Twins Minor League Reports (4/4): Weather Wins; Walker, Waring Homer

On Friday, weather wreaked havoc and led to half the minor league games being postponed. New Britain played a morning game, but Rochester and Cedar Rapids were unable to play. Of course, the weather is always lovely in Florida. On Opening Night, we got a walk-off from Bryan Haar of the Kernels. On Friday, there were a couple of late-inning homers that helped propel their teams to victory.

On Saturday, the Twins play their second game in Cleveland and all four affiliates are scheduled to play. As always, your comments and questions are welcomed in the forum, so ask away. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester, Buffalo Bison (Postponed)

This game was lost due to cold and wet conditions in Buffalo. The two teams will shift over to Rochester where Alex Meyer will start on Saturday in the Red Wings home opener.

ROCK CATS REVIEW

New Britain 4, Richmond 3

Box Score

The Eastern League knows Brandon Waring, and Brandon Waring knows the Eastern League. He has played in the AA league each season since 2009, each year for Bowie, the Orioles affiliate. After an 0-fer on opening night, Waring had a strong game Friday morning. In this game, he went 2-3 with a walk, a double and his first home run of the season. It was his 79^th home run in the Eastern League. More important to the day, it was a home run in the bottom of the 8^th inning of a tie game, giving the Rock Cats a 4-3 win.

Another Eastern League veteran, Reynaldo Rodriguez, in his fourth year in the league, went 2-4 with a double. Nate Hanson went 1-3 with a walk. Brad Boyer walked twice.

DJ Baxendale started and gave up two runs on six hits in 4.2 innings. He walked one and struck out two batters. He left the game with two on and two out in the fifth inning, but Adrian Salcedo ended the inning with a strikeout. Salcedo gave up a run in the sixth before he was replaced by Ryan O’Rourke in the seventh. O’Rourke recorded five outs and gave up one hit while striking out one. After Waring’s home run, he was credited with the win. Lester Oliveros pitched a perfect ninth to get the save.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers 11, Jupiter 6

Box Score

On Friday night, the Miracle got a second straight road win thanks to a couple big innings. The team had a five run second inning. The big hit was a two-run double by Levi Michael. In the seventh inning, it was an Adam Walker three-run home run, his first of the season.

Niko Goodrum led the offense going 3-4 with a double and two RBI. Jorge Polanco was 2-5 with a double. Stuart Turner was also 2-5.

Tyler Duffey made the start and gave up three runs in six innings for a quality start and the win. He gave up eight hits, walked none and struck out two. David Hurlbut gave up a run on three hits over his two innings of work. Mason Melotakis got some work in, pitching one inning. He gave up two runs on two hits and two walks.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids, Clinton (Postponed)

Weather was the winner on Friday in Cedar Rapids as well. The two teams are scheduled to play on Saturday.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Tyler Duffey, Ft. Myers Miracle

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Brandon Waring, New Britain Rock Cats

SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Buffalo @ Rochester (1:05 CST) – Alex Meyer (vs Ricky Romero) - POSTPONED

Richmond @ New Britain (12:35 CST) – Taylor Rogers

Ft. Myers @ Jupiter (5:05 CST) – Brett Lee

Clinton @ Cedar Rapids (DH at 2:05 CST) – Randy Rosario, Ryan Eades

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