Eric R Pleiss

The Twins surprised everyone and won on Thursday afternoon, taking two out of three against the Royals to win their first series of the year. Down on the farm, things did not go as well with every affiliate in action taking the loss.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 7, Pawtucket PawSox 8 Box Score Despite seven runs on twelve hits, the Red Wings lost to the PawSox in the bottom of the ninth when Ryan Pressly, working in his third inning of the evening, gave up a one out home run to Pawtucket's Bryce Brentz. Pressly, who entered the game with two outs in the sixth, was charged with a blown save and a loss. Red Wings' starter Taylor Rogers was lucky to escape without a decision after giving up five runs, all earned, in six innings. Rogers struck out seven, but he also walked three and gave up two long balls. Logan Darnell came on the start the sixth and put two men on base before yielding to Pressly who gave up a double, allowing both inherited runners to score and tagging Darnell with two earned runs. Twelve hits and seven walks led to plenty of scoring opportunities for the Red Wings, who failed to tally an extra-base hit and left ten runners on base despite going 4-10 with runners in scoring position. Reynaldo Rodriguez was 3-4 with a walk and an RBI to pace Rochester. Eddie Rosario (2-4), Josmil Pinto (2-2, 3BB), and Jose Martinez (2-4) all collected two hits. Pinto is now hitting .417, including six hits in his last seven at-bats, plus those two walks. He has to be wondering how much longer it will be until he is back with the Minnesota Twins. LOOKOUTS LOOK-IN Birmingham Barons @ Chattanooga POSTPONED - Jose Berrios will have an extra day of rest as the Lookouts were rained out tonight in Chattanooga. MIRACLE MATTERS Tampa Yankees 7, Fort Myers 6 (10 innings) Box Score Down 6-2 in the bottom of the eighth, the Miracle rallied for four runs on a Logan Wade grand slam to send the game into extra innings. Aaron Slegers, Fort Myers' starter, went just 5.2 innings, surrendering six runs, four earned. He walked one batter and struck out five. Madison Boer finished the sixth for Slegers and pitched two more scoreless innings after that to get the Miracle through the eighth. With the game now tied, Todd Van Steensel pitched 1.2 scoreless innings before yielding to Brandon Peterson, with the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the tenth. Peterson quickly got ahead of Angelo Gumbs 0-2 on a pair of breaking balls and then balked in a run when he dropped the ball while he was standing on the rubber, before eventually striking out Gumbs to retire the side. The Miracle were aided by four Tampa errors, but Engelb Vielma and Alex Swim managed to go 0-10 at the top of the order, leaving Fort Myers to manufacture runs without their table setters on base. Logan Wade's grand slam was part of his 2-4 night and was the punctuation mark on the night for the Miracle hitters. Marcus Knecht was the only other Miracle hitter with multiple hits, 2-4 with a double, a walk, and an RBI. Niko Goodrum finished the night 1-4 with a single and two walks. With a runner on second in the bottom of the tenth, Max Kepler was caught looking to end the game. Kepler, DHing on Thursday night, ended 1-5 with a walk and two strike- outs. KERNELS KORNER Peoria Chiefs 3, Cedar Rapids 1 Box Score A quick ballgame on Thursday in Iowa, lasting just two hours and five minutes. Kernels' starter John Curtiss cruised through five innings, but gave up three runs in the sixth inning to take the loss. The Kernels now need a win tomorrow night to avoid being swept at home by the Chiefs. Curtiss scattered ten hits, struck out six and walked just a single batter. His ERA now sits at 4.63 on the young season. Michael Theofanopoulos pitched scoreless seventh and eighth innings, and C.K. Irby finished the game with an interesting ninth, walking two and striking out two. There was not a lot of offense for the Kernels against Peoria's Austin Gomber, who struck out eight Cedar Rapids batsmen and yielded just a single run on an RBI single by Zack Larson in the bottom of the third. That Larson RBI gave the Kernels their first lead of the series against the Chiefs, but the Kernels did not have the hits to keep pace. Zach Granite was the bright spot for Cedar Rapids, going 3-4 with a double, raising his season average to .458 while extending his hitting streak to five games. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day - Josmil Pinto, Rochester Red Wings Pitcher of the Day - Michael Theofanopoulos, Cedar Rapids Kernels THURSDAY'S PROBABLES Rochester @ Pawtucket - Jason Wheeler (0-1, 2.70) vs. Henry Owens (0-0, 1.42) Birmingham @ Chattanooga - Mike Recchia (0-0, 5.40) vs. Jose Berrios (1-0, 1.42) St. Lucie @ Fort Myers - Marcos Molina (0-0, 3.) vs. Chih-Wei Hu (0-0 3.60) Peoria @ Cedar Rapids - Daniel Poncedeleon (1-0, 0.00) vs. Stephen Gonsalves (1-0, 1.50) On the most recent episode of the Talk to Contact podcast, Seth Stohs identified Gonsalves as his pick to be the Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Year. Click here to view the article

The Twins surprised everyone and won on Thursday afternoon, taking two out of three against the Royals to win their first series of the year. Down on the farm, things did not go as well with every affiliate in action taking the loss. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester @ Pawtucket PawSox Box Score Despite seven runs on twelve hits, the Red Wings lost to the PawSox in the bottom of the ninth when Ryan Pressly, working in his third inning of the evening, gave up a one out home run to Pawtucket's Bryce Brentz. Pressly, who entered the game with two outs in the sixth, was charged with a blown save and a loss. Red Wings' starter Taylor Rogers was lucky to escape without a decision after giving up five runs, all earned, in six innings. Rogers struck out seven, but he also walked three and gave up two long balls. Logan Darnell came on the start the sixth and put two men on base before yeilding to Pressly who gave up a double, allowing both inherited runners to score and tagging Darnell with two earned runs. Twelve hits and seven walks led to plenty of scoring opportunities for the Red Wings, who failed to tally an extra base hit and left ten runners on base despite going 4-10 with runners in scoring position. Reynaldo Rodriguez was 3-4 with a walk and an RBI to pace Rochester. Eddie Rosario (2-4), Josmil Pinto (2-2, 2BB), and Jose Martinez (2-4) all collected two hits. Pinto is now hitting .417, including six hits in his last seven at bats, plus those two walks. He has to be wondering how much longer it will be until he is back with the Minnesota Twins. LOOKOUTS LOOK-IN Birmingham Barons @ Chattanooga POSTPONED - Jose Berrios will have an extra day of rest as the Lookouts were rained out tonight in Chattanooga. MIRACLE MATTERS Tampa Yankees @ Fort Myers Box Score Down 6-2 in the bottom of the eighth, the Miracle rallied for four runs on a Chad Christensen grand slam to send the game into extra innings. Aaron Slegers, Fort Myers' starter, went just 5.2 innings, surrendering six runs, four earned, he walked one batter and struck out five. Madison Boer finished the sixth for Slegers and pitched two more scoreless innings after that to get the Miracle through the eighth. With the game now tied, Todd Van Steensel pitched 1.2 scoreless innings for yielding to Brandon Peterson, with the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the tenth. Peterson quickly got ahead of Angelo Gumbs 0-2 on a pair of breaking balls and then balked in a run when he dropped the ball while he was standing on the rubber, before eventually striking out Gumbs to retire the side. The Miracle were aided by four Tampa errors, but Engelb Vielma and Alex Swim managed to go 0-10 at the top of the order, leaving Fort Myers to manufacture runs without their table setters on base. Logan Wade's grand slam was part of his 2-4 night and was the punctuation mark on the night for the Miracle hitters. Marcus Knecht was the only other Miracle hitter with multiple hits, 2-4 with a double, a walk, and an RBI. Niko Goodrum finished the night 1-4 with a single and two walks. With a runner on second in the bottom of the tenth, Max Kepler was caught looking to end the game. Kepler, DHing on Thursday night, ended up 1-5 with a walk and two strike outs. KERNELS KORNER Peoria Chiefs @ Cedar Rapids Box Score A quick ballgame on Thursday in Iowa, lasting just two hours and five minutes. Kernels' starter John Curtiss cruised through five innings, but gave up three runs in the sixth inning to take the loss. The Kernels now need a win tomorrow night to avoid being swept at home by the Chiefs. Curtiss scattered ten hits, struck out six and walked just a single batter. His ERA now sits at 4.63 on the young season. Michael