Sherry Cerny

And that's the entire intent here. I don't THINK we are a WS team, but I'd like to clinch the central with more than a half game and make a run at the post season. all we have to do is get into the post-season and it all changes. I'm not delusional - just hopeful lol

They aren't going to want those. They aren't interested in them. No one really is. can you blame them?

I think he IS a team leader - but he's been optioned so many times this season, the Twins really need to leave him up or let him go somewhere that he can truly play and stay. I would hate to see him go - but if I am him - right now I am frustrated with all the movement.

Raley is *also* 35...while I know we aren't probably going to make a run like the Rangers, I do think they bring something that could change the trajectory...but, I don't know. I haven't heard about the Twins/Nats, but I am going to look now!

The trade deadline is approaching, and the Twins front office has stayed silent outside of the trade dealing Jorge Lopez to the Marlins for Dylan Floro. It’s not that we don’t have anything to give away, but there isn’t much out there to get that would bolster the club into a post-season position. But one rumor has sparked interest, teams are certainly interested in Twins outfielder Trevor Larnach. Image courtesy of Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports For many, it's the most wonderful time of the baseball year. Along with the playoffs and the winter meetings, and even the draft, are also great times of the year. The trade deadline is great in many ways whether your team is a buyer or a seller. 7:59pm, Sunday July 30th, Metsmerized editor Mike Mayer tweeted that the Mets have shown interest in Trevor Larnach, with Athletic writer Dan Hayes as the source in a report. Larnach has been a topic of discussion among Twins fans over the past month, specifically since the All-Star Break. Larnach is hitting .216/.314/.401 (.715) in his big-league time this year, and has covered left field and right field quite well. The Twins need hitters, and while the Oregon State alum has shown flashes of big power, he has been inconsistent. With the Twins, he has moved up and down between the Twins and Saints the last couple of seasons. He needs consistent opportunities. Will that be available with the Twins? Maybe a trade will suit him as a AAA player who keeps riding the “option” train. If the Twins were to deal Larnach, what might the return be? The Mets are one of the teams that have shown some interest in the slugger. The Twins would undoubtedly need a bat back, a more heavy-hitting bat, and bullpen assistance. The Twins could never trade away enough to make a Justin Verlander trade (I could be wrong - looking back at the Carlos Correa surprise), but Verlander certainly would make not only a splash but give the bullpen a break. Verlander would cost a lot more than Larnach. What else do the Mets have that could help us this season? Two players come to mind that could make a huge impact immediately offensively. Tommy Pham. Pham is having not only one of the best seasons at the plate, but he is also an outfielder that is effective and dominant. In 76 games, Pham is currently leading the team with a .816 OPS, 35 RBI, 15 doubles, and 11 stolen bases. He also has come in as the designated hitter and could be a potential option for getting Byron Buxton worked back into center field if that is an option. Something that could be used to compliment the already illustrious base-stealing duo of Michael A. Taylor and Willi Castro. He has not spent time on the IL this season and would be a consistent body in the outfield and at the plate. Pham signed only a one-year deal for $6 million with the Mets, making him an unrestricted free agent. Brooks Raley. The Mets southpaw reliever has been the most dependable on the Mets club. He has 43 appearances, a 2.57 ERA, and 38 strikeouts in his 35 innings. Righties are batting .177 against him, compared to lefty’s .250 average, and he has a WHIP of 1.26. With a solid middle reliever and one who doesn’t fold in high-pressure situations, the Twins could push further than the already struggling first-place “lead” at .505. It would be great to move into a position to be competitive to try for a post-season win. Raley is currently playing in the second year of a two-year, $10 million contract. His base salary this season in $4.5 million. The Mets have an option for him in 2024 at $6.25 million (with a buyout at $1.25 million). It’s hard to estimate what a package involving Larnach might look like. The Mets threw so much money around this past offseason; the best option might be to send Larnach to the Mets, and maybe with a prospect. The best thing about these two players (Pham and Raley) is they nearing the end of their contracts and make the most sense for what the Twins need. The Mets barely know what they want, so they may be an excellent club to trade with now. View full article

The Twins and Red Sox finished their four-game series on Thursday afternoon after an electric ten-inning win on Wednesday night. Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton got things going early, and Joe Ryan did something no Twins pitcher had done in five years. The feeling in the stadium was electric and the energy carried the players through the game. Image courtesy of Jeffrey Becker, USA Today Box Score SP: Joe Ryan: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K (112 pitches, 83 strikes (74.1%)) Home Runs: Carlos Correa (10), Byron Buxton 2 (13) Top 3 WPA: Joe Ryan (.197), Byron Buxton (.132), Carlos Correa (.086), Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) The Twins...and Buck...are Back? The Twins were still feeling the fire from Wednesday night when Thursday's game against the Red Sox began. The Twins started the first inning mashing baseballs giving the Twins a 2-0 lead. Carlos Correa, who has found his groove again, started out in the first inning getting the Twins on the board with a solo home run, Two batters later another solo home run was hit by Byron Buxton - the second longest home run of his career (466 feet). Red Sox "bulk" pitcher Brandon Walter had a difficult time keeping the Twins from manufacturing runs, something they have desperately needed to do as of late. A single from Ryan Jeffers started out the second inning followed by a double from Willi Castro and another double from Michael A. Taylor brought home both Jeffers and Castro, giving the Twins a 4-0 lead. The second inning was strategically different than anticipated. Donovan Solano pinch hit for Edouard Julien against the lefty, and Kyle Farmer pinch hit for Alex Kirilloff. Julien has a wOBA of .127 against lefties. The weirdness of the second inning continued when the Twins had two on. With one out, Michael A. Taylor took off for third base (stolen base attempt). Farmer's fly ball to deep center was caught on the warning track. Taylor was thinking stolen base, so he slid headfirst into third base, looked up to see the fly out, and did not retouch third base before retreating back to second allowing Rafael Devers to force an out, ending the inning. Buxton had a day. Hitting his 12th and 13th home runs of the season, he also hit two of his three longest home runs today (466ft and 465ft). The longest one he ever hit was off of Liam Hendricks for 496 feet. Buxton certainly has struggled through some stretches this season in the DH position, some fans even calling for him to return to the IL until he is “better”. His second home run of the day gave the Twins a 5-0 lead over the Red Sox. A Complete Game Shutout for Joe Ryan The pitching from the club has kept them afloat much of the season. Joe Ryan put on a clinic from the mound. After his last appearance, Ryan seemed to have gathered himself. Ryan only threw 33 pitches through the first five innings, didn’t give up a hit until the fourth inning, and didn’t allow a single run, against the Red Sox line-up. Ryan has been working on his splitter with pitching coach, Pete Maki, and he used it often in this one. Ryan’s ability to control the lineup gave the manager the confidence to keep him in the game. It was Ryan's first complete game and shut out of his career and the first complete game shutout for the Twins in the past five seasons! The most pitches that Ryan has thrown in a game this season was 107. In Thursday’s game he threw 112, struck out nine batters, three of those batters struck out swinging back to back in the fifth inning. Ending on a High Note The rest of the game was a cake-walk for the