Matt Braun

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge (photo of Jake Rucker) TRANSACTIONS OF Gabriel Gonzalez recalled by Twins RHP Woo-Suk Go outrighted to AAA St. Paul Saints Sentinel St. Paul 6, Toledo 10 Box Score Aaron Rozek: 3 2/3 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 2 K HR: Aaron Sabato (22), Kala’i Rosario 2 (6, 7), Cody Morissette (12) Multi-hit games: Emmanuel Rodriguez (2-for-4, RBI, BB), Alan Roden (2-for-5, 2B), Aaron Sabato (2-for-5, HR, 2B, R, RBI), Kala’i Rosario (3-for-5, 2 HR, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI) Middle-inning madness sunk the Saints on Sunday. All that starts well… cannot be predicted the rest of the way. But at least it felt good, just for a time. Aaron Sabato mashed a solo homer in the first and Aaron Rozek tossed three shutout innings with the aid of two double plays. The first, an unusual back pick from Matt Wallner, who tracked down a flyball and caught Josue Briceño drifting halfway to Mordor before he realized his mistake, and was cut down trying to return to the bag. The second, a traditional 6-4-3. Then, the fourth. Five runs. So it goes. Then, the fifth. Five more runs. The game, in essence, decided. Despite the rough stretch, the Saints still had much to celebrate (at least on the other side of the game). Kala’i Rosario—who already homered twice on Saturday—deposited an 0-2 offering on the other side of the wall in the fourth, and returned in the seventh with a screaming liner that barely left play. Fortunately, it all counts the same. The homer gave the Saints 231 round-trippers on the year, tying the International League record. That’s no small feat: the IL can trace its roots back to 1884, though the name and identity didn’t stick until 1912. That’s over 100 years of baseball history flattened by the slugging acumen of this 2026 squad. Oh, and Cody Morissette set the record two batters later. Eric Orze, Julian Merryweather, and Alejandro Hidalgo combined to pitch four scoreless innings out of the bullpen, striking out six. Rehabbing big leaguer Riley Greene singled and worked two walks for the Mud Hens. The aforementioned Briceño is the 69th overall prospect in MLB. He walked once but was pulled following his base running gaffe. Wind Surge Wisdom Wichita 8, Arkansas 9 Box Score Riley Quick: 3 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K HR: Jake Rucker 2 (9, 10), Luis Hernandez (1), Brandon Winokur (10) Multi-hit games: Jake Rucker (4-for-4, 2 HR, 4 R, 2 RBI, BB), Garrett Spain (2-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI) The Wind Surge lost a back-and-forther on Sunday. There’s character to be had in getting decimated, though at some point, Riley Quick might opine for a break from it all. His time in Wichita hasn’t been pleasant. A 4.87 ERA entering the day ballooned to 5.79 after being drummed for four earned runs across just three innings of work. He surrendered a pair of homers and found only one clean frame: a 1-2-3 third capped with a strikeout. Still, one must remember context, as the 72 2/3 innings the first-year pro has now pitched in 2026 bests the 62-inning career-high he set with Alabama in 2025. Growing pains exist for pitchers, too. Garrett Spain spanked an RBI double down the right field line to start the scoring in the first, and Jake Rucker smashed his first homer of the day in the fourth, setting the franchise record for blasts hit by a Wind Surge team in a single season (172). Wichita saw run-scoring knocks in the sixth by Spain and Andrew Cossetti, but their deficit had grown even more unruly. Darren Bowen had been bludgeoned by a homer in the fourth. Preston Johnson took a wart in the sixth. Arkansas’ barrage gave them six runs by the end of the sixth, rendering the efforts by Spain and Cossetti mere claws towards the lead, which sat at 6-4 as the seventh entered into view. Then, a flurry. Three long balls to slingshot ahead. First, Luis Hernandez for one, then, Brandon Winokur for two, and, finally, Rucker exploded for the second time in the game. Holding an advantage for the first time, Wichita’s pitchers folded, allowing three runs across the eighth and ninth to let what could have been an epic comeback fall by the wayside. 10 home runs were hit in the game, with four players going deep twice. Travelers’ outfielder Jonny Farmelo is ranked as the 73rd-best prospect in MLB, according to Pipeline. He walked once in five plate appearances. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 5, Lake County 2 Box Score Christian Becerra: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K HR: Yasser Mercedes (11), Danny De Andrade (15) Multi-hit games: Irvin Nunez (4-for-4, 2 RBI) The Kernels won an all-around game on Sunday. With relievers like these, who needs starters? Cedar Rapids needed a group effort on Sunday, and they received a great one: five hurlers combined to pitch all nine innings, with Christian Becerra, Ross Dunn, Michael Hilker, Brent Francisco, and Yehizon Sanchez working in beautiful harmony, allowing two earned runs with seven scattered hits and one walk. They struck out seven. Yasser Mercedes started the scoring for the Kernels with a first inning laser, which knotted the game as action remained cool for two innings. Cedar Rapids returned in the fourth, plating a pair off a Danny De Andrade shot, and the second of Irvin Nunez’s four singles on the day. Luis Fragoza drove in a seventh inning run, while Nunez completed the quadruple showing in the eighth, netting his second RBI knock, an immaculate showing from the bottom of the Cedar Rapids lineup. JP Smith II walked thrice, bumping his Kernels OBP to .441. Lake County second baseman, Welbyn Francisca, is the 21st-ranked prospect in the Cleveland Guardians system. He went 0-4 with two strikeouts. Mussel Matters No matter how Fort Myers attempted to outwit Mother Nature—first by doubleheader; then by canceled second game yet continued first game—the result ended up the same as Friday and Saturday: a full match was not played. Sunday’s attempt was quickly quelled. No games from the day will be made up at a later date. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Alejandro Hidalgo Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Jake Rucker PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 – Walker Jenkins (Twins) - 0-3 #2 – Vahn Lackey (Cedar Rapids) - 1-5, 2B, K #3 – Kaelen Culpepper (Twins) - 1-3, K #4 – Marek Houston (Wichita) - 1-5, R, 2 K #5 – Riley Quick (Wichita) - 3 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K #6 – Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 2-4, RBI, BB, K #12 – Brandon Winokur (Wichita) - 1-4, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI #19 – Yasser Mercedes (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, HR, R, RBI, K MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS No games in the Twins’ system are scheduled for Monday. View full article

Well, his Twins ERA now sits at 4.39 and his career ERA is... 4.38. So he's right where he should be expected to be.