Theofanopoulos pitched scoreless seventh and eighth innings, and C.K. Irby finished the game with an interesting ninth, walking two and striking out two. There was not a lot of offense for the Kernels against Peoria's Austin Gomber, who struck out eight Cedar Rapids batsmen and yeilded just a single run on an RBI single by Zack Larson in the bottom of the third. That Larson RBI gave the Kernels their first lead of the series against the Chiefs, but the Kernels did not have the hits to keep pace. Zach Granite was the bright spot for Cedar Rapids, going 3-4 with a double, raising his season average to .458 while extending his hitting streak to five games. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day - Josmil Pinto Pitcher of the Day - Michael Theofanopoulos THURSDAY'S PROBABLES Rochester @ Pawtucket - Jason Wheeler (0-1, 2.70) vs. Henry Owens (0-0, 1.42) Birmingham @ Chattanooga - Mike Recchia (0-0, 5.40) vs. Jose Berrios (1-0, 1.42) St. Lucie @ Fort Myers - Marcos Molina (0-0, 3.) vs. Chih-Wei Hu (0-0 3.60) Peoria @ Cedar Rapids - Daniel Poncedeleon (1-0, 0.00) vs. Stephen Gonsalves (1-0, 1.50) On the most recent episode of the Talk to Contact podcast, Seth Stohs identified Gonsalves as his pick to be the Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Year.

Cody Christie only votes for MVP's on pennant winning teams, too. #SICKBURN

Chattanooga Chatter would be a travesty. Every other section includes the name of the Twins affiliate. Lookouts Look In is pretty unexciting, but it fits with the theme. Next up, finding some alteration for the Kernels section.

I've been impressed with Eades progress in the 2nd half of 2014. Had higher expectations for the big guy, but has been consistent and taken ball every five days all year long. Needs to find a repeatable delivery, hard for a big guy like Eades, but he'll continue to climb the MiLB latter.

Whoa. NOW THIS IS HOW YOU MAKE A COMMENT, FOLKS!

With the Minor League season all but over, this is likely the last time I will be writing the Minor League Report for the 2014 season. I won't disappear completely, you can still find me and the rest of the Talk to Contact crew talking beer, baseball and the news over at www.TalkToContact.com on our weekly Minnesota Twins podcast. Thank you for hanging out with me and talking Minor LEague ball this year at Twins Daily, it has been a blast. The Twins played host to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the first of a four game series at Target Field. The Twins lost (what's new?), but Cedar Rapids and Fort Myers are playing in the post-season and you're here for the Minor League Report, so let's make it happen. Miracle Matters Daytona 1, Fort Myers 5 Box The Miracle took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five Florida State League Championship Series on Thursday night with a victory over the Daytona Cubs. The Miracle jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the second inning and never looked back. Dalton Hicks and Stuart Turner scored those two runs on an RBI single from Tyler Grimes with two outs in the second. Miracle Starter Matt Tomshaw was cruising into the sixth inning before running into a little bit of trouble. The Cubs' leadoff hitter in the sixth reached on a ground ball deflected off of Tomshaw, and then advanced to second when Tyler Grimes committed a throwing error trying to make a play on the deflected ball. The next hitter dropped a bunt single to put runners on the corner with no outs. Tomshaw then struck out a hitter before a ground rule double plated a run. The Miracle were saved a run as the base runners were only allowed to advance two bases. Tomshaw then walked the next batter and induced an inning-ending double play a batter later. With the score now 2-1, Adam Brett Walker, who finished first in the FSL in homers in the regular season, led off the bottom of the sixth and deposited the third pitch of the inning over Green Monster in left field. The Miracle would add another run in the sixth when Travis Harrison doubled home Jason Kanzler. The Miracle closed out the scoring in the bottom of the seventh via an RBI double from Adam Brett Walker, scoring Stuart Turner. With runners on second and third with no outs and a chance to really break the game open, the Miracle failed to put another ball in play as Tyler Grimes and Jason Kanzler struck out swinging before Aderlin Megia was hit by a pitch. Then