Twins, something that gave the club and the fans a lot to cheer about. The fifth inning started out with a lead off walk from Farmer, who advanced with every at-bat from his teammates keeping the pressure on the Red Sox. He eventually made it to third base. Royce Lewis stepped up to the plate and blooped a ball to centerfield that dropped right in between the three outfielders to drive in Farmer and give the Twins the 6-0 lead. The score stayed at 6-0 throughout the remainder of the game, giving the Twins the win and the series tie. They also returned to .500 before starting their road trip with the Tigers. What’s Next? Tomorrow the Twins start a series in Detroit against the Tigers starting with Kenta Maeda taking the mound. The Twins didn’t fare very well last weekend against the Tigers losing the series (3-1), hopefully the Twins can take a series from the Tigers. Friday 6:40 pm: RHP Kenta Maeda (0-4 9.00 ERA) vs. LHP Joey Wentz (1-7, 6.82 ERA) Saturday 7:15 pm: RHP Pablo Lopez (3-4, 3.40 ERA) vs. RHP Reese Olson (0-2, 5.59 ERA) Sunday 1:40 pm: RHP Bailey Ober (4-4, 2.83 ERA) vs. RHP Michael Lorenzen (2-5, 4.00 ERA) Postgame Interviews BULLPEN CHART SUN MON TUE WED THU TOT Headrick 0 0 41 0 0 41 Morán 11 13 0 17 0 41 Balazovic 40 0 0 0 0 40 Durán 0 0 0 32 0 32 De León 0 25 0 0 0 25 Jax 0 10 0 8 0 18 Pagán 0 17 0 0 0 17 Ortega 0 0 16 0 0 16 Stewart 0 0 0 15 0 15 View full article

While some of the affiliates struggled tonight, the Kernels only used two pitchers in nine-innings, and Twins FCL Harold Grant put on an absolute hitting clinic. Read here to see how the rest of the affiliates did! Image courtesy of McKenzie Short (Cedar Rapids Kernels) TRANSACTIONS RHP Josh Winder transferred to the Minnesota Twins with Caleb Thielbar going back on the Injured List. Joey Gallo was sent to the St. Paul Saints on Major League rehab. The Wind Surge add catcher Kyle Schmidt from Fort Myers, OF Gregory Duran and catcher Alex Rodriguez were promoted to the Mighty Mussels from the FCL Twins. LHP Connor Prielipp and RHP Alex Phillips began rehab assignments with the FCL Twins. RHP Owen Griffith made a second rehab appearance in the FCL. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 5, Iowa 7 Box Score Brent Headrick started on the mound in game five of seven against the Iowa Cubs on Friday in St. Paul. The southpaw worked the first seven innings and gave up just two runs on four hits (2 homers). He walked one and struck out four batters. The Saints jumped out to an early lead. Rehabbing Joey Gallo drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly in the first inning. Mark Contreras hit his sixth homer of the season in the second frame, a solo blast to make it 2-1 Saints. Fast-forward to the bottom of the sixth frame and Andrew Bechtold hit a big, three-run homer to make the score 5-1. It was his first homer of the season. Headrick gave up a solo homer in the first inning, and then one more in the seventh inning before his night was complete. Kody Funderburk came in and tossed a scoreless eighth inning. With a 5-2 lead going to the ninth, Funderburk got a fly out and then issued a walk. He then recorded a strikeout for the second out. Then Funderburk walked a second batter to put runners on first and second. Austin Brice came into the game. He gave up a run-scoring double, a walk, a two-run double, and a two-run single before getting the final out. Now down 7-5, the Saints got two runners on base in the bottom of the ninth, but they were unable to get that one more big hit they needed. Jose Miranda went 3-for-4 in the game to raise his average to .262 on the season. He has been quite good lately. Matt Wallner went 2-for-4 with his 15th double. Mark Contreras was 2-for-4. Joey Gallo went 0-for-2 with the first-inning sacrifice fly. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 4, San Antonio 5 Box Score Pierson Ohl made his Wichita debut Friday night and after a nerve-driven first inning giving up one run, he calmed down and threw three scoreless innings, giving the Surge’s offense an opportunity to give their new pitcher some support. The Surge responded with an exciting second inning and then some. With two outs on the inning, Alex Isola got his ninth double of the season to get himself in position to score a run. Followed on base was Jake Rucker who was hit by a pitch to get two in scoring position. Seth Gray stepped up to the plate and hit a three-run home run deep into right field that gave the Surge a lead of 3-1. Ohl’s night started to unravel in the fifth inning with a start off single from Cole Cummings. He advanced to second base. on a wild pitch Ray Patrick-Didder ripped a ground ball to left field. Ripken Reyes first got a single to score Seagle to tie the game 3-3 and then stole second base. The next few batters just started stringing together single after single, driving up the score one hitter at a time until the Missions led 5-1. Ohl was relieved by Hunter McMahon to stop the bleeding. The next two batters got out on a pop-fly and strike out to end the inning. The seventh inning, the Surge looked like they were threatening to get back in front, but were stopped at every opportunity by the Missions defense. Severino brought some hope to the game with a solo home run in the eighth inning, but it just wasn’t enough. The Surge now trail 3-1 in the series. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 6, Dayton 1 Box Score There was another pitching duel in Dayton tonight. After both pitchers shook out the icks from the first inning, and a few runs allowed, the remainder of the game became a game of creating opportunities and the Kernels created just enough to be the winner. The Kernels got to work right away in the first inning, working Dayton pitcher Julian Aguiar. Aguiar started out by walking Tanner Schobel, followed by a pair of singles to Emmanuel Rodriguez and Ben Ross. Shoebel scored on a force out from Noah Cardenas to get the Kernels on the board first at the top of the first. Another single from Noah Miller, scores Rodriguez, giving the Kernels a 2-0 lead to start the game. Raya, still working through stretching out his arm, continues to excel in every game and was the best game he’s had thus far this season. After giving up one run in the first inning, Raya shut down Dayton throughout the remainder of his appearance. Ross gave the Kernels some insurance in the third inning. With Rodriguez on first base from a walk, Ross drove a line drive deep into right field for a double, sending Rodriguez home to get the Kernels a two run lead. Rodriguez got his seventh home run of the season in the fifth inning giving the Kernels another run on the night for a 4-1 lead. Raya threw four successful innings (the most he has thrown this season) before the Kernels brought in Christian MacLeod in the fifth inning. MacLeod was immediately locked in and had one of the best relief games he has had all season. There were no other relievers for the remainder of the game. The Kernels used only two pitchers for nine innings to hold Dayton to two runs. The last inning of the game, Dayton did threaten to come back stringing together a couple of hits, and getting one run, but ultimately were unable to work around MacLeod. He ended the night pitching the most innings of the season, getting a career high nine strikeouts and his first win of the season. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 6, Clearwater 1 Box Score The Mussels pitching staff stifled the Threshers offense tonight in Fort Myers, which was a win for Fort Myers in more ways than one. Tonight the Mussels broke their three game losing streak, and managed to get back in front of the Threshers. The game remained scoreless for both teams, but in the bottom of the third inning, Luis Baez and Dylan Neuse got a pair of singles to set up an opportunity to get on the board. Jorel Ortega was just the man to help with that opportunity as he sent a fly ball to deep right center scoring Baez to strike first blood. During the same play, Neuse was also coming home and got out at the plate, but it wasn’t over for the Mussels. With two outs looming and Ortega waiting patiently on third, Danny De Andrade ripped a single to center to score Ortega and give Fort Myers a 2-0 lead. Starting Pitcher Andrew Morris had a very clean first three innings, but in the top of the fourth inning, appeared to unravel slightly. He was able to get out without any damage, but in the fifth inning that all changed. The fifth inning looked a little shaky as Ricardo Rosario got a triple to right field. Emaarion Boyd got out on a fielder's choice to third baseman Rafael Cruz, who made an errant throw, allowing Rosario to score. Cruz made an errant throw to home that allowed the run to score, getting Clearwater on the board. Morris's night was done as Brian Meyer brought in Develson Aria to finish the inning and control the damage. The fifth inning for the Mussels looked very similar to the third inning with Baez (single) and Neuse (double) creating more opportunities by putting runners at second and third with no outs. After an Ortega ground out, Baez scored on a wild pitch to extend the lead to 3-1. De Andrade followed with a bloop single to right that scored Neuse to give Fort Myers a three-run lead. In the bottom of the sixth, The Mussels got in Clearwater pitcher Seth Nightingales head. The Mussels loaded the bases after Nightingale, hit Dillon Tatum, Maddux Houghton singled and then hit Luiz Baez. Neuse stepped up to the plate and Nightingale threw a wild pitch, scoring Tatum to increase the lead to 5-1. The Mussels A.J. Labas and Johnathan Lavallee came in to finish out the game and provide support, allowing the Mussels to get one more run to extend the score 6-1 and not allow any further damage from Clearwater. COMPLEX THOUGHTS from FLORIDA FCL Twins 9, FCL Red Sox 11 (10 innings) Box Score Connor Prielipp got the start on the bump in his rehab assignment with FCL. Prielipp has been dealing with inflammation and right forearm soreness off and on since the beginning of April. The fact that he’s throwing live again is a good sign. In 2 2/3 innings, Prielipp struck out his first batter, Nataneal Yuten, and closed out the first inning without the Red Sox sniffing a run. His second inning looked a little different, a walk by Kevin Diaz and Albertson Asigen came back to haunt Prielipp. Prielipp closed out the inning and came back to start the third before being relieved by Owen Griffith. The good news for this team? They are full of offensive weapons and guys who love to create problems for the opposing team's pitching staff. Andres Centeno started the retaliation against Boston with his first home run this season and the first run on the board in the bottom of the second. Centeno ended the day going 3-for-5 and accounted for two of the nine RBI. Third baseman Harold Grant spent his day creating opportunities for the rest of his teammates going 4-for-5, and getting two RBI, kept Boston’s defense on their toes. Grant, just a homer short of a cycle, led that Twins with seven total bases in Friday’s game. Endy Rodriguez went 2-for-4 with a team-high four RBI.. In the seventh inning, Grant hit a triple which scored Isaac Pena home to even up the score 7-7 for the next two innings. Alex Phillips made his first rehab appearance and threw an absolute gem of an inning. He only threw five pitches, three were strikes. Julio Bonilla replaced Phillips and struggled in his first outing, giving up four runs in the sixth. A lot of back-and-forth, bats on fire and ten stolen bases between the two teams pushed the game into extra innings. Boston completely obliterated Ricardo Velez in the top of the tenth inning, scoring another four runs to pull ahead 11-7. The FCL Twins did their best to answer in the bottom of the 10th, but could only manufacture two more runs. COMPLEX THOUGHTS from the DOMINICAN DSL Twins 6, DSL Mets Blue 10 Box Score The DSL Twins team has yet to get a win in their short season. There were not as many runs as there were against the Angels on Thursday night, but they did get six runs in to stay competitive, but the Met’s pitching was on point during their Friday game. The Twins lineup had 13 strikeouts against the Mets, and a lot of offensive substitutions. The Mets got on the board first, but the Twins offense answered in the bottom of the second with a double from Javier Roman (2-for-3). Dameury Pena (2-for-4) hit a routine single to shortstop Branny De Oleo, but after Oleo fielded the ball, he had an errant throw and Roman scored to bring the score 2-1. Pena immediately stole a base, but was unable to capitalize on it. Moises Lopez hit his first double of the season. A set of doubles and a single from Carlos Silva (1-for-3), Moises Lopez (1-for-4) and Ariel Castro (1-for-3) put the Twins in a better position to close the gap, but the pitching staff was overrun by the Mets offense. Miguel Cordero made his first start of the season and his career on Friday. He pitched 3 2/3 innings, gave up three earned runs, one walk and struck out five. He got the loss on the night, but his strike record looked good. Oscar Paredes relieved Cordero, going 2 1/3 innings and giving up three earned runs, one walk and two strikeouts. The final pitcher was 18-year-old Joel Garcia who also had his debut on Friday. Pitching two innings, the rookie gave up one hit but three earned runs. His biggest downfall was his control as evidenced by his five walks and no strikeouts. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Christian MacLeod (Kernels) - 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 9 K. Hitter of the Day – Harold Grant (FCL) - 4-for-5, 2B(1), 3B(1), 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 K PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on the new Twins Top 20 prospects. These are the prospects that played tonight and how they did! #1 - Brooks Lee (Wichita) - 1-for-3, BB, 2 K #2 - Royce Lewis (Minnesota) - 4-for-4, R #3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-4, BB,, HR(7), 3 R, RBI #4 - Edouard Julien (Saint Paul) - Did Not Play (assume he’s heading to Toronto) #5 - Connor Prielipp (FCL Rehab) - 2.2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K #6 - Marco Raya (Cedar Rapids) - 4 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, HBP, 3 K. (51 pitches, 35 strikes) #9 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 2-for-4, 2B(15), R #10 - Yasser Mercedes (FCL) - 1-for-6, K, SB(1) #12 - Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-3, BB, 2 K, SB(10) #13 - Noah Miller (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, RBI, K #15 - Brent Headrick (St. Paul) - 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, BB, 4 K (90 pitches, 54 strikes) #18 - Jose Rodriguez (FCL) - 2-for-6, R #19 - Yunior Severino (Wichita) - 1-for-4, HR(13), R, RBI, FRIDAY’S SCHEDULE AND PITCHING PROBABLES Iowa @ St. Paul (7:07 PM CST) - RHP Kenta Maeda (3rd rehab start, 0-0 3.60 ERA) Wichita @ San Antonio (7:05 PM CST) - RHP David Festa (2-2, 5.06 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Dayton (6:05 PM CST) - RHP Zebby Matthews (3-1, 2.42 ERA) Clearwater @ Fort Myers (6:00 PM CST) - RHP Jose Olivares (2-2, 6.225 ERA) FCL Red Sox @ FCL Twins (11:00AM CST) - TBD DSL Mets Blue @ DSL Twins (10:00AM CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Friday’s games! View full article

The Twins had a frustrating series against the Rays. They went against one of the best teams in baseball, the team with the best record and were swept. They fall below .500 for the first time this season. Bailey Ober was solid. The bullpen did a nice job. The offense hit several balls over 100 mph, but the Twins found another way to lose. Image courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck USA Today Box Score SP: Bailey Ober 5.1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7 K (88 pitches, 52 strikes (59%) Home Runs: Carlos Correa (8), Michael A. Taylor (7) Bottom 3 WPA: Bailey Ober (-.213), Royce Lewis (-.067), Donovan Solano (-.064) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Another Rough Start for the Club The Twins third and final game of the series against the Rays, started about as well as expected. Chirinos served up very hittable pitches and they were all hit hard. So hard that a hit off Jorge Polanco's bat and deflected off of the glove of Yonny Chirinos, hit the umpire and still managed to get out on a fielder's choice. While the umpires and pitchers were being checked on, so was Polanco, who was seen attempting to run off a limp, but was ultimately pulled from the game and pinch run by Donovan Solano. Polanco being injured and missing the remainder of the game is almost the icing on the cake for a difficult series. Polanco was just reinstated on June 1st after being on the IL since May 20th with a left hamstring injury, and left the game today for the same issue. Polanco has spent a considerable time on the IL last season and this season and the frustration is palpable for not only fans, but Polanco as well. Polanco is one of the anchors and reliable players on the field and in the