Image courtesy of Jesse Johnson - IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect Box Score Dean Kremer: 4+ IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 3 K Home Runs: Brooks Lee (22), Kody Clemens (22) Top 3 WPA: Dean Kremer (-.420), Ryan Jeffers (-.200), Luke Keaschall (-.140) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Arduous and consternation-filled it may have been, Walker Jenkins’ journey has finally reached the majors. The former first round pick has taken a heroic mythos, fueled by a Bondsian August and the fanbase's general contempt for the stale play featured by the major league team in recent weeks. Surely, a change was in order. A burst of energy. A youthful resurgence. A mold-breaking decision. And so, the Twins made the call, and Jenkins took the 20-minute sojourn to Target Field and now looks to see if he can help right Minnesota’s sinking ship. First innings portend much, with initial impressions and tone-setting and such. Dean Kremer coaxed two outs. A simple hanging cutter lashed into center gave Chicago a knock. An errant pitch advanced the runner to second. Andrew Benintendi singled barely beyond Kaelen Culpepper’s diving grasp? Unsurprising given his dominance in Target Field. Another single and a three-run homer? Well, now we’ve reached disaster territory on the 21st pitch of the game. Fortunately, the Twins were in a responding mood, immediately attacking Luis Castillo with vigor and excitement. Luke Keaschall singled and Brooks Lee saw a middle-middle heater and smacked one of his trademark “just barely” homers to halve the deficit. Two batters later, Kody Clemens swatted a solo homer for his first longball since the 16th, complete with a fanciful, accidentally well-coordinated bat flip. That concluded the first’s action—a tame thing to say about a frame that oversaw seven total runs—yet the Twins weren’t done with pummeling Castillo. Trevor Larnach served a double into right field and two flyouts and a Keaschall HBP placed men on the corners with two outs. Lee pushed forth his third RBI of the game with a single poked beyond the shortstop’s lunging grasp. Equaled matters soon untied. Kremer could not rest. White Sox hitters advanced with an appetite for hits. In the third, pairs; two doubles scored a go-ahead run. In the fourth, a sampler platter that ended with Tristan Peters on third, eventually dashing home on a passed ball. Walker Jenkins earning his first major league hit marked a lone bright spot in this period. Indeed, his knock, a beautifully stroked line drive that landed in front of the right fielder, placed two on with no one out, but none scored. Then Castillo gave way to Hagen Smith, who found trouble in the sixth, but exited in favor of Grant Taylor, who elicited an unusual 3-2 double play, as Larnach skidded helplessly short of home plate. Another run in the eighth buried the Twins even further—and they suddenly entered the ninth with six consecutive empty frames in their rearview mirror. And little changed in the final inning. Singles by Kaelen Culpepper and Keaschall placed two on, and Minnesota left them where they were, with Lee lining out and Jeffers grounding out to end the game with a soft whimper. Notes: Ryan Jeffers was the only batter to not earn a hit. He's slashing .221/.326/.299 in August. With his 22nd homer of the season, Kody Clemens is four blasts away from tying his father's season-high in long balls allowed, set in his 2000 season with the Yankees. Brooks Lee's 73 RBIs are good for 17th in the AL. Clemens and Josh Bell were the only two players in the lineup not drafted by the Twins. The other seven players were drafted in either the first or second round by the franchise. Taylor Rogers appeared in his 374th game as a Twin, the 11th-most in team history. He's two games away from tying Jim Perry and Jesse Crain, and he passed his coach, LaTroy Hawkins, earlier in the season. Post-Game Interview: What’s Next? The Twins and White Sox play again Saturday, as Erick Fedde is set to start opposite Bailey Ober. Prose will turn purple with how each hurler simply “knows how to pitch.” First pitch is at 1:10 PM. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet MON TUE WED THUR FRI TOT Rogers 0 0 0 0 38 38 Funderburk 0 0 18 0 18 36 Adams 0 0 0 0 26 26 Minter 0 23 0 0 0 23 Gomez 20 0 0 0 0 20 Morris 1 0 16 0 0 17 Nance 16 0 0 0 0 16 Hoffman 0 0 6 0 0 6 View full article

Image courtesy of Lathe Cobb (photo of Adrian Bohorquez) TRANSACTIONS RHP Luis Quiñones sent to A Fort Myers on MiLB Rehab Saints Sentinel St. Paul 2, Toledo 4 Box Score Aaron Rozek: 4 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K HR: Walker Jenkins (12) Multi-hit games: Walker Jenkins (2-for-4, HR, R, RBI), Gabriel Gonzalez (3-for-4, RBI) The Saints couldn’t find enough offense on Wednesday. Don’t blame Walker Jenkins. For anything, really. The 21-year-old remained a hitting leviathan, a one-man force in the batter’s box capable of blending power and contact in artistic harmony. He blasted an opposite field homer off a lefty, singled, and stole his 17th base of the season. He’s slashing .411/.488/.795 in August. A fourth inning Gabriel Gonzalez single drove in the other run for the Saints. Gonzalez ended with three singles, his third three-hit game of the month. C.J. Culpepper, Matt Bowman, Garrett Acton, and Woo-Suk Go combined for five innings of relief with one earned run. They struck out eight. Toledo second baseman Max Anderson is the 11th overall prospect in the Tigers’ system. He collected two hits, including a homer, and walked. Wind Surge Wisdom Wichita 3, Arkansas 4 Box Score Adrian Bohorquez: 5 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K HR: Brandon Winokur (8) Multi-hit games: Khadim Diaw (2-for-4, RBI), Caden Kendle (2-for-3, R, RBI) The Wind Surge flirted with a comeback on Wednesday. It was an impressive first impression for Adrian Bohorquez. The righty donned a AA jersey for the first time Wednesday and pitched with the wit and acumen of a hurler years his senior, punching out seven while allowing no earned runs. He threw 79 pitches. The only trouble he encountered was in the fifth, when a ball Marek Houston will tell you he should have, ate up the shortstop, causing his throw to first to be a hair late. In return, the Travelers swarmed for four runs, none of them earned. A run-scoring wild pitch got the Wind Surge on the board in the sixth, and Brandon Winokur lasered a homer in the eighth to cut the deficit. Khadim Diaw lifted a sacrifice fly in the ninth, yet Winokur popped out into foul territory to end the game. The tying run was on third. Caden Kendle is slashing .382/.453/.676 in 36 games with the Wind Surge. The 24-year-old 2024 5th-rounder out of UC-Irvine has eight home runs in August, the same amount he totaled in 97 games with the Kernels in 2025. Like how the Yardbirds collected legendary guitar players, the Travelers have been a gathering space for incredible prospect talent in 2026. Kade Anderson is in the majors, yet they still enjoy two top 100 prospects in Felnin Celesten and Jonny Farmelo (plus overall top 10-er Ryan Sloan though he didn’t pitch Wednesday). Celesten went 1-4, while Farmelo went 1-for-3 with a walk. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 7, Lake County 8 Box Score Reed Moring: 3 2/3 IP, 5 H, 6 ER, 4 BB, 3 K HR: Vahn Lackey (2), Danny De Andrade (13) Multi-hit games: Vahn Lackey (2-for-4, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB), Danny De Andrade (2-for-4, HR, 2 R, RBI, BB), Irvin Nunez (2-for-4, R, RBI) The Kernels nearly mounted an improbable comeback on Wednesday. Vahn Lackey homered in the first. Then the trouble started. Reed Moring navigated two nondescript frames before surrendering a run in the third. After netting two outs to start the fourth, he—and Lake County, for that matter—could not have imagined the carnage that was soon to greet him. A double, a single, a walk, a double, and another double knocked Moring from the game, yet his ERA was still not safe; the incoming Ivran Romero allowed a two-run homer to fully actualize the brutal rally. And the Captains scored once more the following frame. Down 8-1, the grimness of the situation was overwhelming. The game, in practice, was over. In reality? Cedar Rapids proved to be more a nuisance than one could have expected. Three arrived in the seventh thanks to solo homers by Danny De Andrade and Jose Salas; Lackey later drove in Irvin Nunez with a single. The Kernels returned to score two in the eighth, leveraging a hit by pitch and two walks with a run-scoring groundout and an RBI knock by Nunez. The fight continued. The vigor never waned. Cedar Rapids loaded the bases in the ninth and pushed across a run on a Yasser Mercedes walk. Primed with an opportunity to at least tie, if not win the game, the Kernels… fell short. The sweltering rally squashed. De Andrade struck out, Jayson Bass flew out, and Salas’ liner found an outfield glove to wrap things up. The splendidly named Juneiker Caceres ranks as the 82nd-best prospect in MLB. The Cleveland youngster went 1-for-5 with a strikeout. Mussel Matters Game One: Fort Myers 3, Bradenton 10 (7 Innings) Box Score Jui-Chieh Lin: 0 IP, 2 H, 5 ER, 4 BB, 1 HBP, 0 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Colby Turner (2-for-4, RBI), Ramiro Dominguez (2-for-3, RBI) The Mighty Mussels were thoroughly bested on Wednesday. Jui-Chieh Lin? A mysterious character, indeed. The Twins signed the Taiwan product some six weeks ago, and earmarked Wednesday as his debut in the system. The righty had 22 innings of stateside ball this year with the Aberdeen Ironbirds (Maryland, not Cobain’s hometown) yet has otherwise only pitched in his home nation. BR Bullpen claims he went undrafted thrice there. Lin experienced one of the worst debuts a pitcher could suffer. He plunked the leadoff batter with his inaugural pitch—and it only got worse from there. Two singles—one aided by a throwing error from Lin—and four consecutive uncompetitive walks ended his day out-less. Eight of his 28 pitches went for strikes. If he wants some comfort, he can know that Yennier Cano debuted for the FCL Twins in 2019 with a four-walk no-out stinker before eventually becoming an every day MLB reliever. There’s only up from here. The start smothered this game in the cradle for the Mighty Mussels, as a small three-run fifth inning scramble was the only lipstick they could apply to this swine. Colby Turner and Ramiro Dominguez both earned RBI singles; the third run scored via a wild pitch. Bradenton third baseman Tre Phelps ranks as the 23rd-best prospect in the Pirates system, and he went 1-for-4 in four at-bats. Game Two: Fort Myers 1, Bradenton 0 (7 Innings) Box Score Luis Quiñones: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K HR: None Multi-hit games: None The Mighty Mussels breezed to a shutout win in game two. Melvin Rodriguez allowed a double in the second, starting, and ending the hitting evening for the Marauders. They collected four walks and only twice reached second base. Rodriguez was the bulk arm, collecting 3 2/3 innings while whiffing seven. Sandwiched around him was Luis Quiñones—the starter who threw a lone shutout inning—and Brian Strange, and who totaled 2 1/3 innings to end the game. A fifth inning wild pitch scored Quentin Young for the only run of the game. No member of Pittsburgh’s top 30 prospects played in the game. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Adrian Bohorquez Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Vahn Lackey PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 – Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 2-4, HR, R, RBI, K #2 – Vahn Lackey (Cedar Rapids) - 2-4, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB #3 – Kaelen Culpepper (Twins) - 1-3, HR, R, RBI, BB #4 – Marek Houston (Wichita) - 1-5, K #6 – Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 1-3, R, BB #8 – Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 0-3, 2 BB #9 – Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 3-4, RBI #11 – Carson Tinney (Fort Myers) - 0-2, R, 2 BB #12 – Brandon Winokur (Wichita) - 1-5, HR, R, RBI #13 – Khadim Diaw (Wichita) - 2-4, RBI #18 – Quentin Young (Fort Myers) - 1-2, K #19 – Yasser Mercedes (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, RBI, BB, K THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Toledo @ St. Paul (7:07 PM) - RHP Ricky Castro Arkansas @ Wichita (6:35 PM) - RHP Ty Langenberg Lake County @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM) - RHP Merit Jones Bradenton @ Fort Myers (6:05 PM) - TBD View full article

Image courtesy of Rob Thompson TRANSACTIONS No moves were made on Sunday. Saints Sentinel St. Paul 5, Columbus 8 Box Score Ryan Gallagher: 4 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 5 K HR: Walker Jenkins 2 (10, 11), Tanner Schobel 2 (4, 5) Multi-hit games: Walker Jenkins (3-for-3, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB), Ben Ross (2-for-5, 2B), Tanner Schobel (2-for-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI) A disastrous first inning sunk the Saints on Sunday. Oh, Ryan Gallagher, you poor thing. First, he suffered a nine-run blowup on the 18th, then, he couldn't escape Sunday’s inaugural frame without enduring five earned runs. All of this after a three-start run of allowing three earned runs across 17 1/3 IP. So it goes. Anyways, on to the home run barrage. Tanner Schobel and Walker Jenkins exchanged blasts like Joe Walsh and Don Felder trading guitar solos on Hotel California. Schobel’s first was a pallet whetter: a perfectly solid shot out to left that traveled 394 feet. Then, a Jenkins swat with a touch more mustard, but a lower launch angle, more of a line drive that refused to return to the ground than a proper home run. Penultimately, the centerpiece. Jenkins hit a ball that was never seen again. It left the field, the stadium. The state? The planet? None may know its current whereabouts. The D.B. Cooper of long balls. All anyone knows is that it counted for two runs and helped fuel what has been a tremendous stretch for the youngster. He’s slashing .415/.493/.800 in August. Well, if awe and majesty is what we’re doing now, then Schobel is perfectly capable of matching his teammate. His second crack took off immediately and flew with the sky-scraping power of a Patrick Mahomes deep ball. MLB’s 31st-overall prospect played for the Clippers on Sunday. First baseman Ralphy Velazquez went 1-3 with a pair of RBIs. Wind Surge Wisdom Wichita 8, Frisco 12 Box Score Sam Armstrong: 3 IP, 10 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 3 K HR: Graham Brown (2), Caden Kendle (9) Multi-hit games: Brandon Winokur (2-for-5, R), Graham Brown (3-for-4, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI), Jaime Ferrer (2-for-4, 2B, RBI) The Wind Surge fell in a high-scoring game on Sunday. Despite the end score, matters seemed to favor the Wind Surge during the match’s early stages. Graham Brown stepped up to the plate in the second and smoked a three-run homer to center; Wichita added on with a run-scoring groundout by Caden Kendle the following frame. Unfortunately, the good vibes ended there. Though strong in arm, Sam was not powerful in pitching acumen on Sunday. Frisco roughed up Armstrong with 10 hits in three innings, scoring six runs (five earned), as they overtook Wichita and slingshot into the lead. Staring at a 6-4 disadvantage in the sixth, the Wind Surge knotted the score, plating one with a Jaime Ferrer double and another with a Luis Hernandez RBI grounder. Tied once more, in a fleeting way. Lasting four pitches. A solo homer. A flurry of action. Suddenly, three runs. Two innings later, three more. Wichita hurlers found no rest or respite. No place to relax. Their ERAs speak for themselves. And, yet Wichita made it uncomfortable in the ninth. Caden Kendle carried a two-run homer out to left to bring the game within four. A walk and a hit by pitch sent reliever Eric Loomis from the game, with the incoming hurler one batter away from bringing the tying run to the plate. It didn’t happen. Kyle DeBarge struck out to end the game. The RoughRiders enjoy the work of MLB’s ninth-best prospect, infielder Sebastian Walcott. DH-ing, he singled and walked thrice, scoring four of Frisco’s 12 runs on the day. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 7, Beloit 1 Box Score Cesar Lares: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Byron Chourio (2-for-4, R, RBI, BB) The Kernels thumped their opponent on Sunday. We start in the fourth, when—with the bases loaded—Jose Salas lined out softly to the first baseman. He caught the ball, and then fired to third, unintentionally imparting the ball with wings that sported and soared way beyond the third baseman’s grasp and into a massive inside-jutted foul territory the infielder might still be digging around in. Beloit responded with a more ordinary RBI single stroked down the left field line. Then, the fifth. Do you like watching batters take walks? Yes? So did Beloit pitcher Peyton Fosher. He surrendered five of them, with a Salas pop out and an Eduardo Tait serving as the two lone respites in the outing. Still, two runs scored under his watch, and the Kernels tacked on three more after he left thanks to a two-run single by JP Smith II, and a double by Yasser Mercedes. Danny De Andrade scored on a wild pitch in the seventh to cap the scoring. Cesar Lares provided five workman-like innings, allowing one run in what was easily his finest start as a Kernel. His Cedar Rapids ERA started the day at 13.18. It ended at 11.45. The two Ross(es), Dunn, and Michael, who employs it as his surname, combined for four shutout innings out of the bullpen, striking out five with one base runner allowed. Beloit shortstop Starlyn Caba ranks as the seventh-best prospect in the Marlins system. He went 0-for-3, with a walk. Mussel Matters Fort Myers 1, Palm Beach 3 Box Score Eric Hammond: 4 2/3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Quentin Young (2-for-4) The Mighty Mussels were meager on Sunday. You couldn’t blame Eric Hammond for the shortcomings. The starter was excellent: he pitched 4 2/3 innings—the longest he’s gone all season—and didn’t allow an earned run. A runner reached base just twice against the righty. It was the culmination of a brilliant month for the Georgia product, as he now holds a 2.41 ERA across 18 2/3 frames in August. “Walk this way?” Perhaps. But Steven Tyler and Joe Perry were vague and unclear on what to do on the topic of hits, leading to Fort Myers batters earning just three of them while taking eight free passes on the day (plus two hit by pitches.) Vahn Lackey was especially patient, trotting to first three times with every BB coming on four pitches. Given that he has already racked up 14 walks in 15 games, the pitching at Low-A might not offer him the kind of challenge he needs. Quentin Young found hitting conditions just fine, singling twice to account for 2/3 of the team’s hits on the day. Charlie Scholvin earned the other knock. Hendry Chivilli struck out the side in an inning of work. The appearance continued a successful month for the former top international signee, as he holds a 3.46 ERA in August with as many strikeouts as frames (13). Fourth-ranked Cardinals prospect, outfielder Alexander Frias, went 1-4 with a homer. He came to the Cardinals organization at the trade deadline from the Brewers. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Eric Hammond Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Walker Jenkins PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 – Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 3-3, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB #2 – Vahn Lackey (Fort Myers) - 0-2, 3 BB #3 – Kaelen Culpepper (Twins) - 1-3 #4 – Marek Houston (Wichita) - 0-2 #6 – Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 1-5, 2 K #8 – Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, BB, K #9 – Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 0-4, K #12 – Brandon Winokur (Wichita) - 2-5, R, 3 K #15 – Ryan Gallagher (St. Paul) - 4 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 5 K #18 – Quentin Young (Fort Myers) - 2-4, K #19 – Yasser Mercedes (Cedar Rapids) - 1-5, 2B, RBI, K MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS No games for teams in the Twins’ system are scheduled for Monday. View full article

What we have to remember with Prielipp is that he has barely pitched since high school. His innings total combined between college and the minors is 159. Joe Ryan, for example, was at 450 if you include summer ball. So, yes, he's probably a little worn out. But, he also hasn't had time to learn and develop as a pitcher like your typical college arm. He's trying to do that on the fly at the highest level of play, which may result in the kind of outings we've seen from him lately.