with bases loaded and two outs, Niko Goodrum went down on strikes as well. With the score then 5-1, D.J. Johnson and Brandon Peterson finished things up for the Miracle, holding the Cubs scoreless for the final two frames. On the night, Adam Brett Walker was 3-4 with a run scored, that double and home run, and two RBIs. The 22-year-old is hitting .444 this post season, and as I mentioned above, led the FSL in homers this year, with 25 long balls. A year ago in Cedar Rapids Walker lit up the Midwest League with 27 round-trippers. Walker should start 2015 in Double-A and really test his meddle against some of the better pitchers in the Minor Leagues. Travis Harrison was 2-4 on the day with two doubles, an RBI and a walk. The Miracle hitters totaled eleven hits, four walks and nine strike outs against the Cubs. Matt Tomshaw's final line was six innings pitched, six hits, one earned run, two walks and he struck out four. D.J. Johnson pitched two scoreless innings to earn his second hold of the post season, and Brandon Peterson finished things off in the eighth. The Miracle are back at "home" at Jet Blue Park for game-two on Friday evening at 6:05pm. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 2, Burlington 1 Box After dropping the first game of the series in Cedar Rapids, the Kernels snuck pas the Burlington Bees 2-1 to force a third game in this three-game series. The Kernels and the Bees played three quiet innings until Cedar Rapids broke the scoreless tie in the top of the fourth. With runners on the corner and no outs, Alex Swim singled home a run to give the Kernels a 1-0 lead with two runners on and no outs and a chance to extend their lead. The next batter, J.D. Williams popped one up to the first basement, and then Engelb Vielma and Michael Quesada both struck out swinging to end the Kernel's threat. The Bees tied the game with two outs in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single, ending the evening for Kernel's starter Mat Batts. Brian Gilbert replaced Batts and struck out the next batter swinging to end the sixth. In the top of the eighth Logan Wade pushed the Kernels ahead by a run with a solo home run, which turned out to be the winning run for the Kernels. In the bottom of the eighth, things heated up after Jake Mauer was ejected arguing a safe call at first base on a bunt attempt that gave Burlington runners on first and second with no outs. Mauer's ejection perked up his team as Gilbert proceeded to pick off the runner at second base, and then quickly induced an inning ending double play to move play to the ninth. Down by one, the Bees put runners on the corners with no outs against Jake Reed, who replaced Gilbert to start the inning. Reed struck out the next batter and then induced an inning ending double play of his own on a grounder to Engelb Vielma at shortstop to preserve the Kernels' victory. The Kernels recorded just seven hits on the night, to go along with a single walk while striking out ten times. Chad Christensen were both 2-4, and the hero of the night, Logan Wade, was 1-4 with that solo blast. On the mound, Mat Batts pitched very well, scattering three hits over 5.2 innings, giving up only one run. Brian Gilbert pitched 2.1 scoreless innings before turning things over to Jake Reed for an adventurous save. The Kernels and the Bees will finish things off on Friday at 6:30pm at Community Field in Burlington, winner take all. TwinsDaily Minor League Players of the Day TwinsDaily Minor League Hitter of the Day - Adam Brett Walker, Fort Myers TwinsDaily Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Matt Tomshaw, Fort Myers Friday's Probables Daytona @ Fort Myers, 6:05pm, TBD Cedar Rapids @ Burlington, 6:30pm, Stephen Gonsalves

The Minnesota Twins exploded for six runs in the top of the tenth inning after they squandered three early game runs and beat the Kansas City Royals. Jordan Schafer continues to hit the ball well for the Twins and he had three more hits on Thursday against Kansas City. Down in the minor leagues the season is entering the final weekend. Let's take a look at the affiliates.Red Wings Report Rochester 6, Syracuse 3 Box The Red Wings took the lead in the seventh inning and went on to defeat the Syracuse Chiefs and are now just two games out of the wild card spot with four games to go. The Wings control their own postseason fate and could squeeze into a spot with wins in their final four