batter's box. Even with injuries, Polanco is still hitting .252 and has 16 RBI on the season. Not the best, but certainly one of the most reliable players and his absence certainly affects the team. Ober and Out Bailey Ober continues to be impressive on the mound. Ober was able to get the Rays to swing at the hard-high fast balls and everything in between. He had six straight strikeouts in the second and third inning and worked through the Rays batting order by the end of the third. Ober was late to come out at the beginning of the fourth inning, according to Tampa’s broadcast, he was asked to wash his hands. After the wash, so was Ober’s fourth inning. Ober retired two and then gave up a walk to Randy Arozarena followed by a game-tying triple and then a home run by Harold Ramirez, giving the Rays a 3-1 lead. Ober came back out for the fifth inning, back to his usual 1-2-3, but leaving the mound, the frustration on his face could be seen as he slightly shook his head and pursed his lips. Ober had one more chance in the sixth to face Arozarena after the frustration of the fourth inning, but only got one good strike on him in a 3-0 count and walked him for a second time. Rocco Baldelli came to remove Ober, who threw down the rosin bag and left undoubtedly frustrated. Griffin Jax came in to replace a frustrated Ober. Before Jax could even begin his appearance, he took notice of his surroundings and with two on and one out, Jax noticed Wander Franco attempting to steal third. The Rays are extremely aggressive base running and they take every chance they can to steal and score. Jax stepped back to check Franco, but threw an errant ball and Franco scored pushing the Rays up 4-1. A frustrating start for Jax, but he struck out the next two batters to finish the inning. Clutch Correa The Twins didn’t play bad baseball, but the offense wasn't aggressive coming out of the gate, which was really unfortunate. Tampa Bay’s pitcher Chirino was serving up every opportunity for the Twins to capitalize and manufacture runs from the first inning. The offense was connecting with the ball, but were trying to hit the ball hard, not with energy to exploit Chirino’s flat pitching in the first three innings. Carlos Correa was hitting clean-up today and changed the tone of the game when he stepped into the box. Correa has had a long slump this season with lots of strikeouts, but that hasn’t changed who he is as a person and player. His confidence is second-to-none and it showed as he rocketed a solo-home run deep into left field with his first at-bat of the game, getting the Twins on the board first for the first time this series. The sixth inning gave the Twins a chance to catch up, with Alex Kirilloff leading the charge with a double looking to get more runs on the board before the Rays retired Chirino to bring in Jake Diekman, who stopped the Twins from getting on the board. Michael A. Taylor had been trying all game for that “hit” and it finally came in the seventh inning off of pitcher Colin Poche, to close the gap up 4-2. The Twins couldn't come back in the ninth, even with the power-hitters in the line-up, ending with being swept for the first time this season. What’s Next? The Twins head due north for a series with Toronto starting Friday night. Friday 7:07 pm: RHP Sonny Gray (4-1, 2.15) vs. Yusei Kikuchi (6-2, 4.40) Saturday 3:07 pm: RHP Joe Ryan (7-3, 2.76) vs. Bowden Francis (0-0, 0.00) Sunday 1:37 pm: RHP Louie Varland (3-2, 4.40) vs. Kevin Gausman (5-3, 2.63) Postgame Interviews Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet View full article

It was a rough night for the affiliates. There was a solid sweep across the teams as all the teams fell to their opponents. While the scores show the games in the loss column, it wasn't for lack of trying. Most of the frustration came from leaving players on base and the opponents working deep into the bullpens to run up the scores. Image courtesy of Seth Stohs Twins Daily TRANSACTIONS Infielder Elliot Soto activated from the 7-day IL Infielder Hernan Perez placed on the 7-day IL with right knee sprain Right Handed Pitcher Gianluca Dalatri has been placed on the 7-day IL with a right forearm strain Right Handed Pitcher Niklas Rimmel has been activated off the Development List and is available immediately Saints Sentinel St. Paul 1, Buffalo 4 Box Score The Saints offense came out strong right away in the first inning, loading the bases with no outs. Buffalo pitcher Zach Thompson started out the inning with a single from Jose Miranda and then a hit batter and a walk to load the bases. As promising as the inning looked, Thompson settled in and provided three quick outs to end the inning and keep the Saints from scoring. Randy Dobnak was on the bump for the Saints in game four of six against Buffalo in hopes of another win. In another Dobnak "bumpdate", he announced via Instagram that he and his wife are expecting a baby in December 2023. Congrats to Randy and Aerial! Dobnak struggled to get out of the first inning giving the Bisons a chance to work up his pitch count. The right-hander saw six batters in the first inning, giving up two hits and walking one. After the bases were loaded, he got out of the inning with a strikeout. The Bisons got on the board first with a solo home run from Tanner Morris in the third inning while the Saints continued to battle for a place on the board. Thompson kept the offense from making any progress toward closing the gap until the sixth inning when Kyle Garlick hit a homer to put the Saints on the board and within a run. The bullpen for the Saints was unsuccessful at keeping the Bisons at two runs. Austin Schulfer gave up a double to the Blue Jays 39th prospect, Cam Eden, and a ground rule double to Rafael Lantigua, that scored Eden to pull ahead again of the Saints. Despite their best efforts, the Saints were able to get on base, but were unable to overcome the Bisons defense, stranding six players on base. Jose Miranda went 2-for-4. In his first rehab game, Trevor Larnach went 0-for-2 with a walk and two strikeouts. Wind Surge Wisdom Wichita 1, Tulsa 9 Box Score The Wind Surge were in a rain delay as quickly as it started. Prior to the rain delay, Tulsa got on the board with two runs off of Travis Adams in the top of the first inning. Three batters into the bottom of the first inning, mother nature opened up the skies and rain delayed the game. The rain made way for the game to start again, and the Surge replaced their starting pitcher, Travis Adams with Hunter McMahon at the top of the second inning coming back from the delay. Tulsa scored one in the second inning and then scored three innings in the fifth and in the sixth inning to put the game out of reach. Four relievers worked a combined seven innings out of the bullpen. The in the top of the ninth, outfielder Will Holland came on and got three ground ball outs quickly. McMahon, Denny Bentley, Francis Peguero, and Michael Boyle. Boyle worked two scoreless innings. The offense did very little. Yoyner Fajardo had two-hits in the game including a ninth-inning,, two-out, RBI singled to score Alerick Soularie, Fajardo also stole his 16th and 17th bases. DaShawn Keirsey walked twice. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 2, Lansing 3 Box Score The Kernels started out game four against Lansing striking blood first. Kala’i Rosario hit a two-run home run to set the tone early in the game. After scoring 24 runs on Thursday night, the Kernels were hoping for a repeat performance to run up the score on Lansing. Starting pitcher Marco Raya pitched another three inning game. Raya’s outing was a good one, striking out four and only giving up a run after not giving up any during the month of May. Unfortunately, the one hit was a solo home run by Euribiel Angeles. Raya has been consistent in his appearances, continuing to improve after being on the IL early in the season with shoulder tightness. The tone of the game quickly went deaf when the Lugnuts went ahead in the third and fourth innings and stayed there through the end of the game. Alejandro Hidalgo replaced pitcher Marco Raya in the fourth inning. Brian Dinkelman also replaced Jose Salas, who left with an injury after his plate appearance, with Ernie Yake. Hidalgo came to the Twins as part of the Gio Urshela trade with the Angels. He has appeared in eight games for the Kernels, and Friday night marked his second loss. The 20-year-old prospect has only given up seven earned runs in his 27 1/3 innings this season. In this game, Hidalgo gave up one hit, but two earned runs with a