Image courtesy of David Frerker-Imagn Images Box Score Connor Prielipp: 6 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 7 K Home Runs: None Bottom 3 WPA: Connor Prielipp (-.400), Ryan Jeffers (-.090), Byron Buxton/Trevor Larnach (-.070) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) The thick of a playoff race—there’s nothing like it. When the marathon nature of the sport—the long-term philosophy that cauterizes losses and tamps wins to mild celebration—suddenly gives way to a more phrenetic, imminent reality. Each pitch matters. Every mistake, a drop in the standings. The slow season plod arches and groans day by day as the wheat is separated from the chaff in the only way baseball knows how: by testing the mettle and endurance of the men who play. A saunter into San Diego continues the Twins’ NL gauntlet and kick starts a curt West Coast trip. And what a poor time to fly into the fine city: the Padres offense that was once glacial and impotent has turned scintillating after the All-Star break. They’ve hit for a 116 wRC+ since play resumed, the second-best mark in the league. That suddenly overwhelming hitting acumen struck early on Friday, as Ty France caught a Connor Prielipp fastball and launched the offering 421 feet out to left field to score two. The Twins offense laid dormant for three frames, putting balls in play with authority against Randy Vásquez with nothing to show except a low pitch count for the Padres starter. Those three perfect innings gave way to a finally fruitful fourth, fantastically forthcoming and fulfilling after the previous futility. Luke Keaschall smacked a single. Josh Bell took a pitch that clipped his pants. Then, with two outs, Kody Clemens cracked a two-run game-tying triple to right. The even game felt like a righting ship. The young Prielipp appeared settled after his initial gaffe, relying on a heavier dose of his slippery breaking offerings as he racked up strikeouts and double plays. Perhaps the Twins could build more. Perhaps they could continue the retaliation. And perhaps they could blow up in fifth. San Diego might still be smacking singles. An infield hit and a walk put the lefty in trouble; a Fernando Tatis Jr. smoking worm burner into right field started to ring bells and set off air raid sirens. What continued was a flurry: Luis Rengifo and Manny Machado turned Minnesota’s infielders into flailing acrobats and a France sacrifice fly capped the melee at four runs. At 6-2, the concept of rallying seemed dead in the water. And it was. The Twins fell in the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth innings in order. The fifth too. In fact, Clemens' triple three paragraphs ago was the final hit of the game for the team. Vásquez, while hittable, settled in; Bradgley Rodriguez cruised; Mason Miller struck out the side to end the game. Notes: Connor Prielipp's seven strikeouts give him 101 on the season, the 11th-most for a rookie in Twins history. Kody Clemens' six triples ties him for the sixth-most in MLB in 2026. Josh Bell extended his on-base streak to 23 games. Luke Keaschall is .324/.418/.461 in his last 30 games. Post-Game Interview: What’s Next? The Twins and Padres lop an hour off the start time wait on Saturday, starting with a more merciful 7:40 PM first pitch. Dean Kremer will take on Casey Mize in the battle of trade deadline acquisitions. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet MON TUE WED THUR FRI TOT Gomez 19 16 13 0 0 48 Hoffman 20 0 20 0 0 40 Adams 18 0 0 0 17 35 Rogers 11 0 0 0 11 22 Funderburk 0 4 17 0 0 21 Minter 0 6 10 0 0 16 Nance 0 0 16 0 0 16 Morris 0 13 0 0 0 13 View full article

Image courtesy of Charisma Jones (photo of Riley Quick) TRANSACTIONS No moves were made on Wednesday. Saints Sentinel The Saints echoed traffic on Wednesday, with a start-stop nature that eventually resulted in the game being suspended in the bottom of the third. Unlike Traffic, they were not Feelin’ Alright. Play will resume on August 20th. Wind Surge Wisdom Wichita 9, Frisco 8 Box Score Riley Quick: 4 ⅓ IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K HR: Garrett Spain (22) Multi-hit games: Marek Houston (2-for-5, 2B, R), Kyle DeBarge (2-for-5, R, 3 RBI), Jay Thomason (2-for-2, R, RBI, 3 BB) “Now we’ve got that damned Cowboy,” exclaimed Senator Mark Hanna when President William McKinley’s death thrust the youthful Theodore Roosevelt into the highest office in the land. Though his ascent to power was under shocking a macabre haze, the nation’s 26th President would go down as one of its finest, embodying the spirit and vigor of the nascent west with a unique character that continues to reverberate throughout the ages. The Rough Riders were, of course, a volunteer cavalry in the Spanish-American war, led by former Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Theodore Roosevelt, who resigned his office to fight in Cuba (and he may not even be the most famous Roosevelt to hold the position). Their charge up San Juan Hill remains a defining and iconic story; with the heroic Roosevelt charging head-first into battle, as if death were a mere minor obstacle to be trampled and overcome, much like other challenges in the New York native’s life. So, why does Frisco carry his namesake? Other than the fact that his men consisted of many Texans, the connection between the parent Rangers and the Rough Riders as bandolier-strapped enforcers of justice seems to be the key. And also the fact that the affable, outgoing President remains an easily identifiable figure in American culture doesn’t seem to hurt (look, considering some of the stuff minor league teams pull, the logic here isn’t as strained as you may think). The Wind Surge won in a thriller on Wednesday. Meager his introduction to AA may have been, Riley Quick revealed why he’s such a well-regarded prospect. The righty punched out eight across 4 ⅓ innings, driving boring sinkers into right-handed hitters while corkscrewing batters off all handedness with dastardly breaking balls. The strikeout total was his highest since whiffing nine on June 11th. Marek Houston started matters with a single of Ben Anderson, twin brother of Ian—not the Jethro Tull guy—and advanced to third on a stray pickoff attempt. A Brandon Winokur walk put men on the corners; a Caden Kendle double plated one; a Kyle DeBarge single added two more. Winokur knocked in Houston the second for a fourth run. The RoughRiders marked Quick with his lone blemish when he unleashed a run-scoring wild pitch in the third, a score soon matched by the Wind Surge in the fifth off a DeBarge groundout. Sitting at 5-1, Frisco pounced on the incoming Sam Armstrong for a four-run flurry, sending the right-hander in a tizzy as Quick’s hard work was quickly rendered obsolete. The wonderfully powerful Garrett Spain kicked off a seventh-inning response, shooting an opposite field blast sailing into an empty and sad-looking Peak Porch. Two more came around to score in the frame off a Graham Brown single. Unfortunately, Frisco responded. Despite the 100+ degree temperatures, no one was content with packing it in and going home. They matched the Wind Surge volley with one swing: a three-run blast that could have defeated the morals of a lesser-inclined squad. Once more, Wichita went to work. Spain walked. An error allowed him to reach third. Hoping to end things for good, Jay Thomason grounded a sharp bounding ball through the middle, easily ushering in Spain to give the team a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Mitch Mueller slammed the door in the ninth. Superstar prospect Sebastian Walcott DH’d for the RoughRiders on Wednesday. The 9th-overall youngster on MLB.com’s top 100 list went 0-5 with a pair of strikeouts. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 1, Beloit 5 Box Score Reed Moring: 3 ⅓ IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 3 K HR: Irvin Nunez (1) Multi-hit games: None The Kernels were solidly beat on Wednesday. No one knows quite how Reed Moring did it. Six hits and four walks across 10 outs should have resulted in at least one run, if not a bushel of scores. Yet, the magician out of Santa Cruz navigated and tamed the flames, somehow escaping with the squeaky clean line of a perfectly efficient hurler. Ross Dunn wasn’t so lucky; the fires from before singed him for three earned runs, ballooning his ERA as the burning metaphor reached its logical conclusion. Irvin Nunez socked a solo homer for the Kernels’ lone run of the day. Byron Chourio enjoyed a relatively tepid, yet still successful day at the plate for the Kernels, doubling and walking to push his A+ slash line to .318/.423/.682 in 11 games. The same goes for JP Smith II, whose hit-and-a-walk outing moved his Cedar Rapids line to .333/.464/.644 in 14 games. You may recognize the name Starlyn Caba. The shortstop was the centerpiece of the trade that sent Jesús Luzardo to Philadelphia before the 2025 season. He collected two hits and walked twice in five plate appearances. Mussel Matters Fort Myers 4, Palm Beach 8 Box Score Matt Barr: 2 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K HR: Colby Turner (1) Multi-hit games: Colby Turner (3-for-5, HR, 2 R, RBI) The Mighty Mussels were bested on Wednesday. Don’t blame Colby Turner, mighty in stroke and singular in vision was he. The 12th-rounder out of Michigan waited through a rain delay—sitting, pondering how he may look to start the game as the leadoff hitter—and pounced on the first pitch he saw, lasering the offering 107.5 MPH out to left field. The ball may have left a vapor trail as it sliced through the air. The run portended two disastrous early frames, in which Matt Barr surrendered four runs in the second, and Melvin Rodriguez saw three more touch home in the third. Though the Cardinals would only score once more, the damage had been done. Fort Myers tacked on a run in the sixth off a Vahn Lackey RBI groundout and pushed two more across in the eighth thanks to a moon-scraping triple by Aidan Teel. Quentin Young accomplished a dubious feat on Wednesday, collecting his 29th, and 30th errors of the season. Billed a raw prospect, the youngster may need an entire McCormick factory’s worth of seasoning on defense. Palm Beach centerfielder Alexander Frias ranks as the fourth-best prospect in the Cardinals system. He went 1-5 with two strikeouts. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Riley Quick Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Colby Turner PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #2 – Vahn Lackey (Fort Myers) - 1-3, R, RBI, 2 BB #3 – Kaelen Culpepper (Twins) - 3-4, R #4 – Marek Houston (Wichita) - 2-5, 2B, R #5 – Riley Quick (Wichita) - 4 ⅓ IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K #8 – Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, K #11 – Carson Tinney (Fort Myers) - 0-4, 2 K #12 – Brandon Winokur (Wichita) - 1-4, R, RBI, BB, 2 K #18 – Quentin Young (Fort Myers) - 0-3, BB, 2 K #19 – Yasser Mercedes (Cedar Rapids) - 0-5, 4 K THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Columbus (11:05 AM) - RHP Trent Baker Wichita @ Frisco (7:05 PM) - RHP Preston Johnson Cedar Rapids @ Beloit (6:05 PM) - RHP Adrian Bohorquez Fort Myers @ Palm Beach (5:30 PM) - RHP Cristian Hernandez View full article