games, with two against Buffalo and finishing the season with a pair against Wild Card leading Pawtucket. Virgil Vasquez, one of Rochester's most reliable starters, lasted only four innings. He gave up five hits, four walks, two earned runs and he struck out five. Vasquez turned things over to Logan Darnell, making a rare appearance out of the bullpen, and gave the Wings 3.2 innings of one-hit baseball. The one hit went over the fence for a solo home run, but with Rochester scoring five runs between the sixth and eighth innings, Darnell picked up the win. Stephen Pryor pitched a scoreless inning and Michael Tonkin earned a one-out save to close out the victory. Pedro Florimon led the way for the Red Wings, going 3-4 with a run scored, a triple and three RBIs. Chris Herrmann hit a home run for the second night in a row and finished 2-4. Chris Rahl, making his first start since an early August DL trip, was 2-4 as well. Rock Cats Review New Britain 5, Binghamton 3 Box Jason Wheeler pitched seven innings of one run baseball and has nothing to show for it after Edgar Ibarra gave up two runs in the bottom of the eighth and left Wheeler with no decision. Wheeler struck out four, walked one and gave up his only run on a solo home run in the first inning. Ibarra, despite blowing the save, earned the win when the Rock Cats scored three runs in the top of the ninth. Ibarra pitched two innings, gave up two runs, struck out two and walked one. The Rock Cats used a slew of singles to score those runs in the ninth, with RBIs coming from Mike Gonzales, Reynaldo Rodriguez and Tony Thomas as part of four consecutive singles for New Britain. Other than those four ninth inning hits, the Rock Cats had just six hits in the first eight innings. Eddie Rosario, headed to the Arizona Fall League in a couple weeks, was 0-4 with a strike out and is hitting just .234/.277/.378 in 75 games in New Britain. In addition to his ninth inning RBI, Tony Thomas had two more RBIs, including a solo home run in the second inning. Miracle Matters The Fort Myers and Jupiter were rained out and the game will be made up on Friday as part of a double header. Kernels Nuggets Cane County 3, Cedar Rapids 2 Box Having already clinched a postseason birth, the Kernels fell in regulation to the best team in the Midwest League, The Kane County Cougars (89-47). Chih-Wei Hu gave up three first inning runs, all earned, but hung on to pitch four innings. He struck out five, walked three, and scattered four hits. Hudson Boyd pitched three scoreless innings of relief and Chris Mazza pitched the final two innings and struck out five. The Kernels went into the ninth inning down by two runs and despite a late rally could plate only one run and lost 3-2. The Kernels were paced by Jonatan Hinojosa who was 3-4 with a walk and a strikeout. Tanner Vavra had two hits, including a double. E-Twins E-Notes Kingsport 6, Elizabethton 13 Box Kingsport chased starter Derrick Penilla after three innings. Penilla gave up five runs, all earned, on eight hits. He struck out four and walked none. Zach Tillery pitched three innings in relief, giving up one run, no walks and he struck out two. Kuo Hua Low pitched two scoreless innings and was the beneficiary of a nine-run inning from the Twins and he picked up his third win of the year. Keaton Steele pitched the ninth to finish the game. The Twins scored 13 runs on 15 hits, including five for extra bases. Nick Gordon led the way with a 3-5 night. He had a triple, four RBIs and no strikeouts. Will Hurt --GREAT baseball name-- was 3-5 with a run scored. Trey Vavra, Tyler Mautner and Austin Diemer also all had multi-hit nights. Mautner had a big night with both his hits going for extra bases, a double and a solo home run. GCL Twins Takes GCL Twins 1, GCL Rays 3 Box The GCL Twins were in a hole from the beginning and could not string together enough timely hitting to steal a win from the Rays, going 1-8 with runners in scoring position,. The Twins used only two pitchers, Alexis Tapia, who pitched five innings and gave up three runs and Miles Nordgren who pitched three innings of scoreless relief. Joel Polanco was the only Twins player with multiple hits. He was 2-4 with a run scored and two strikeouts. Jake Barrie had the Twins' only extra-base hit, a double, and Dubal Baez had their only walk. TwinsDaily Minor League Hitter and Pitcher of the Day TwinsDaily Hitter of the Day - Pedro Florimon, Rochester TwinsDaily Pitcher of the Day - Jason Wheeler, New Britain Friday's Probables Buffalo @ Rochester (6:15pm) - Sean Gilmartin New Hampshire @ New Britain (6:05) - Pat Dean Jupiter @ Fort Myers (4:00, Game 2 to follow) - TBD, TBD Kane County @ Cedar Rapids (6:35) - Mat Batts Kingsport @ Elizabethton - TBD Click here to view the article