two-run home run from Daniel Susac that scored Max Muncy, and gave the Lugnuts a one-run lead. Jordan Carr finished out the game, not allowing any more runs, but the damage was already done. The Kernels offense struggled to manufacture any runs after the first inning and fell to the Lugnuts 3-2. Kala'i Rosario had two of the team's four hits. Mussels Matters Fort Myers 0, St. Lucie 1 Game 1 A classic pitchers duel took place in the day's first game in St. Lucie. It certainly was not for lack of trying. Power hitter Jorel Ortega had one of two hits against St. Lucie on Friday night with his 16th double of the season. Luis Baez hit a line drive to left-field in the third inning and a stolen base gave hope to the Mussels, but that hope was quickly dashed with a pop-up to center field to end the inning. St. Lucie's Karell Paz put a ton of pressure on Mussels starter Andrew Morris, stealing two bases in a row and scored on a throwing error. Paz scored the lone run of the game. Morris had a good outing. He pitched five innings and only allowed the one run. He struck out four batters. Lefty Gabriel Yanez came in to relieve Morris and kept the game at 1-0. The Mussels had just two hits in the game. They weren't able to walk and struck out 12 times. Fort Myers 4, St. Lucie 9 Game 2 (Make up from 5/31) Cory Lewis started game two. Lewis struggled right away, walking three, giving up a run and only striking out one. Lewis was replaced with two outs and the bases loaded in the first inning by Danny Moreno who came in and managed more potential damage so early in the game. Lewis faced just six batters and needed 37 pitches. St. Lucie gave the Mussels a rough time in the third inning, running up the score with five runs to open up the score to 6-0. The Mussels were finally able to string together a few hits to at least get on the board to bring the game within a grand slam (6-2). With plenty of game left, it was on the pitching staff to control the remainder of the innings and give the offense a chance to generate more runs. Rubel Cespedes had a good game, knocking a two-run homer in the fifth inning. It brought the Mussels to within two, but the Mets immediately answered at the top of the next inning with three runs to drive the run differential to 9-4. The Mets worked their way through the Mussels bullpen exhausting six pitchers. The Mussels stranded 12 hitters on base. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Will Holland (Wichita Wind Surge) - 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB Hitter of the Day – Rubel Cespedes (Fort Myers Mighty Mussels) - 1-for-2, 1 R, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 0 K PROSPECT SUMMARY The Twins Prospect Tracker is the best way to see how each of the Twin's top prospects performed during their games, but in case you wanted a quick look, Here is how each of the top 20 performed today: #1 - Brooks Lee (Wichita) - 0-for-5 #2 - Royce Lewis (Minnesota) - 0-for-4 #3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-2, 2 BB, R, K #4 - Edouard Julien (Saint Paul) - 0-for-2, 2 BB, K #6 - Marco Raya (Cedar Rapids) - 3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K #9 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 0-for-3, 1 K #12 - Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-2, K (left game with injury) #13 - Noah Miller (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, K #19 - Yunior Severino (Wichita) - 1-for-3, BB SATURDAY SCHEDULE AND PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Buffalo (5:05 PM CST) - RHP Simeon Woods Richardson (0-5, 7.79 ERA) Drillers @ Wichita (6:35 PM CST): RHP Christian MacLeod (0-0, 27.00 ERA) Wisconsin @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CST) - RHP Christian MacLeod (0-0, 27.00 ERA) Fort Myers @ St. Lucie (5:00 PM CST) - TBD (as of 10:00pm 6/2) Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Friday's games! 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Thank you for this preview! I am at the point where every time we play them I will get nervous from here on out lol, but after reading this and tonight, I am READY. OH MAN!

The Twins and Guardians met for the second series this season, and amid all the flying cotton in the air, the two teams began the four-day series. Both teams are coming off series wins and roller coaster months of May and while this series doesn’t determine the season, it does give a contentious feel to the start of June. The Twins lost several key players during the game, but Willi Castro came up clutch and gave the Twins their fourth walk-off win and his first career walk. What a way to start the series off with a bang! Image courtesy of Lowres USA Today 2023 Box Score SP: Jorge Lopez: 5.2 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 5 K (88 pitches, 67 strikes (76%) Home Runs: Royce Lewis (2), Michael A. Taylor (6) Top 3 WPA: Royce Lewis (.257), Jorge Polanco (.146), Donovan Solano (.144) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Everything happens in three's Byron Buxton was a topic of the game. From the booth, Eric Perkins touched a little bit Buxton not in center-field and those have also been echoed by some Twins fans on Twitter. Buxton, while improving, is not a life-long designated hitter and seems to hit better, and is more alive when he is in the outfield. So when will Buxton get back to center field? Probably not anytime soon. He has played in 90% of the games to start this season. However, he is missed in center field. All this was spoken about before he was drilled in the ribs by a Tanner Bibee fastball. He remained in the game and reached third base, but when his spot came up again, Donovan Solano batted. Max Kepler continues to work on bringing up his batting average, and it seems to help for him to be playing against the Guardians. Kepler could be in a slump, and stepping up to bat against the Guardians somehow energizes him and brings out the best baseball in him. In his first at-bat, Kepler singled, but was ultimately stranded. Later, he ripped a ball into right field scoring Kirilloff, tying the game. But, ultimately was replaced by Willi Castro, leaving the game with a migraine. An issue he hasn't really battled before, or at least has been mentioned. Either way, his presence tonight before leaving was vital to the outcome of the game. Carlos Correa made ball contact tonight, but left the game with re-aggravated plantar fasciitis. He was replaced by Kyle Farmer, who had five at-bats but wasn't able to produce anything. Plenty of Offense to go around Pablo Lopez started out strong in his 12th start with the Twins, his sixth start at Target Field. With the exception of the one run in the second inning, Lopez was able to control the game through five innings. The Twins offense answered in the fourth getting a run of their own to tie up the game and then continued to get runs in the fifth inning. One of the bright spots of the night was Michael A. Taylor's home run into left center field pulling the Twins ahead 2-1. Taylor doesn't have the best offensive numbers, but he continues to come in clutch. Christian Vasquez got a double with only one out on the inning and the infield came in for Alex Kirilloff, thinking they would be able to stop him. It did the Guardians no good, Kirilloff hit a high line drive above the head of second baseman Andres Gimenez to score Vasquez. The Twins were up 3-1, but that all changed with a walk from Myles Straw. Lopez was really struggling to get out of the inning, his command waivered and the Guardians took advantage. They scored five runs in the inning to take a 6-3 with two outs. Lopez was replaced by Emilio Pagan to finish out the inning with no additional damage. Pagan added a smooth seventh inning, with a little assistance from Joey Gallo who robbed Steven Kwan of a base hit diving after the ball in superman fashion for the first out of the inning and then catching a fly ball from Ramirez. The eighth inning was touch-and-go for Pagan and the Twins defense, the Guardians certainly threatened by putting two guys on, but they were left stranded. The Twins battled back in the eighth inning with another single from Willi Castro (replaced Kepler) giving way to Donovan Solano (replaced Buxton) to double and score Castro to get the game within two runs. With Solano on base and an 0-for-3 count on the night, Royce Lewis stepped up to the plate and on a 1-1 count, timed a perfect swing hitting a 421 foot homerun to tie up the game. Griffin Jax held the Guardians to six runs, and Vasquez and the Twins brought the funk and the noise in the ninth inning. Not in the mood for extra innings, the Twins decided to clean up in the ninth inning. Jorge Polanco had a night like Lewis, came up to the plate with 0-for-4 count and ripped a ball into right field down the first base line putting the Twins in a position to generate runs. With no outs, the Guardians who had seen enough of Kirilloff and his bat for the night, walked him to load the bases in hopes of a double play. But Castro ruined their plans. On a change-up, Castro hit a sac fly deep into center field, sending Jeffers (pinch runner for Vasquez) home to walk-off the Guardians. The first walk off win for Castro and the first win of the series for the Twins. What’s Next? The Twins will spend the weekend in a match with the Guardians before taking on the other first place team, Tampa Bay Rays starting Tuesday. Friday 7:10 pm: RHP Bailey Ober (3-2, 2.68 ERA) vs. RHP Aaron Civale (1-1, 2.84ERA) Saturday 6:15 pm: RHP Sonny Gray (4-0, 1.94 ERA) vs. LHP L.T. Allen (2-2, 2.72 ERA) Sunday 2:10 pm: RHP Joe Ryan (7-2, 2.77 ERA) vs. TBD (not posted as of 6/1/23) Postgame Interviews Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet View full article