Image courtesy of Malamut Photography (photo of Reed Moring), William Parmeter (photo of Carson Tinney) TRANSACTIONS OF Kyler Fedko moved to full-season IL (St. Paul) C Irvin Nunez promoted to A+ Cedar Rapids C Luis Hernandez promoted to AA Wichita RHP Joel Garcia transferred from 7-day IL to 60-day IL (A Fort Myers) C Hideki Prather promoted to A Fort Myers LHP Jake Murray placed on 7-day IL (A Fort Myers) LHP Matthew Becker promoted to A Fort Myers Saints Sentinel St. Paul 6, Iowa 7 Box Score Ryan Gallagher: 5 2/3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K HR: Noah Cardenas (10) Multi-hit games: Walker Jenkins (2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI, BB), Emmanuel Rodriguez (2-for-5, R), Noah Cardenas (2-for-2, HR, 2 R, RBI, BB) A Saints rally fell short on Wednesday. Has Ryan Gallagher figured it out? The righty followed up a modestly positive 4.13 ERA in July with two marvelous August outings, allowing two earned runs across 11 2/3 innings with 16 strikeouts, six hits, and two walks. His Saints season ERA remains impossibly high at 5.67, yet his tepid improvements may have morphed into a full-blown evolution as a pitcher. Hopefully, he can keep the momentum going in the right direction. St. Paul faced off against Braxton Garrett, one of the shiny new toys acquired by the Cubs at the trade deadline. He appeared more mildew-covered and dilapidated than the other arms, as he walked six in an outing where his relationship with the strike zone was cool and distant. Those free passes gave the Saints a first inning run, and they added on with two in the fourth on a slicing Walker Jenkins double to left. The 3-0 good times were soiled with a nightmare outing by Woo-Suk Go, as the righty surrendered a two-run shot in the sixth, then returned for a five-run clubbing in the seventh. Still, the Saints nearly made the comeback. Down 7-3, Noah Cardenas homered to trim the deficit. With the bases full in the ninth, Tristan Gray singled to score two, drawing the game to an agonizing one-run difference. Cody Morissette had a chance. Men were on the corners. He could only ground out to conclude what nearly became an impressive game-winning rally. Iowa catcher Owen Ayers ranks as the second-best prospect in the Cubs system. He walked once in four plate appearances. According to North Side Baseball, Ayers ranks as the Cubs #4 prospect. Wind Surge Wisdom Wichita 9, Corpus Christi 3 Box Score Ty Langenberg: 4 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 3 K HR: Garrett Spain 2 (19, 20), Brandon Winokur (5) Multi-hit games: Marek Houston (2-for-5, 2 R, RBI), Brandon Winokur (2-for-5, HR, R, 3 RBI), Caden Kendle (2-for-5), Garrett Spain (3-for-3, 2 HR, 3 R, 4 RBI, BB) The Wind Surge bludgeoned their way to victory on Wednesday. Garrett Spain set a season-high in long balls some time ago; he’s now just padding his stats, imparting pain with a left-handed stroke capable of more thump than his 5’9” body would imply. His first souvenir of the night was dug out of the ground and launched out to right, and his second was thunderously launched into the atmosphere as every player, fan, and usher understood the ball was gone the second Spain hit it. Brandon Winokur was in the mood for leaving the yard, too, though he displayed a relative restraint, as he cleared the fence just once. And he sure made it count. Every batter in the Wind Surge lineup reached base at least once. Ty Langenberg hasn’t allowed a run across 13 innings in August. Houston’s third-ranked prospect Jason Schiavone played first and went 0-4, with a pair of strikeouts on Wednesday. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 6, Wisconsin 5 (13 Innings) Box Score Reed Moring: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Eduardo Tait (2-for-5, 2B, R, RBI, BB), JP Smith II (2-for-5), Jose Salas (2-for-6, 2B, RBI) The Kernels reached deep into extra innings to win on Wednesday. The match began with a two-hour rain delay, pushing what was already the longest Kernels game since 2016 to likely be the longest (time-wise) game anyone could remember. Reed Moring spearheaded pitching matters with his finest start as a Kernel. For the second game in a row, he totaled six innings; this time, he held the opposing team scoreless, a feat he hadn’t accomplished since July 11th. The UC-Santa Barbara product struck out five. He walked two. Perhaps he, Cory Lewis, and Ryan Gallagher will grab a celebratory drink and wax poetic about how awesome Barry Zito and Michael Young were. Cedar Rapids started their scoring with two runs in the third, turning an Andy Lugo walk and stolen base into a run on a Jacob McCombs single. Eduardo Tait doubled home a second run. Wisconsin took the lead, yet—once again—Tait drove in McCombs, this time with an eighth inning single. The teams explored what lay beyond the ninth inning. Free runners abounded—a temptation and tantalizing state-allowed opportunity that resulted in zilch for two full frames. Evidently, you can bring a batter to a run-scoring situation, but you cannot make him come through in the clutch. Runs exchanged in the 12th, which necessitated a 13th, which started in the Timber Rattlers’ favor, as they immediately cashed in their free runner, then hit into a double play, effectively neutering their rally. Who cares? The lead was theirs once more. Cedar Rapids started their half of the frame with a lineout and a single, with the latter knotting the game for the umpteenth time of the day. Then, a breakthrough. A lunge too little. Jose Salas stroked a flyball to right field that fell just beyond the outfielder’s grasp. Quinn McDaniel saw the whole thing with perfect clarity. He lurched towards second and bolted the second he saw the ball fall safely, starting a race around the bases that ended in him easily, safely reaching home plate. Wisconsin DH Luis Peña is the 18th-best prospect in MLB, according to Pipeline. He collected two hits and walked once in six plate appearances. According to Brewer Fanatic, Pena ranks #2 in an absolutely loaded Brewers farm system. Mussel Matters Fort Myers 6, Clearwater 5 Box Score Eric Hammond: 4 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K HR: Carson Tinney 2 (2, 3) Multi-hit games: Carson Tinney (2-for-5, 2 HR, 3 R, 4 RBI), Ramiro Dominguez (2-for-4, R), Bryce Fowler (2-for-4, RBI), Merphy Hernandez (2-for-4) The Mighty Mussels won on a walk off on Wednesday. It started with a Carson Tinney blast; and so, it eventually would end. The first homer gave Fort Myers two runs in the third. It sailed with a majesty common amongst right-handed shots, though the sight will never grow old. Three Clearwater runs in the second meant the home run didn’t give Fort Myers a lead; a fifth inning Bryce Fowler single would knot things, however. Starter Eric Hammond’s early sins gave way to a six-inning shutout streak, with Hammond, Melvin Rodriguez, and Nick McAuliffe combining to keep the Threshers at bay. McAuliffe was the best of the bunch with two empty frames and three strikeouts. Eventually, the pitching performance was rewarded with an offensive breakthrough, as Bryan Acuña gave the Mighty Mussels a short lead on an RBI infield single in eighth. Michael Hilker was summoned for the save. He was unaware of what was waiting for him. A walk and a flurry of singles flipped the script, scoring two in a reversal of fates as the Threshers now commanded a ninth inning advantage. A Yovanny Duran flyout started the rally on a sour note, and a Vahn Lackey triple quickly sweetened the deal. Tinney stepped up to the plate with a simple way to at least tie the game in any way he chose. Presented with this Gordian knot, he decided to cut through the situation, sending a ball soaring through the Fort Myers night for a walk-off. Philadelphia’s 23rd-ranked prospect Matthew Ferrara was the best youngster on the field for Clearwater; he singled and walked in four trips to the plate. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Reed Moring Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Carson Tinney or Garrett Spain, whichever one you think is cooler PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 – Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI, BB #2 – Vahn Lackey (Fort Myers) - 1-4, 3B, 2 R, BB, K #4 – Marek Houston (Wichita) - 2-5, 2 R, RBI, K #6 – Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 2-5, R, K #7 – Hendry Mendez (St. Paul) - 1-3, RBI, 2 BB #8 – Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 2-5, 2B, R, 2 RBI, BB, K #9 – Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 1-4, K #11 – Carson Tinney (Fort Myers) - 2-5, 2 HR, 3 R, 4 RBI, #12 – Brandon Winokur (Wichita) - 2-5, HR, R, 3 RBI, K #15 – Ryan Gallagher (St. Paul) - 5 2/3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K #18 – Quentin Young (Fort Myers) - 1-4, 2B, 3 K #19 – Yasser Mercedes (Cedar Rapids) - 0-1 THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Iowa (6:38 PM) - RHP Ricky Castro Corpus Christi @ Wichita (6:35 PM) - RHP Riley Quick Wisconsin @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM) - RHP Adrian Bohorquez Clearwater @ Fort Myers (6:05 PM) - RHP Matt Barr DSL Twins @ DSL Phillies (10:00 AM) - TBD View full article