The Minnesota Twins exploded for six runs in the top of the tenth inning after they squandered three early game runs and beat the Kansas City Royals. Jordan Schafer continues to hit the ball well for the Twins, and had three more hits on Thursday against Kansas City. Down in the Minor Leagues the season is entering the final weekend, let's take a look at the Affiliates. Red Wings Report Rochester 6, Syracuse 3 Box The Red Wings took the lead late (in the seventh) to defeat the Syracuse Chiefs and are now just two games out of the Wild Card spot with four games to control. The Wings control their own postseason fate and could squeeze in a spot with wins in their final four games (two against Buffalo, and finishing up the season with a pair against Wild Card leading Pawtucket). Virgil Vasquez, one of Rochester's most reliable starters, lasted only four innings. Vasquez gave up five hits, four walks, two earned runs and he struck out five. Vasquez turned things over to Logan Darnell, making a rare appearance out of the bullpen, and gave the Wings 3.2 innings of 1-hit baseball. The one hit went over the fence for a solo home run, but with Rochester scoring five runs between the sixth and eighth innings, Darnell picked up the W. Stephen Pryor pitched a scoreless inning, and Michael Tonkin earned a one out save to close out the victory. Pedro Florimon led the way for the Red Wings, he was 3-4 with a run scored, a triple, and three RBI. Chris Herrmann hit a home run for the second night in the row and finished 2-4. Chris Rahl, making his first start since an early August DL trip, was 2-4 as well. Rock Cats Review New Britain 5, Binghamton 3 Box Jason Wheeler pitched seven innings of one run baseball and had nothing to show for it after Edgar Ibarra gave up two runs in the bottom of the eighth and left Wheeler with a no decision. Wheeler struck out four, walked one, and gave up his only run on a solo home run in the first inning. Ibarra, despite blowing the save, earned the win when he Rock Cats scored three runs in the top of the ninth. Ibarra pitched two innings, gave up two runs, struck out two and walked one. The Rock Cats used a slew of singles to score those runs in the ninth, with RBIs coming from Mike Gonzales, Reynaldo Rodriguez and Tony Thomas as part of four consecutive singles for New Britain. Other than those four ninth inning hits, the Rock Cats had just six hits in the first eight innings. Eddie Rosario, headed to the Arizona Fall League in a couple of weeks, was 0-4 with a strike out and is hitting just .234/.277/.378 in 75 games in New Britain. In addition to his ninth inning RBI, Tony Thomas had two more RBIs, including a solo home run in the second inning. Miracle Matters The Fort Myers and Jupiter were rained out and the game will be made up on Friday as part of a double header. Kernels Nuggets Cane County 3, Cedar Rapids 2 Box Having already clinched a postseason birth, the Kernels fell in regulation to the best team in the Midwest League, The Kane County Cougars (89-47). Chih-Wei Hu gave up three first inning runs, all earned, but hung on to pitch four innings. He struck out five, walked three, and scattered four hits. Hudson Boyd pitched three scoreless innings of relief and Chris Mazza pitched the final two innings and struck out five. The Kernels went into the ninth inning down by two runs, and despite a late rally, could only plate one run and lost 3-2. The Kernels were paced by Jonatan Hinojosa who was 3-4 with a walk and a strike out. Tanner Vavra had two hits, including a double. E-Twins E-Notes Kingsport 6, Elizabethton 13 Box Kingsport chased starter Derrick Penilla after three innings. Penilla gave up five runs, all earned, on eight hits. He struck out four and walked none. Zach Tillery pitched three innings in relief, giving up one run, no walks, and he struck out two. Kuo Hua Low pitched two scoreless innings and was the beneficiary of a nine-run inning from the Twins and he picked up his third win of the year. Keaton Steele pitched the ninth to finish the game. The Twins scored 13 runs on 15 hits, including