Twins Fan From Afar

The big club lost 6-0 to the Reds this evening. Starter Brian Duensing threw 3 shutout innings, and then hit a wall (his own words), giving up 4 runs in the 4th. The Twins accumulated only 3 hits all day. In the end, it was a recipe for yet another loss. All the affiliates were in action today, so let's take a look at all of the action. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] ROCHESTER 12, CHARLOTTE 1 Steven Hirschfeld pitched well tonight. In 6 and 2/3 innings, he gave up 1 run (unearned) on 4 hits, striking out 4 and walking 1. Esmerling Vasquez threw 1 and 1/3 innings, and gave up a hit and a walk. Bobby Lanigan threw a scoreless 9th, allowing 2 hits. The Red Wings compiled 15 hits tonight. Danny Valencia led the way, going 3-for-4 with 2 home runs, 3 RBIs and a walk. Sean Burroughs had 3 singles in 5 at-bats, and Ray Chang was 3-for-4 with a double and 2 RBIs. Clete Thomas was 2-for-5 with a double, and Brian Dinkelman, Matt Carson, Tsuyoshi Nishioka and Rene Rivera all singled. Valencia is batting .252 on the year; Nishioka is batting .232. Here's the link to the box score. NEW BRITAIN 6, RICHMOND 1 This was the Rock Cats' third consecutive win. Starter (but normally reliever) Blake Martin went 4 innings, allowing no runs on 3 hits. He struck out 3 and walked 1. Luis Perdomo picked up the win, throwing 5 innings. He gave up 1 run on 1 hit, striking out 6 and walking only 1. A great night for Perdomo. New Britain had only 7 hits all night, but they made them count. First baseman Chris Colabello was 2-for-4 with a home run (11) and a double (11). Nathan Hanson also homered (2), and Evan "don't cut my playing time in favor of Oswaldo Arcia" Bigley doubled (15). Deibinson Romero, Oswaldo Arcia and Aaron Hicks also added singles. Additionally, Hicks stole his 16th base of the season, and Arcia had an outfield assist. Here's the link to the box score. FT. MYERS 3, ST. LUCIE 10 Starter Cole Nelson took the loss for the Miracle tonight, lasting only 2 and 2/3 innings, giving up 6 runs (3 earned) on 4 hits, striking out 1 and walking 4. Nelvin Fuentes tossed 2 and 1/3 innings and gave up 1 run on 1 hit. He struck out 1 and walked 3. Ricky Bowen threw 2 innings and gave up 3 runs on 4 hits, striking out 0 and walking 1. Finally, Matthew Hauser tossed a scoreless 8th, allowing no hits and striking out 2. Miracle pitchers walked 8 batters tonight. The offense got 6 hits this evening, half coming from right fielder Daniel Ortiz, who had 3 singles and a run. Andy Leer was 1-for-2 with a double and 2 runs, and Kyle Knudson and Daniel Rams also singled. The Miracle walked twice and struck out 8 times. Here's the link to the box score. BELOIT 1, CEDAR RAPIDS 0 This was a pitchers' duel, to be sure. 3 Snappers pitchers turned in excellent performances tonight. Starter Tim Shibuya picked up the win. He threw 6 innings and gave up only 1 hit, striking out 1 and walking 1. Clint Dempster got the hold, throwing 2 and 2/3 innings, giving up 3 hits, striking out 3 and walking none. Corey Williams got the save, throwing 1/3 of an inning. Right fielder JaDamion Williams had a double and drove in the only run of the game. Designated hitter Steven Liddle was 3-for-4, and Miguel Sano, Drew Leachman, Matthew Koch and Tyler Grimes all had singles for Beloit. Sano had his 25th error of the season, a fielding error. Here's the link to the box score. ELIZABETHTON 18, BURLINGTON 2 Starter Taylor Rogers earned his first win, throwing 5 strong innings. He allowed 3 hits and struck out 7. Hein Robb was good out of the bullpen, striking out 1 and allowing 3 hits in 2 innings of work. Steven Evans gave up the only Burlington runs of the game. He allowed 2 runs on 5 hits in 2 innings of work, striking out 1. E-Town banged out 20 hits tonight! Left fielder Romy Jimenez had a triple and a home run, and drove in 3 runs. Max Kepler was 3-for-5 with a triple, Niko Goodrum was 2-for-4 with a triple, 2 RBIs and 