Image courtesy of William Parmeter (photo of Callan Fang) TRANSACTIONS No moves were made on Sunday. Saints Sentinel St. Paul 3, Louisville 11 Box Score Aaron Rozek: 3 IP, 5 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 4 K HR: Kala’i Rosario (2), Ben Ross (12) Multi-hit games: None The Saints were thumped on Sunday. A day after beating the Bats solidly, the Saints saw their fortunes reversed, as Aaron Rozek surrendered six runs in three innings, and their lineup did little to resist the veteran Kent Emanuel across his six excellent frames. Every St. Paul pitcher allowed at least one run on Sunday. Two homers marked the only runs of the day for the Saints: a fifth inning smash by Kala’i Rosario that closely resembled a torpedo launch, and an eighth inning blast by Ben Ross that cleared the bullpens and the berm before bouncing majestically into the awaiting hands of a victorious fan. Shortstop Leo Balcazar ranks as the 16th-best prospect in the Cincinnati Reds’ system. He singled twice and walked in five trips to the plate. Wind Surge Wisdom Wichita 6, NW Arkansas 3 Box Score Preston Johnson: 4 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K HR: Kyle DeBarge (12), Caden Kendle (4), Garrett Spain (18) Multi-hit games: Caden Kendle (3-for-5, HR, 2B, R, 2 RBI), Garrett Spain (2-for-4, HR, 2B, R, RBI, BB) The Wind Surge rallied late to win on Sunday. The teams dealt each other two blank frames before Wichita struck for the first run of the ballgame. Staring out at two men on base, Caden Kendle shot a single up the middle, easily scoring Jay Thomason who was stealing on the play, though the trailing Kyle DeBarge—who began his adventure on first—was thrown out with relative ease. He made up for the play with a solo homer in his next at-bat, sending a hanging 0-2 offering over the left-center wall. Unfortunately, the lead quickly evaporated. Sam Armstrong relieved Preston Johnson, and he found the hitters Johnson easily quelled to be in a much more vigorous mood. A walk, a hit by pitch, and a three-run homer flipped the game on its head. Wichita stood paralyzed by the rally for two innings, striking out four times between the sixth and seventh in what seemed like a meager slide that would carry the team into a loss. But it didn’t. With no buildup, Caden Kendle blasted a solo homer in the eighth to tie the game. Sensing an altered mood, Garrett Spain backed up his buddy, and smacked a homer of his own to give the Wind Surge a lead. And they expanded on it. Jake Rucker doubled, Graham Brown walked, and Jorel Ortega cracked a double into the left-center gap to safely deliver both home. Kyle Bischoff slammed the door with two scoreless innings. NW Arkansas outfielder Carson Roccaforte is the 16th-best prospect in the Royals system, according to MLB.com. He went 0-for-3 with a walk. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 1, South Bend 13 Box Score Cesar Lares: 2 2/3 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 4 K HR: Jacob McCombs (7) Multi-hit games: None The Kernels had their clock cleaned on Sunday. What a strange idiom. Apparently it arrived somewhere in the late 1800s, shot up in popularity after the turn of the century, immediately died down, and slowly crept back into vernacular in the 2000s. And no one seems to know where it originated. Fascinating. Anyways, matters were grim. Cedar Rapids struggled in all three phases, committing three errors, allowing nine earned runs, and accruing just one run in eight innings before the game mercifully ended when even mother nature determined it necessary to scrub the match from the record books. Multiple Kernels catchers took a beating. Eduardo Tait’s injury forced him out of the game; Luis Hernandez’s portended the game-ending rain. Cedar Rapids’ lone run was a lead-off blast by Jacob McCombs. They only advanced a runner to second three more times, and no Kernel touched third the rest of the day. Rehabbing prospect Emmanuel Rodriguez played right field and singled and walked twice in four trips to the plate. Iowa first baseman Josiah Hartshorn is the 60th-best prospect in MLB. He homered, doubled, and walked in five plate appearances. Mussel Matters Fort Myers 5, Bradenton 3 Box Score Callan Fang: 3 2/3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Yovanny Duran (2-for-4, 2B, 2 R, RBI) The Mighty Mussels snuck in a win on Sunday. It was a bad day to stand in the batter’s box against Callan Fang. The righty was on his game, twisting Bradenton hitters into the ground with his low 90s heat and collection of breakers. He allowed one hit—a 41.6 MPH nubber that drove into the ground and died before any fielder could reach it. He struck out nine. That bested his career-high mark by four. An excellent game for the 2025 13th-rounder out of Harvard. The teams were at an impasse for five innings, exchanging zeroes like trading cards as hitters found practicing their craft impossible for some time. Perhaps an ejection was the spark the game needed. Mighty Mussels outfielder Bryce Fowler was picked off at second base—or so said the umpire—and he disagreed with the call, earning a ticket for “anywhere but here” as he was ushered out of the game. That sparked a three-run rally, with Yovanny Duran singling in one and Colby Turner delivering two home. Bradenton struck for two in the bottom of the frame, and Fort Myers responded in the eighth with two of their own thanks to a botched fielding effort by pitcher Tony Gonzalez simply summed up as a “fielder’s choice.” A mistake is a choice, so says the box score. One more Marauders’ run pushed the score to its end game, which is where it stood until one out in the bottom of the ninth, when rain descended upon the field and netted the final two outs for Fort Myers. Rehabber Nick Yorke singled and walked in four plate appearances for Bradenton. No member of Pittsburgh’s top 30 prospect list played in Sunday’s game. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Callan Fang Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Caden Kendle PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #2 – Vahn Lackey (Fort Myers) - 1-5 2 K #4 – Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 1-2, 2 BB #7 – Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4 #11 – Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 1-4, K MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS DSL Tigers 2 @ DSL Twins (10:00 AM) - TBD View full article

Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints (photo of Ryan Gallagher) TRANSACTIONS No moves were made on Wednesday. Saints Sentinel St. Paul 4, Louisville 1 Box Score Ryan Gallagher: 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Kaelen Culpepper (2-for-4, 2 2B, R, 2 RBI), Gabriel Gonzalez (2-for-4) The Saints breezed to a win on Wednesday. Don’t look back in anger? Sure. But many Louisville hitters must have stared backwards in angst or frustration. Ryan Gallagher was a menace: the righty whiffed a season-high nine across an also season-high six innings of work, allowing a lone earned run in the process. He earned 12 swing-and-misses over 80 pitches. It was a superlative performance from a hurler who entered the day with an ERA over 6 with St. Paul, and ends it at… 5.99. a A step in a journey that hopefully has many more like this. The Saints did need many runs on the day, so the mild four-score (no Lincoln) total they received turned out to be plenty. Kaelen Culpepper started out the day with a double whacked off rehabbing big leaguer Nick Lodolo, and a Gabriel Gonzalez single and Walker Jenkins double play ushered in the first run of the game. Three empty frames begat a fruitful middle-innings excursion, in which Culpepper once more dropped his barrel on a low Lodolo changeup for a double—this time to plate two. Cody Morissette then smacked a two-bagger the next inning to score the fourth and final run of the day. Ruddy Gomez, Marco Raya, and Julian Merryweather combined for three scoreless innings out of the bullpen. Merryweather struck out three to earn the save. The Bats are an affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, who recently called up outfielder Héctor Rodríguez, a long-time antagonist in these writeups. In his stead, infielder Leo Balcazar, ranked 16th on the team, served as the best prospect on Wednesday. He went 0-4. Wind Surge Wisdom Wichita 7, NW Arkansas 6 Box Score Sam Armstrong: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K HR: Graham Brown (1) Multi-hit games: Khadim Diaw (2-for-3, R, 2 BB) A late surge delivered a win to Wichita on Wednesday. Down two in the fifth, the Wind Surge decided to run wild. Marek Houston stole, and then stole some more, concluding his odyssey with a safe swipe of third. Then Khadim Diaw walked. Of course he stole second. A wild pitch advanced Houston to the dugout, high-fiving his teammates, while Diaw took third. A Brandon Winokur sacrifice fly plated the trailing Diaw. Wichita returned the following inning to plate one more, with Kyle DeBarge doubling and Jay Thomason singling to send the Wind Surge into the lead. Naturally, NW Arkansas responded with immediate vigor. A lead for all of a deep breath. Three scored on a homer and—like Wichita before them—they tagged on one more run in a follow-up inning. That could have been the game. Better teams have folded in such a scenario. But Wichita’s batters felt themselves in a vengeful mood—and they struck with a violent, deadly, deciding blow. Three walks fattened the bases. One pitcher gave way to another. Fortune remained displeased. The incoming Zachary Cawyer surrendered one of the free passes before settling in against Graham Brown. He fired a fastball to the outfielder and Brown crushed the offering to center, sending the ball over the fence for a grand slam, his first AA hit. Drew Beam, the starter for the Naturals on Wednesday, ranks as the 12th-best prospect in the Royals system. He allowed three earned runs in six innings. Kernels Nuggets The Kernels attempted to play but were thwarted by mother nature, who ended matters in the bottom of the 3rd in a 1-1 game. The match will be continued