The Minnesota Twins affiliates pitching had some good outings on Friday night, but the offenses left much to be desired. As the organization gets deeper into the season, there is becoming a clear showing of players who are leaders on the mound and in the batters box. Image courtesy of William Parmeter (photo of Rafael Cruz) TRANSACTIONS Wind Surge activate RHP Francis Peguero from 7-day injured list Mussels OF Luis Baez reinstated from the development list. Mussels INF Yohander Martinez (right groin strain) placed on the 7-day injured list. Saints Sentinel St. Paul 4, Omaha 6 Box Score Omaha worked quickly to get on the board in the first inning with two runs off starting pitcher (aka, The Opener) Connor Sadzeck. Sadzeck was replaced by Jordan Balazovic, who also gave up two runs in the second inning to give Omaha a 4-0 lead. Balazovic went 3 2/3 innings and gave up three runs on five hits. He walked three and struck out three batters. The Saints offense was smothered by Omaha's Drew Parrish and couldn’t come up for air. Parrish only struck out one batter in four innings, but he only allowed two hits and no runs.. The few times that the Saints were able to get on base, they were unable to manufacture any runs and left ducks on the pond. Omaha continued to control the game from the mound and in the batter's box. The Storm Chasers got another run in the fifth inning after another series of walks and singles to push Omaha ahead 5-0. Austin Schulfer provided 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief. Kody Funderburk gave up one run on one hit and one walk over the final 2 2/3 innings. He also had two throwing errors. Tyler White hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning, and the Saints added single runs in the eighth and ninth innings but fell short in this game. White, Mark Contreras, and Hernan Perez each had two hits. The Saints had eight hits and seven walks, but they went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left nine on base. Wind Surge Wisdom Wichita 0, Springfield 1 Box Score There was a pitching duel in Springfield on Friday night between Wind Surge starter Aaron Rozek and Springfield’s Wilfredo Pereira and went deep into the game. Only one run was given up during the battle. Unfortunately, it was allotted to Springfield after a walk and a few singles, but Rozek reclaimed control and made it through seven innings. Rozek struck out five hitters and only allowed three hits and the one earned run. The Wichita offense fell victim to Pereira’s accurate assault of the strike zone (10 strikeouts over five innings). They only recorded four hits and were shut out. It wasn’t for lack of trying. The offense was able to string together hits but were either groundouts, or flyouts. The few that got on base due to a walk or a single, were stranded on base. Shortstop Brooks Lee was stranded three times on base and left fielder Alerick Soularie stranded four times. It was an uphill battle all night for the offense, and one they couldn’t win. The Surge tried their best to bring in runs in the ninth inning. Yunior Severino reached on an error, and Will Holland pinch ran for him. After a strikeout, Aaron Sabato walked, and Anthony Prato ran for him. DaShawn Keirsey ripped a line drive to center, but Holland was thrown out at the plate. The next batter grounded out and the game was over. Sabato played in his first game since going on the IL after breaking a bone in his wrist on a hit-by-pitch on April 11th. He had a single and the walk. Severino knocked his first triple of the season earlier in the game but was unable to score. Keirsey had a single and a walk. The team had just five hits and three walks, but they also struck out 14 times in the game. Following Rozek’s strong seven-inning performance, Michael Boyle tossed a perfect eighth frame. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 4, Wisconsin 1 Box Score The Kernels snapped their losing streak and got a win under their belt on Friday night. The Kernels offense started the night on a steady pace scoring three runs by the fourth inning to take a 3-0 lead over Wisconsin. Cameron Wagoner made the start for Wisconsin. The Kernels scored three runs (2 earned) on nine hits and a walk. In the fourth inning, there was an interesting plate appearance between Kernels infielder Ben Ross and Wagoner. They battled through a 16-pitch at-bat with Wagoner ultimately getting the “W” when Ross popped out. However, it forced the Rattlers to make a pitching change. Luis Amaya was brought in to close out the inning. Kernels starter Marco Raya had another wonderful outing. Since Raya’s start on April 21st this season, his ERA has continued to drop from 6.75 to 3.07, and he hasn’t given up an earned run during the entire month of May. Raya struck out five batters in three innings and only threw 40 pitches. The 20-year-old prospect gave up no runs, hits or walks in his appearance, giving the Kernels a comfortable start to the game. Raya was replaced by lefty Jordan Carr in the fourth inning and he worked six innings to finish the game. Carr kept the Rattlers from making any progress in his six innings pitched. Carr struck out six batters, and he gave up only an unearned run. Kyler Fedko led the offense. He went 2-for-4 and hit his second homer of the season in the sixth inning. Andrew Cossetti had two doubles in three at-bats. He was also hit by a pitch. Emmanuel Rodriguez went 2-for-4 with his second double. Mussels Matters GAME 1 - Fort Myers 8, Dunedin 4 Box Score The Mussels had a full day Friday against the Dunedin Blue Jays. They began by completing the game that started on Thursday night but was suspended due to weather. When there is a scheduled doubleheader, both are seven-inning games. However, when a game is suspended, that game is played first and played to nine innings. The regularly-scheduled game is then a seven-inning game. C.J. Culpepper gave up one run on one hit and one walk over the first two innings. Andrew Morris ‘started’ when the game resumed on Friday. He gave up two runs on three hits and two walks over four innings. He struck out three batters. Jarret Whorff recorded the save with three innings of one-run ball. He gave up two hits and three walks. The bats got hot early in the game and never slowed down in the first of two games on Friday. The Mussels came out strong in the third inning running. The inning started when Alec Sayre and Dillon Tatum were both hit by pitches. Proving that they were OK, they were successful on a double steal. So when Jorel Ortega grounded out, he got an RBI. Danny De Andrade came to bat next and singled to score their second run of the inning. (This is when the game ended on Thursday and where it began on Friday.) A new pitcher entered, but Ricardo Olivar and Dalton Shuffield added back-to-back singles to bring De Andrade home. Tatum doubled to score Sayre with the team’s fourth run in the fourth inning. Dunedin scored twice in the bottom of the fourth inning to cut the Mussels’ lead to 4-3. However, Rubel Cespedes’s second homer of the season gave Ft. Myers a 5-3 lead in the sixth inning. The Blue Jays got a run back in the bottom of the seventh inning, but Cespedes drove in a run in the eighth frame on a fielder’s choice. The Mussels added two insurance runs in the top of the ninth inning. Ortega singled in Sayre, and Olivar singled in Ortega. Sayre