3 walks, and Adam Walker was 2-for-7 with a triple, 4 RBIs and 4 strikeouts. That's right -- the E-Town Twins had 4 triples tonight! Candido Pimental had 2 singles, D.J. Hicks doubled and singled, Stephen Wickens had a single, Rory Rhodes singled twice in 5 at-bats, Travis Harrison was 3-for-4 with a double and 2 singles, and Michael Quesada had a double in 5 at-bats. E-Town also walked 11 times today. Here's the link to the box score. GCL TWINS 1, GCL RED SOX 9 Starter Austin Malinowski went 3 innings and gave up no runs, striking out 2 and walking 2. Trent Higginbotham took the loss, throwing 2 and 1/3 innings and allowing 3 runs on 2 hits, striking out 2 and walking 1. Melciades De La Cruz gave up 5 runs (2 earned) in 1 and 2/3 innings, striking out 1 and walking 1. Hung Yi Chen threw 2 innings and gave up 1 run, striking out 4. The GCL Twins had only 1 hit today, a single off the bat of catcher Jorge Fernandez. Top prospect Byron Buxton was 0-for-4, but let's not count him out quite yet. Here's the link to the box score. ---------------------------------------------- Players of the Day for Saturday, June 23 Pitcher(s) of the Day: Beloit Snappers trio of Shibuya, Dempster and Williams. Hitter of the Day: Danny Valencia --------------------------------------------- Schedule for Sunday, June 24, 2012 Rochester vs. Charlotte -- RHP Cole De Vries New Britain @ Richmond -- RHP Brett Jacobson Ft. Myers vs. Tampa -- RHP Madison Boer Beloit @ Cedar Rapids -- ??? Elizabethtown vs. Bristol -- ??? GCL Twins vs. GCL Orioles -- ??? --------------------------------------------- Please leave any questions or comments here, and either Seth or I will be happy to respond.

Well, the Twins lost tonight, 7-2 to the Pirates. At least it was in a beautiful ballpark. I enjoyed watching the Twitter feeds of the Twins beat writers, reporters and other journalists this afternoon, as they were filled with pictures of PNC Park. I have to say, I love Target Field, but PNC just might have us beat. At the very least, it was nice to see Trevor Plouffe continue to swing the hot bat (2-for-3 with a walk), and Denard Span homered. Hopefully they have better luck tomorrow. Let's see how the affiliates did tonight. Spoiler alert: it wasn't pretty.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] ROCHESTER 2, DURHAM 8 Lucas French had a rough outing, lasting only 3 and 1/3 innings and giving up 6 runs on 8 hits, walking 2 and striking out 1. French's AAA ERA is 5.44. Deolis Guerra also ran into trouble. In 1 and 2/3 innings, Guerra gave up 2 runs on 3 hits. He walked 1 and struck out 3. Kyle Waldrop threw 2 scoreless innings, and Casey Fein and Tyler Robertson each tossed scoreless innings. The Red Wings amassed only 6 hits all evening. Right fielder Wilkin Ramirez was 1-for-4 with a 2-run home run. That accounted for all the scoring. Danny Valencia was 2-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout. Michael Hollimon had a triple and 2 walks, and Clete Thomas and Pedro Florimon each had a single. Here's the link to the box score. NEW BRITAIN 1, ALTOONA 8 The Rock Cats continued their slide in the Eastern League standings, getting hammered tonight. Logan Darnell was charged with the loss, throwing 5 innings, and allowing 4 earned runs (6 total) on 10 hits. He struck out 1. Daniel Sattler (recent St. Paul Saints signing) made his AA debut tonight. In 2 innings of work, he gave up 1 run on 3 hits, striking out 2. Blake Martin allowed 1 run in 1 inning of work, allowing no hits, but walking 3 and striking out 2. Like the Red Wings, the Rock Cats only got 6 hits all evening. Top prospect Oswaldo Arcia had a debut he would probably like to forget. He was 0-for-4 with 3 strikeouts. Oh well; he'll be back tomorrow and probably much better. Evan Bigley was the best offensive player tonight, going 3-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Bigley is likely to lose playing time to Arcia, so he is probably feeling motivated