on August 6th. Mussel Matters Fort Myers 4, Bradenton 2 Box Score Callan Fang: 3 1/3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Aidan Teel (2-for-4, 2B, R, RBI), Quentin Young (2-for-4, R) The Mighty Mussels were victorious on Wednesday. This was not the offensive explosion of Sunday’s match; rather, this time, the Mighty Mussels proved they had finesse, too, and turned six hits and six walks into four runs. How? Let’s see together. A Quentin Young single, a Charlie Scholvin hit by pitch, and a wild pitch placed two on with one out. Yovanny Duran grounded out to coax Young home. The third continued the shenanigans. With the walks and passed balls and the like. Two free passes set up Aidan Teel with an opportunity to crack the game in half, and he did exactly that, driving in a run with a double mere inches away from a homer. No problem: Bryce Fowler cleaned up the scraps with a two-run single. The aforementioned Fowler was an undrafted signee out of the University of Alabama. He literally signed over the past weekend. Perhaps he and Connor Prielipp and Riley Quick can wax mirthfully on the days of Nick Saban in years of yonder. Callan Fang tossed a season-high 63 pitches across 3 1/3 innings of work, allowing one earned run. He struck out four and walked three. Michael Hilker netted an old-school save with 2 1/3 frames to end the game, striking out five without allowing a run. Somewhere, Goose Gossage smiles (probably not). Bradenton shortstop Wyatt Sanford ranks as the fourth-best prospect in the Pirates’ system. He homered once in four at-bats. Dominican Daily The DSL Twins did not play as rain poured down and washed away any possibility of a game. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Ryan Gallagher Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Graham Brown PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed. Click here to rank your post-trade deadline Top 20 prospects now. #1 – Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 0-4 #2 – Vahn Lackey (Fort Myers) - 0-2, BB, K #3 – Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 2-4, 2 2B, R, 2 RBI, 2 K #5 – Marek Houston (Wichita) - 1-5, R, 2 K #7 – Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 2-4, BB #11 – Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 2-4, K #13 – Carson Tinney (Fort Myers) - 0-3, R, BB, 2 K #14 – Khadim Diaw (Wichita) - 2-3, R, 2 BB #15 – Brandon Winokur (Wichita) - 1-4, RBI, K #17 – Quentin Young (Fort Myers) - 2-4, R, K #18 – Ryan Gallagher (St. Paul) - 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 K THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Louisville @ St. Paul (7:07 PM) - RHP Zebby Matthews Wichita @ NW Arkansas (7:05 PM) - RHP Ty Langenberg Cedar Rapids @ South Bend (6:05 PM) - RHP Adrian Bohorquez Fort Myers @ Bradenton (5:30 PM) - RHP Matt Barr DSL Nationals @ DSL Twins (10:00 AM) - TBD View full article

Image courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect Batter’s box antics are nothing new. Humans are creatures of habit, and hitters are even more so. The maniacal, unthinking routines of players at the plate are a part of their personhood; reflecting character and philosophy, even if they aren’t fully aware of what they’re doing, much less why they’re doing it. Luke Keaschall is one of these people. Let’s look at a sample of his behavior from just one game. We start with the mild: a good-not-great sweeper from Eduard Bazardo that Keaschall saw all the way for an easy take. In response, he digs in aggressively with his back foot, though hesitates slightly, as if he found and then took aim at an especially ugly bug. He does this move often. Typically in frustration after a poor take. TUFYd1lfWGw0TUFRPT1fQUFBQ1ZWSURCd0FBWGxKVEJRQUhDUVZVQUFOWEFBQUFCMVFGQWxVSFYxZFJBbFJW.mp4 The next is a twist, literally. An outside sinker from Michael Rucker never darts back to the zone, and our hero lets everyone know it, shaking his head with an Arraez-ian vigor before rotating in a half-Chubby Checker. He concludes his antics with the common movements of an anxious hitter, with spit, adjustments, and a stare-off towards nowhere in particular as he prepares for the next offering. TUFYd1lfWGw0TUFRPT1fQjFWU0IxTlNVZ1VBRFZwVEJBQUhBUUlBQUFBQ1d3Y0FCbGNNQXdwUUNWQUdWZ1JT.mp4 Keaschall is a habitual shaker. He can’t help it. And with a career walk rate of nearly 10%, he’s earned the right to communicate to players and fans alike what he believed the relationship between any given pitch and the strike zone to be. This kind of self-affirmation may seem indulgent—and perhaps it is—but when the line between ball and strike, out and hit, is razor thin, constant positive feedback could help a batter stay on top of their game. Or at least help them fend off the madness innate in the 162-game slog. Or maybe they were crazy all along. Perhaps it's no surprise, then, that Keaschall is Challenger. His right hand might as well be magnetically connected to his helmet. He leads all Twins hitters with 21 challenges, though his success rate is a tepid 52%. Still, his massive challenge rate has neutered four strikeouts and added two walks, making his attempts to thwart the home plate umpire an overall net positive for the team, even if it may result in a flustered feeling. Keaschall doesn’t care. He knows his process is sound. The downside of his tendencies played out on Friday night, with the youngster reminding us of the visceral embarrassment that arrives when one protests what turns out to be just. Bryce Miller spots a perfect pitch. His 0-1 fastball beautifully clips the bottom outside edge of the strike zone. Keaschall disagrees. He shakes as he pulls himself back, hears the umpire call the pitch a strike, and taps his helmet before Alan Porter can fire his finger gun towards the first base dugout. He will fail this in his contest. Yet, you can understand his desire to alter reality: the difference between an 0-2 deficit and a 1-1 count is massive for a hitter. If he can impart that change, fortune swings slightly back into his favor. The 23-year-old ended up with an infield single anyways. Ball don’t lie? TUFYd1lfWGw0TUFRPT1fQTFWUVhRQlNVMUFBWEZ0VFVBQUhCUUlFQUZnRkJsVUFWd1pYVkFFRFYxWUVCd1ZY.mp4 Our final take is the most inspiring. A straight-up workout routine. Keaschall spits on a pretty good curve that darts into the dirt before smoothly dropping into a tucking stretch. Maybe he wanted to get closer to the ball and the catcher to tell both that he saw through their shenanigans; the tricky breaking ball was not enough to coax a swing. And he gets real low: for a second, he compacts himself lower than Cal Raleigh, whose position demands a perpetually calcified crouch. He then steps back and adjusts his person with a similar vigor as example two. TUFYd1lfWGw0TUFRPT1fVlZSUlVsQUJVbEVBQ1ZJRlV3QUhCQUVFQUFBTkFWY0FWRlVCVWd0WEJ3QlVCRmRT.mp4 These probably aren’t even the best examples of the energy Keaschall exudes at the plate. They just happened to be from the most recent game. Watch any at-bat of his closely, and you’ll see any and all types of movement, the kind of jittery motions that rival David Byrne at his most eccentric. It's an art in itself. Players may be professionals, but that will never stop them from being strangely human. View full article

Image courtesy of William Parmeter (photo of Carson Tinney) TRANSACTIONS RHP Raul Brito released RHP Xavier Kolhosser placed on 7-day IL (A+ Cedar Rapids) LHP Michael Carpenter activated from 7-day IL (Cedar Rapids) INF Jay Thomason activated from temporary inactive list (AA Wichita) RHP Jack Anderson optioned to AAA St. Paul C Enrique Jimenez transferred to 60-day IL (Cedar Rapids) Saints Sentinel St. Paul 4, Omaha 2 Box Score Trent Baker: 2 ⅓ IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Walker Jenkins (3-for-5), Hendry Mendez (2-for-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI) The Saints were victorious on Sunday. It was an ordinary, garden-variety win. Not that there’s anything wrong with such a thing. The Saints’ pitching staff allowed a smattering of baserunners, but found outs at critical junctures, holding the Storm Chasers to a meager 1-8 showing with runners in scoring position. Ruddy Gomez was probably the happiest of the bunch. He washed away his two-run Saints debut earlier in the week with a scoreless inning and the win. Julian Merryweather nailed down the save. 75% of St. Paul’s runs came on a two-out rally in the third. A pair of strikeouts appeared to steer the frame into empty territory. Then, Kaelen Culpepper smacked a double and Matt Wallner walked. Kyle Fedko bulleted a double into the left field corner to score them both; Hendry Mendez swapped places with his outfield brethren on a double of his own. Mendez added on with a final insurance sacrifice fly in the ninth, which proved unnecessary when the aforementioned Merryweather quickly earned the game’s final three outs. Vibes surrounding the win were neutered when, with two outs in the ninth, Kyler Fedko chased a ball hit into the left field corner and crumpled on a non-contact play. He lay hidden behind the wall for some time as his teammates gathered to check on the outfielder, who had to be helped onto his feet before he was carted off the field. Omaha is an affiliate of the Royals system, which claims four players on MLB.com’s top 100 prospect list. None played in this game; the best youngster the Storm Chasers had to offer was the franchise’s 26th-ranked player, outfielder Gavin Cross. He went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. Wind Surge Wisdom Wichita 2, Springfield 9 Box Score Cory Lewis: 4 IP, 3 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 3 K HR: Caden Kendle (2), Jaime Ferrer (5) Multi-hit games: None The Wind Surge were thumped on Sunday. Caden Kendle and Jaime Ferrer hit home runs in the third. The Ferrer homer was the final hit Wichita earned on the day. Wichita hitters took six walks—demonstrating that they weren’t helpless on Sunday—though, for whatever reason, getting hits to fall proved difficult. Just one of 13 balls in play resulted in a knock. Jaylen Nowlin was the only Wind Surge pitcher to escape without an earned run attached to him. MLB’s 12th-overall prospect, catcher Rainiel Rodriguez, collected three hits, including a homer and a double. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 2, Peoria 3 Box Score Ivran Romero: 3 1/3 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 5 BB, 6 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Eduardo Tait (2-for-4, BB), Jayson Bass (2-for-5, K), Graham Brown (3-for-4, 2 2B, RBI) The Kernels squandered a winnable game on Sunday. Runs were hard to come by for Cedar Rapids. 11 hits—five of them doubles—should score a team more than two runs; yet the team found placing men on far easier than bringing them home, and a rough 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position did not help their chances of winning. The first run came on a Jose Salas sacrifice fly in the second. The next arrived on a Graham Brown double that eked beyond the third baseman and slowly tucked itself into the left field corner. Perhaps no sequence better encapsulated Cedar Rapids’ futility with men on than the ninth. Eduardo Tait singled and was pulled for a pinch-runner. Yasser Mercedes slammed a double into center. With men on second and third with no one out, Danny De Andrade went down swinging. No matter. They still had two outs to play with. Jayson Bass hit a dribbler fielded by the pitcher, who spun around and caught Byron Chourio advancing too far after third. A weak rundown ended with the lead running Chourio out, as the trailing Mercedes—who tried to run to third—scampered back to second, resulting in the team losing their man on third and an out without any other advancement. Salas then grounded out to end the game. The Kernels bullpen combined to pitch 5 2/3 scoreless innings with seven strikeouts and one hit allowed. Emmanuel Rodriguez was scratched from the lineup with thumb soreness. Like us all, he’s day-to-day. Chiefs’ center fielder Tai Peete clocks in as the 16th-best prospect in the Cardinals’ system. He singled and walked in four trips to the plate. Mussel Matters Fort Myers 20, Palm Beach 3 Box Score Merit Jones: 4 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K HR: Carson Tinney (1), Luis Fragoza (11) Multi-hit games: Ramiro Dominguez (2-for-6, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI), Vahn Lackey (2-for-5, 4 R, RBI, 2 BB), Carson Tinney (2-for-4, HR, 3 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB), Colby Turner (2-for-3, 2B, 4 R, 4 RBI, 2 BB), Aidan Teel (3-for-5, 2B, 2 R, RBI), Luis Fragoza (3-for-6, HR, R, 5 RBI), Charlie Scholvin (3-for-4, R) The Mighty Mussels crushed their opponents on Sunday. Do you think Fort Myers is enjoying the injection of college talent? The 2026 draftees combined for 12 hits, 14 runs, and nine RBIs on Sunday as they spearheaded the third Fort Myers 20-run game since 1992. Though attention will obviously go to what occurred in the batter’s box, the mound provided some history as well: starter Merit Jones collected his 102nd strikeout of the season, the most in a year for Fort Myers since the ditched the “Miracle” moniker after 2020. He’s also second in innings pitched with 93 ⅔. After the game, the righty said “[the records are] truly a blessing,” and that he’s grateful to “have gotten so many opportunities here.” He also leads the FSL in innings pitched this year. Alright, on to the offensive explosion. What a melee. Fort Myers piled up 10 runs in the second alone, with a Carson Tinney vapor shot and a Luis Fragoza grand slam serving as the biggest knocks of the frame. That Tinney blast—a 114.9 MPH projectile that stayed in the air for maybe four seconds—was hit harder than any Twins batted ball this year. On top of the 18 hits, Fort Myers also took nine walks and endured five hit by pitches. The only inning where a Mighty Mussels batter didn’t reach base was the ninth—and that was only because they didn’t play a bottom of the ninth. Five runs scored in the eighth thanks to an assembly line of walks, hit by pitches, and two singles. Three in the seventh concluded matters with Colby Turner and Aidan Teel, brother of Kyle, earning RBIs on doubles. Matthew Dalquist and Michael Hilker combined for five shutout innings out of the bullpen, striking out nine. Cardinals DH Yairo Padilla is the 13th-ranked player in the system. He went 0-4 as the DH. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Matthew Dalquist Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Carson Tinney PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 – Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 3-5, K #2 – Vahn Lackey (Fort Myers) - 2-5, 4 R, RBI, 2 BB, 2 K #3 – Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 1-4, 2B, 2 R, BB, 2 K #5 – Marek Houston (Wichita) - 0-3, BB, 2 K #7 – Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 2-4, BB #8 – Kendry Rojas (Twins) - 1 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K #10 – Hendry Mendez (St. Paul) - 2-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI, K #11 – Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 0-3, BB #13 – Carson Tinney (Fort Myers) - 2-4, HR, 3 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB #15 – Brandon Winokur (Wichita) - 0-3, BB, K MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS DSL Phillies @ DSL Twins (10:00 AM) - TBD View full article

Image courtesy of Steven Bisig, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect Box Score Zebby Matthews: 5+ IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 10 K Home Runs: Brooks Lee (16), Royce Lewis (11), Ryan Jeffers (10) Top 3 WPA: Luke Keaschall (.240), Royce Lewis (.150), Brooks Lee (.120) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) No preamble tonight. The author is annoyed at how late this game started. Zebby Matthews barely knew what happened. At one point he was a starter anointing the beginning of the game; 30 pitches later, matters were turgid and anxious. What happened? Cole Young struck out on four pitches. Randy Arozarena walked following the same amount of offerings - a contradiction Matthews would have to ponder only after his night ended. Dominic Canzone then shot a double into right, but the righty with the iron jaw delivered three sliders to Julio Rodríguez to strike him out. Another four-pitch walk. Perhaps that one confounded our hero: he spent nine pitches on a weary and not particularly intimidating version of Cal Raleigh, with the final selection—a no-nothing hanger of a changeup—making its home in the right field stands after bouncing. Two runs. Finally, a strikeout to end the frame. The inning was so extended and lethargic that the Twins literally traded for another pitcher while it happened. Unbothered, Minnesota responded with a fruitful frame of their own. Josh Bell doinked a pitching wedge into right field and watched the two following batters get out. But just when it seemed like the Twins might waste an opportunity with a leadoff runner, Brooks Lee worked the count to 3-1, got a cement mixer, and deposited the pitch 367 feet away into the right-field stands. Gifted a tied game, Matthews pitched like a rejuvenated man, coaxing a strikeout from Colt Emerson and a groundout from Victor Robles. The latter may have been a 10-pitch excursion, but at least fortune turned towards him, radiating a golden, warm smile. This could be the start of the redemption. Cole Young vaporized a solo homer. Though it appeared we were in for a barn-burner, the early action receded, giving way to the common ebbs and flows of a baseball game. It would be inaccurate to say that nothing happened; rather, conflict settled. Chances rose and fell. Runners occasionally reached base only to slowly trudge back to their dugouts after their teammates failed to bring them home. The innings flipped like the pages in a good book, and we were suddenly in the seventh with the same score that ended the second. The bullpens were now in control. Never a more terrifying thing. Like giving nuclear codes to a drunk at a bar. Jose A. Ferrer had earned the final two outs of the sixth, so he was sent out in the seventh to continue his work. His first sinker to Royce Lewis missed high. His second sinker almost cleared the Mariners bullpen. A rally killer? Not so fast. Alan Roden collected an infield single and Lee flew out. By now, Mariners manager Dan Wilson had seen enough of his lefty and called in Eduard Bazardo to quell the rally. On a 1-1 count, he unleashed one of his signature boring sinkers to Luke Keaschall, and the young infielder was able to pull his hands in enough to line the pitch safely down the left field line, sending Roden gallivanting around the bases with a gait and hustle reminiscent of a middle schooler running home on the last day of school. Kody Funderburk handed off to Tommy Nance who handed off to Andrew Morris. No Mariner could score. In the meantime, Ryan Jeffers gave the bullpen a little more breathing room with a 372-foot blast when Bazardo's sweeper was sweepless in Seattle. Yoendrys Gómez emerged to end the ninth and keep the good vibes going as re-enforcements made their way out west. The righty didn't make it easy; attitudes grew terse and muscles tensed as he walked two batters, but Gómez settled down and punched out Mitch Garver on a sweeper to notch the save. Notes: Zebby Matthews set a single-game MLB career-high with 10 strikeouts. Kody Funderburk, Tommy Nance, Andrew Morris, and Yoendrys Gómez combined for four no-hit, shutout innings out of the bullpen. Brooks Lee tied his career-high mark of 16 homers in a season set in 2025. He did so in 102 fewer plate appearances this year. Ryan Jeffers' season wRC+ of 162 is the highest for any primary catcher post-2020 (min. 190 plate appearances). Luke Keaschall slashed .323/.447/.462 in July. Post-Game Interview: What’s Next? The Twins and Mariners take mercy on those East of the Rockies, with a delightful 3:10 PM Saturday start. Connor Prielipp is set to take the mound opposite Logan Gilbert. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet MON TUE WED THU FRI TOT Rojas 0 0 52 0 0 52 Funderburk 0 27 0 0 19 46 Gomez 0 0 0 21 25 46 Rogers 0 0 0 27 0 27 Morris 0 0 0 12 6 18 Anderson 0 13 0 0 0 13 Adams 0 11 0 0 0 11 Nance 0 0 0 0 11 11 View full article