had two singles, and Tatum had two doubles. Ricardo Olivar led the offense. He went 4-for-5. He also stole his seventh base of the season. And just for fun, he threw out a runner at home from his position in left field. GAME 2 - Fort Myers 0, Dunedin 2 Box Score Fort Myers bats were cold throughout Game 2 of the double-header. Mussels starter Cory Lewis allowed a double and a home run in the first inning, which allowed Dunedin to go ahead 2-0, but unlike Game 1, the Mussels’ bats couldn’t get anything going. Third baseman Jorel Ortega provided most of the offense. In the first inning, he singled and stole second and later third base but was left stranded. He went 2-for-3 in the game to boost his batting average to .301. His second hit of the game was his 15th double of the season. The Mussels continued to threaten throughout the night, even stringing together hits (Dylan Neuse and Sayre hit back-to-back singles) in the second inning, but all the gas was out of the line-up and carried through on the mound from the Blue Jays whose pitching staff only allowed four hits total and struck out 12 batters. Lewis and the bullpen didn’t give up any further runs throughout the remainder of Game 2, but the damage was done. The right-hander gave up two runs on four hits and two walks in five innings. He struck out seven batters. Zach Veen gave up a hit and a walk in the sixth, but no runs. The bats were unable to create any runs to close the gap, and Lewis fell to 4-2 on the season. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Marco Raya (3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5K, 40 pitches, 26 strikes) Hitter of the Day – Ricardo Olivar (Fort Myers Mighty Mussels) - 4-for-5, R, RBI, K PROSPECT SUMMARY The Twins Prospect Tracker is the best way to see how each of the Twin's top prospects performed during their games, but in case you wanted a quick look, Here is how each of the top 20 performed today: #1 - Brooks Lee (Wichita) - 1-for-4, K #2 - Royce Lewis (Rehab-St. Paul) - 1-for-4, BB, R, K. #3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-4, 2B(2), R #4 - Edouard Julien (Minnesota) - #6 - Marco Raya (Cedar Rapids) - 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5K #9 - Matt Wallner (Minnesota) - #12 - Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, 3 K #14 - Jordan Balazovic (St. Paul) - 3.2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3K #19 - Yunior Severino (Wichita) - 1-for-4, 3B(1), K SATURDAY SCHEDULE AND PROBABLE STARTERS: Omaha @ St. Paul (7:07 PM CST) - RHP Randy Dobnak (1-1, 5.45 ERA) Surge @ Springfield (6:35 PM CST): RHP Travis Adams (1-4, 7.01 ERA) Wisconsin @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CST) - RHP Alejandro Hidalgo (0-1, 2.33 ERA) Fort Myers @ Dunedin (5:00 PM CST) - Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Friday's games! 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The affiliates had a rough night in some of their games, but Royce Lewis got two home runs to solidify that he's ready to return to the big leagues. Image courtesy of Kim Klement USA Today TRANSACTIONS Shortstop Royce Lewis continues to rehab in St. Paul Outfielder Kyle Garlick, recalled by the Twins RHP Andrew Morris is reinstated from the 7-day IL after a bicep strain Infielder Keoni Cavaco has been activated from the 7-day IL Ernie Yake has been placed on the Development List Saints Sentinel St. Paul 8, Columbus 1 Box Score The Saints struck first blood tonight in Columbus with a solo home run from Chris Williams to go up 1-0 on the Clippers. The Clippers answered in like, but the Saint offense continued to give Clippers starting pitcher Zach Plesac a difficult time with another solo home run from Royce Lewis, who has been rehabbing with the Saints the past week. The Saints continued to take advantage of Plesac's pitching, scoring 4-1 by the fourth. Lewis continues to not only improve after missing time for an ACL injury, but his bat has been a considerable contributor to the Saint's run count since coming up. Lewis has less than 20 days left on his rehab assignment, and Twins fans are clamoring for the shortstop to make his appearance at the club level with all the injuries mounting in Minneapolis. Lewis has a .400 BA and is responsible for five RBI in four games. Saints starting pitcher Aaron Sanchez struggled early on, allowing three walks and loading the bases but got himself out of a jam, only allowing one of those to turn into a run. He settled down after a rough inning and stayed in the game for five innings, keeping tight control of the strike zone and the Clipper's runs. Sanchez and the bullpen didn't allow any more runs throughout the game, giving the offense free reign to create more chaos, and what do you know? Lewis took advantage of that, getting his second home run of the night and his third since returning to St. Paul, extending the lead to 5-1. The Saints got three more insurance runs (two at the top of the ninth) before the game ended to gave Sanchez his second win. Wind Surge Wisdom Wichita 10, Arkansas 14 Box Score Wichita and Arkansas battled a long game throughout the late evening on Friday. Going pitch-for-pitch and hit-for-hit, the two teams stayed in sync for the first three innings with a score of 0-0, 2-2, and 4-4. Wichita starting pitcher David Festa had a rough night on the mound. Only staying in for 2.1 IP, Festa gave up five runs, only walked one, and had one strikeout. Right-hander Seth Nordin came in to clean up the inning and minimize the damage but walked three and allowed one run. Festa and Nordin gave up six earned runs together and only had one strike, giving the Travelers every opportunity to run up the score. The Surge was not alone, though, in their pitching woes. The offense got the same opportunity due to Arkansas' starting pitcher Emerson Hancock, who, like Festas, rarely struggles on the mound. Hancock could not strike out any of the Surge line-ups, walking five and giving up six runs to the Surge. Two of those runs from Alex Isola, who has reached base now in 16 consecutive games and has a seven-game hit streak. One of Isola's runs came in the fourth inning to break the tie-game giving the Surge a one-run lead. The Surge and Travelers game did not move swiftly. Each team had a considerable amount of hits, but as many hits as they had, both teams also left 32 players on base between the two of them. The pitch clock was not able to save this game’s time. The Travelers 11 hits and left 20 on base by the top of the seventh inning, but somehow managed a three run lead (11-8) over the Surge. The Surge bullpen simply couldn’t hold it together. The Travelers dug deep into the Surge bullpen and just exploited them at every opportunity, running up the score with the Surge unable to catch up. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 8, Peoria 4 Box Score The Cedar Rapids Kernels are stacked with talent. Seven of the twenty Twins Daily prospects are in Cedar Rapids, which shows. The starting pitcher, Twins Daily #4 prospect Marcus Raya put on another clinic tonight in Peoria with three clean innings, not allowing any runs and striking out two. Raya only threw 61 pitches before being replaced by RHP Kyle Jones in the fourth. Jones allowed one earned run in the fifth, a run from a series of unfortunate events on a fielding error by Kernel's third baseman, Ben Ross, allowing him to make it to first and secure second. However, Jones controlled the damage with routine outs to end the inning. The Kernels took advantage of the opportunity to get on the board in the fourth inning, earning four runs and forcing Peoria to pull their starting pitcher. Four of the Twins Daily top 20 prospects, Tanner Schobel, Misuel Urbina, Noah Miller, and Jose Salas, took turns securing runs for the Kernels, generating five of the seven RBI throughout Friday's game. The Kernels went up on the Chiefs, scoring four earned runs in the second and the fourth innings. The Chiefs weren't willing to go down without a fight and came out swinging in the eighth inning with a pair of singles and then took Jones for three runs on a wild pitch closing the gap 4-8. Right fielder Kal'ai Rosario has been a huge part of the offensive results for the Kernels throughout May. Rosario ended April with over 20 strikeouts, straddling the Mendoza line with a .215 BA and .311 OBS. Fast forward to the later part of May, as of Friday night's game, the Hawaii native still has a high strikeout ratio, but his batting average has increased to .393 BA and his OBS to .507. In Friday night's game against