to play well when he gets the opportunity. Aaron Hicks returned to the lineup after being out about a week with an ankle sprain. He was 1-for-4. Deibinson Romero and James Beresford each singled for New Britain. Romero also had the only walk of the evening for the Rock Cats. Here's the link to the box score. FT. MYERS 2, JUPITER 6 This must have been another bullpen day for the Miracle. Tom Stuifbergen got the start for Ft. Myers, and gave up 1 earned run (3 total) in 2 innings on the hill. He allowed 4 hits, walked 1 and struck out 1. Jose Gonzalez threw 2 and 2/3 innings and allowed 3 runs. Gonzalez gave up 4 hits, but struck out 6. Kind of an interesting stat line. Edgar Ibarra was excellent tonight: in 2 and 1/3 innings, he allowed no runs on 2 hits, struck out 5 and walked 1. Finally, Dakota Watts threw a scoreless inning. Kyle Knudson was 3-for-4 tonight with a double and a run. Levi Michael was 2-for-2 with a double and 3 walks (he also committed his 9th error of the season, a fielding miscue). Daniel Rams hit his second home run of the year, and Josmil Pinto and Angel Morales each singled. The Miracle walked 8 times tonight -- it's disappointing they couldn't convert on more of the free passes. Here's the link to the box score. BELOIT was not in action tonight, as it was the Midwest League All-Star game. I'll do a quick rundown of the Snappers' All-Star performances: Miguel Sano was 0-for-1 with a walk; Jonathan Goncalves was 1-for-2 with an RBI; Tyler Grimes was 0-for-1 with a walk; Jairo Rodriguez was 0-for-1 with a walk. Pitcher A.J. Achter went 2/3 of an inning, striking out 2 and allowing 1 hit; Jason Wheeler also threw a scoreless 2/3 of an inning, and Michael Tonkin threw 1/3 of an inning, allowing 1 hit. Here's the link to the lengthy box score. ELIZABETHTON 5, DANVILLE 7 It's exciting to see some guys that we have read about getting to play in real games. Hudson Boyd took the loss tonight. In 3 innings of work, he gave up 1 earned run (3 total) on 4 hits, striking out 3 and walking 3. Brett Lee also threw 3 innings, and allowed 1 unearned run, striking out 1. Steven Evans allowed 3 runs in just 1 inning of work, walking 3 and striking out 1. Tyler Herr allowed 1 run in 1 inning of work, giving up a solo home run. He also walked 1. Elizabethton had 7 hits in tonight's game. First baseman Rory Rhodes had 3 hits in 4 at-bats, with a double, a run, 2 RBIs and a walk. Right fielder Candido Pimentel was 2-for-4, designated hitter D.J. Hicks had a double and an RBI in 5 at-bats, and left fielder Romy Jimenez was 1-for-4 with a single. Here's the link to the box score. GCL TWINS 5, GCL ORIOLES 3 Dereck Rodriguez has a pretty famous father (future Hall of Famer Ivan Rodriguez), but he is trying to make a name for himself. The outfielder went 3-3 with a walk in his first game of the season. John Murphy was 1-2 with two walks. Jose Ramirez went 2-4 with a stolen base. Yorman Landa made his first start of the 2012 season. The right-hander threw four no-hit, no-run innings. He walked two and struck out four. Chris Mazza came in and gave up one run on three hits in two innings. He struck out three. Gerardo Ramirez gave up two runs on three hits and a walk in one inning (and he got credit for the win!). Melciades De La Cruz got the save. He struck out four in two scoreless innings. He gave up one hit and walked two. --------------------------------------------------- Players of the day for Tuesday, June 19, 2012. Hitter of the Day: Rory Rhodes Pitcher of the Day: Edgar Ibarra ----------------------------------------- A Look Ahead: Schedule for Wednesday, June 20 Rochester vs. Durham -- RHP Cole De Vries New Britain @ Altoona -- ?? Ft. Myers @ Jupiter -- RHP Madison Boer Elizabethton @ Danville -- RHP Ricardo Arevalo Gulf Coast League Twins vs. Gulf Coast League Rays -- ?? ------------------------------------------- Please leave any questions or comments here, and Seth or I will be happy to respond.