ricardo Olivar delivered the first run of the game in the third with an RBI single. An error in the fifth allowed their second run to scamper home before the Wind Surge's power came out in the sixth. Ben Ross led off the inning with his 13th home run on the season.

Three batters later, Maddux Houghton launched his second of the year to put them in front 4-0

Logan Whitaker came on from the bullpen for the sixth and seventh innings, and did a perfect Armstrong imitation. His only baserunner was a walk, and he struck out two to lower his ERA below 2.00 with Wichita. Mike Paredes finished the shutout with two scoreless innings of his own. He allowed no hits, walked one, and struck out two to close it out.

The Wind Surge offense only outhit the Hooks 5-2 on the game and also struck out fifteen times as a team, but took advantage with some timely stolen bases and the two homers to push them to the victory. Kala’i Rosario finished 0-for-4 but also stole two bases, giving him 28 on the season. Harry Genth went 1-for-2, scored two runs, and stole his fourth base out of the nine-hole.

Elsewhere in the Texas League, the Arkansas Travelers fell to the Tulsa Drillers in 13 innings by a score of 4-3. The Wind Surge remain two games behind the Drillers with five games to play. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Midwest League Playoffs, Game 1: Cedar Rapids 1, Beloit 7
Box Score
The Cedar Rapids Kernels punched their ticket to the Midwest League playoffs by winning the West Division in the first half with a 40-26 record. Their opponents, the Beloit Sky Carp won the second half with a 38-27 record while the Kernels finished 32-34.

Getting the game one starting nod for the Kernels, was righty Jose Olivares who was coming off a one-hit, six-inning effort his last time out, where he also set a career high for strikeouts with 10. He was on point again early in this one.

He allowed a leadoff double in the bottom of the first but got a double-play and a pop-out to escape. There was a two-out single and a walk in the second, but he picked up his second strikeout to end the frame. In the third there was a single, but another strikeout to keep the game 0-0 through three.

In the bottom of the fourth he made his first big mistake, leaving a pitch over the middle of the plate that was sent over the fence in right field by Beloit’s Wilfredo Lara for a 1-0 lead. Olivares did strike out all three other hitters in the inning, but the Sky Carp had struck first.

In the top of the fifth the Kernels finally answered despite chances in every inning to that point. Kyle DeBarge led off the inning with a walk, their seventh free pass so far. As he does, he would steal second base to put himself in scoring position, and Danny De Andrade drove him in with a two-out single to tie it at one.

In the bottom half, Olivares got two outs, but three walks also loaded the bases to end his start. Chase Chaney came on in relief and it almost turned into a disaster. DeBarge misplayed a ball at second, allowing one run to score, but Marek Houston was in the right spot to get to it and fire it home to catch the third out before he could score.

Olivares finished 4 2/3 innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits and four walks, while striking out seven. 53 of his 85 pitches went for strikes (63%), including 15 swings and misses.

Chase Chaney got the final out of the fifth and the first two of the sixth before disaster struck. A pair of singles, then two walks scored the first run of the inning and loaded the bases. Then two more singles finished a four-run two-out rally to give Beloit a 6-1 lead. Paulshawn Pasqualotto got a grounder to stop the bleeding, but the Kernels lineup would have a lot more work to do.

Pasqualotto would get the first two outs of the seventh, but a single and a pair of walks loaded the bases again to end his appearance. Ruddy Gomez then came on and walked his first batter making it 7-1, before striking out the next to end the inning. Pasqualotto was charged with one earned run on one hit, two walks, and struck out two. Jacob Kising pitched the eighth, striking out one.

The Kernels weren’t able to muster any comeback attempt, and their last 10 hitters of the game were retired by the Sky Carp bullpen. They were outhit 9-4 in the game and went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position, leaving nine men on base.

Houston (1-for-4, BB, 2 K), DeBarge (1-for-2, R, 2 BB, K), De Andrade (1-for-4, RBI, K) and Misael Urbina (1-for-4) collected the hits, all singles.

The Sky Carp lead the three-game Division series 1-0, and they will head to Cedar Rapids for the final two games (if necessary).

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Sam Armstrong, Wichita Wind Surge (W, 5 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 K)
Hitter of the Day – Harry Genth, Wichita Wind Surge (2-for-3, 2 R, 2B, K)

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they performed on Tuesday.

#1 – Walker Jenkins (St. Paul): 0-for-4, 2 K (played CF)
#2 – Luke Keaschall (Minnesota): game in progress
#4 – Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids): 0-for-2, 2 BB (played C)
#5 – Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul): 0-for-3, R, BB, 3 K (played RF)
#10 – Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul): 2-for-4, 2 K (DH)
#12 – Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids): 1-for-4, BB, 2 K (played SS)
#16 – Andrew Morris (St. Paul): W, 6 IP, 2 R (0 earned), 2 BB, 2 K
#17 – Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids): 1-for-2, R, 2 BB, K, SB
#19 – Kyler Fedko (St. Paul): 0-for-3, BB, 2 K (played 1B)

WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Columbus @ St. Paul (6:37 PM CDT) - RHP John Klein (0-3, 5.60 ERA)
Wichita @ Corpus Christi (6:35 PM CDT) - RHP C.J. Culpepper (2-2, 2.92 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!