the Chiefs, Rosario earned two runs and drove in two RBI to help secure the win for the Kernels. Mussels Matters Fort Myers 6, Lakeland 7 Box Score The Mussel's pitching struggled tonight after a solid win in Lakeland on Thursday night. By the third inning, the Mussels starting pitcher Andrew Morris allowed three earned runs in one shot on a three-run home run from Lakeland's Peyton Graham, pulling ahead of the Mussels 3-2. A.J. Labas came in for Morris in the bottom of the third to minimize the damage but had his struggles coming into the fourth inning, allowing three earned runs himself. Two stolen bases from Peyton Graham and Luke Gold were compounded by fielding errors that allowed Lakeland to run the score up to 6-3. The two pitchers combined gave up six runs in the third and fourth inning, nullifying Mussel's three earned runs over the last three innings. The Mussels offense couldn't generate runs and was stifled throughout the six innings, only getting four hits total, leaving 14 on base. In the act of mercy, mother nature intervened to help the Mussels out with a temporary rain delay to gather themselves. Returning from the rain delay, the Mussels' Carlos Aguiar cleared the bases with a sharp line drive to right field, tying up the score to level the playing field. The Mussels fought back hard, and it looked like the game may have gone into extra innings, but Lakeland had just enough left in them to generate one more run to pull ahead and stay there to beat the Mussels 7-6. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Aaron Sanchez (St. Paul) - 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 5 K Hitter of the Day – Royce Lewis (Minnesota) - 3-for-4, 2 R (both home runs), 1K, 2 RBI PROSPECT SUMMARY The Twins Prospect Tracker is the best way to see how each of the Twin's top prospects performed during their games, but in case you wanted a quick look, Here is how each of the top 20 performed today: #1 - Brooks Lee (Wichita) - Did Not Play #2 - Royce Lewis (Minnesota) - 3-for-4, 2 RBI #3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-3, 1 RBI,1 BB,1 K #4 - Marco Raya (Cedar Rapids) - 3.0 IP, 2K #5 - Edouard Julien (Minnesota) - 1-for-1, RBI, 1 BB, K #6 - Simeon Woods Richardson (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch #7 - Connor Prielipp (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List #8 - Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-3, 1 RBI, BB, 1 K #9 - Louie Varland (Minnesota) - SP 4/22/23 #10 - Austin Martin (St. Paul) - Injured List #11 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 2-for-5, RBI, BB, 1K #12 - Yasser Mercedes (Extended Spring Training) #13 - David Festa (Wichita) - 2.1 IP, 5H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 1 K #14 - Noah Miller (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-3, 1 RBI,1 BB, K #15 - Matt Canterino (Wichita) - Injured List #16 - Jordan Balazovic (St. Paul) - SP 5/20/23 #17 - Ronny Henriquez (St. Paul ) - Did Not Pitch #18 - Tanner Schobel (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-5, RBI, BB, 2 K #19 - Jose Rodriguez (Extended Spring Training) - #20 - Misael Urbina (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-4, 1 RBI, BB, 1K SATURDAY SCHEDULE AND PROBABLE STARTERS: St. Paul @ Columbus (7:05 PM CST) - RHP Jordan Balazovic (0-1, 2.89ERA) Arkansas @ Wichita (6:05 PM CST): RH Aaron Rozek (0-1, 8.10ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (7:35 PM CST) - Jordan Carr (1-1, 2.25ERA) Fort Myers @ Lakeland (5:00 PM CST) - Cory Lewis (4-1, 2.43ERA) Please feel free to ask questions and discuss today's game! 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After a much needed day off, the Twins continue their California campaign in Anaheim and see former teammate Gio Urshela for the first time since his trade. Image courtesy of Michael McLoone USA TODAY The Twin's offense heads south to Anaheim and will face a couple of lefties, whose presence could neutralize three of the Twins’ left-handed power hitters: Joey Gallo who has been on a tear since the series against the Cubs, Trevor Larnach, and Alex Kirilloff, who has made himself very comfortable in the line-up with his first career walk-off win and two home runs. With the potential of Jorge Polanco out with a hamstring injury and Nick Gordon out with a fractured shin, the lineup is going to have to dig deep and generate runs. Interesting Fact: Two Twins legends, Rod Carew and Torii Hunter, took deals with the Angels after a long battle with the front office over salaries. While they were a part of very competitive Angels teams, they never won a World Series. Weather Factor: Sunny, slight wind, no rain. Not sure what else we’d expect! Pitching Probables Game 1 – Friday, May 19, 2023 – 8:38 pm CDT – For the first game of the series, the Twins send Joe Ryan (6-1, 2.16 ERA) to the mound and hope to set the tone for the series. Ryan's last appearance against the Cubs was one of his best performances (0 ER, 0 BB, 10 K). Ryan's fastball is the most effective in his arsenal, and he uses it 60% of the time. In his only other start against the Angels, he struck out five hitters in four innings but still allowed three earned runs, which came off the bats of Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. Angels southpaw starting pitcher Reid Detmers (0-3, 4.89ERA) has yet to record a win this year. His closest look at a win was last week, when he left the game with a lead after pitching 5+ innings, before the bullpen lost that game to the Guardians. Detmers has allowed 19 runs in 35 IP, but he also has a FIP of 3.91 and a K/9 of 10.5. Meanwhile, the Twins have the third-highest strikeout rate in the league. If he throws strikes, gets guys to chase, and get run support, he could keep the Twins from producing a lot of damage and potentially get his first win. Game 2 – Saturday, May 20, 2023 – 9:07 pm CDT - Louie Varland has settled into the Twins rotation nicely and his confidence appears to be growing. Varland got his first win of the season against the Cubs and he brought his K/9 up to 10.57. He also leaves guys stranded 86.7% of the time, and fans have seen him get out of some sticky situations which will be an asset against this lineup. The Angels lineup ranks fourth in the AL in runs per game, with players like Ohtani, Trout, Hunter Renfroe and former Twin, Gio Urshela. Varland is going to have to be consistent to get out ahead of the Angels and minimize their ability to get on base or bring guys home. The Twins will face another left-handed starter, Patrick Sandoval (3-2. 3.22 ERA). He has come out strong early in games - opposing batters have a .450 OPS the first time they face him in a game - but then seems to fall off. Sandoval gives up a lot of walks (BB/9 3.22) and doesn’t strike out many batters (K/9 6.25). But the Twins have a heavy lefty line-up and will likely sit several of their hotter bats. If the Twins offense can get through Sandoval quickly and get to the bullpen, they can bring in the big guns to finish out the game. Game 3 - Sunday, May 21, 2023 – 3:07 pm CDT - Pablo Lopez (2-2, 3.47ERA) returns after a rough start against the Dodgers on Monday night in Los Angeles. Twins fans know that Lopez misses bats (11 K/9, fifth in the AL). He also has the advantage of never having faced the Angels in his career. The Angels will likely send Shohei Ohtani (5-1, 2.74ERA) to close out the series' last game. In his last outing, Ohtani appeared uncomfortable on the mound from neck pain so he is being monitored this week, but he has played since as a designated hitter. Ohtani has faced the Twins twice. Both times he stifled the offense, allowing only three earned runs combined and striking out 18 hitters. Prediction Time! What's your prediction for this series? Will Pablo Lopez have redemption in California? Will the Twins let off the gas during this series after the Dodgers? Who do you see being the biggest impact player in this series? Let us know in the comments! Go, Twins! View full article

I had finally just calmed down before reading this. ha ha. This is really well written, and it fires me up all over again. With the Umpires getting ready for their own contract coming up, I'm nervous that the robo umps are coming. Nervous because I love the human element of the game and I don't want to lose that - but honest to GOD something has to be done, because there is just no excuse for some of the calls that are being made. I am one of those that feels like they are screwing up on purpose which is completely unfair to the teams who work so hard.