five for extra bases. Nick Gordon led the way with a 3-5 night. He had a triple, four RBI and no strike outs. Will Hurt (GREAT baseball name) was 3-5 with a run scored. Trey Vavra, Tyler Mautner, and Austin Diemer also all had multi-hit nights. Mautner had a big night with both of his hits going for extra bases with a double and a solo home run. GCL Twins Takes GCL Twins 1, GCL Rays 3 Box The GCL Twins were in a hole from the beginning and could not string together enough timely hitting (1-8 with runners in scoring position) to steal a win from the Rays. The Twins used only two pitchers, Alexis Tapia, who pitched five innings and gave up three runs, and Miles Nordgren who pitched three innings of scoreless relief. Joel Polanco was the only Twins player with multiple hits, he was 2-4 with a run scored and two strike outs. Jake Barrie had the Twins' only extra base hit, a double, and Dubal Baez had their only walk. TwinsDaily Minor League Hitter and Pitcher of the Day TwinsDaily Hitter of the Day - Pedro Florimon, Rochester TwinsDaily Pitcher of the Day - Jason Wheeler, New Britain Friday's Probables Buffalo @ Rochester (6:15pm) - Sean Gilmartin New Hampshire @ New Britain (6:05) - Pat Dean Jupiter @ Fort Myers (4:00, Game 2 to follow) - TBD, TBD Kane County @ Cedar Rapids (6:35) - Mat Batts Kingsport @ Elizabethton - TBD

Not even close, brother. Will Hurt, 2B, ETown, Mat Batts, P, Cedar Rapids, Rando Rosario, P, Cedar Rapids, David Hurlbut, P, Fort Myers, Dan Rohlfing, C, Rochester I like all of those better.

The Minnesota Twins resumed their winning ways and came up with a 4-1 victory against one of the hottest pitchers in baseball. The Twins ended a 20-inning scoreless drought when Kennys Vargas homered to give the Twins a 1-0 lead in the forth off of Corey Kluber. The Twins picked up a couple more runs against Kluber and thanks to a magnificent performance from Phil Hughes the Twins cruised to victory.Red Wings Report Rochester 1, Syracuse 1, Suspended - Rain Box The game in Syracuse was suspended because of rain, they'll resume things on Friday. Rock Cats Review New Britain 1, Richmond 10 Box Jose Berrios picked up his fourth loss of the year in AA (2-4, 3.89 ERA in seven starts). Berrios lasted 5.2 innings, gave up eight hits, four runs (three earned), he struck out four and walked one. He was relieved by Mason Melotakis who was hit hard, giving up three runs (two earned) in just an inning. Edgar Ibarra did not fare much better, finishing the game for the Rock Cats with 1.1 innings of three run (two earned) baseball. With a 10-1 loss, there are not a lot of positives. The Rock Cats managed just seven hits as a team, and even their hottest hitter, Levi Michael, was held hitless on an 0-3 night. Mike Gonzales had a pair of hits, 2-3 with a strike out, and Tony Thomas and Brandon Waring were both 1-4 with a double. Waring's double drove home the only run of the evening for NEw Britain. Waring, 28, has spent part of the last seven years bouncing around the Minor Leagues. He was originally drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the seventh round of the 2007 draft. Waring eventually moved over to Baltimore and split time between AA and AAA between 2009 and 2013 before joining the Twins organization this winter. Waring is having one of his worst professional seasons, hitting just .201/.302/.395, all in AA. The primary hole in Waring's game is strike outs, he has 146 of them in 378 at bats, 38.6%. Miracle Matters Fort Myers 5, Bradenton 2 Box The Miracle played a bullpen game, using six different pitchers, none more than the three innings from the scheduled starter, Madison Boer. Boer did not give up a run, scattered two hits, struck out one, and walked no one. He was replaced by Todd Van Steensel to start the fourth. Van Steensel went two hitless innings, giving up a lone walk and he struck out four. Van Steensel now has a 1.89 ERA over 14 innings at AA. Van Steensel is having a spectacular season, before the promotion to High-A he made 23 appearances for Cedar Rapids with a 1.30 ERA spread over 34.2 innings with 45 strike outs and nine walks. But I digress, after Van Steensel, Tyler Jones entered and coughed up the lead. He gave up two earned runs in the sixth on three his, a walk and a strike out. D.J. Johnson pitched the seventh and the eighth, giving up just two hits while he struck out five and picked up the win. Nick Burdi picked up his first save in High-A, he gave up a hit but struck out the other three batters he faced, and no walks! The Miracle rallied to score four runs in the top of the ninth to win, capped by a Max Kepler grand slam to right field. That was Kepler's only hit of the evening, but he made it count. The Miracle had only four hits last night, with Travis Harrison, Tyler Grimes and Bryan Haar also contributing. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 6, Burlington 5 Box Lewis Thorpe has his ERA moving in the wrong direction after a tough outing in Burlington, Iowa. Thorpe lasted just 4.2 innings giving up five runs. He struck out seven and walked just one, but he gave up six hits and was hurt by a couple of errors leading to three unearned runs. Brandon Bixler came on in relief and pitched 1.2 innings of 1 hit baseball before Dallas Gallant came on and had 1.2 hitless innings, including three strike outs. Jake Reed picked up his third save with a scoreless ninth inning. Gallant and Reed are pitching great since they were promoted to Cedar Rapids, both sporting ERAs under 1. The Kernels used a four run seventh inning to take the lead, three runs coming on a bases loaded triple from Jonatan Hinojosa. Hinojosa would score on the next batter on a passed ball. That run proved to be the difference maker. In addition to his three-run triple, Hinojosa had an RBI single in the fifth and finished the night 2-5 and two strike outs. Hinojosa was signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2010 and has played just 10 games above Rookie ball in his career, all coming in the last week and a half and he's off to a red hot start hitting .364/.378/.545. Hinojosa has been used all over the field, but has settled in to spend most of his time at 3B in 2014. Mitch Garver was 2-3 with a double and a walk, and Ryan Walker also had two hits from the ninth spot in the order 2-4, with an RBI and two runs scored. E-Town E-Notes Elizabethton 7, Pulaski 1 Box Sam Gibbons had one of his strongest outings of the seasons for the Twins, pitching seven scoreless innings, yielding just one hit, two walks and eight strike outs. Flamethrower Brandon Poulson struck out three batters in his inning of work, but also gave up a solo home run. Kuo Hua Lo pitched a scoreless ninth to wrap things up. Nick Gordon was 2-5 with two runs scored, but the biggest contributor last night for the Twins was Tyler Kuresa whow as 2-4 with a double, a run scored, and three RBIs. If you've never heard of Tyler Kuresa, don't be alarmed. He was a 16th round draftee in the most recent MLB draft. Interestingly enough, Kuresa was originally drafted in the 10th round by the Twins coming out of high school, but elected to head to the University of California in Santa Barbara. He was then drafted in the 14th round as a junior, but returned to school before being taken by the Twins this spring, four years and six rounds later than his original selection. Kuresa is a 1B/DH type, and as a college senior, is not having any trouble in Rookie Ball, posting an .807 OPS through his first 37 games. GCL Twins Takes GCL Orioles 7, GCL Twins 4 Box Michael Theofanopoulos (which is just plain fun to say) started for the Twins and pitched three innings. He struck out three, walked one, gave up five hits and two runs. He was replaced by Reyson Zoquiel who pitched just a third of an inning while walking three and giving up a hit. Callan Pearce went 4.2 innings of scoreless relief, which is quite a task for any reliever, and then Eduardo Del Rosario pitched the ninth. Del rosario gave up three hits, two runs, a walk and he struck a batter out. Outside of Pearce, a pretty rough day on the bump for the GCL Twins. The Twins did not do much with the bats either, picking up six hits, six walks, and nine strike outs. Joel Polanco was the only hitter with multiple hits, he was 2-4 with a run scored and an RBI. Twins Daily Players of the Day Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day - Max Kepler, Fort Myers Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Sam Gibbons, Elizabethton Friday's Probables Rochester @ Syracuse (6:00 CST) – Sean Gilmartin New Britain @ Altoona (6:00 CST) – TBD Ft. Myers @ Charlotte (5:30 CST) – Matt Tomshaw Cedar Rapids @ Burlington (6:30 CST) – Ryan Eades Elizabethton @ Pulaski (6:00 CST) – Felix Jorge GCL Twins @ GCL Red Sox (11:00am CST) – TBD - DOUBLEHEADER Click here to view the article

The Minnesota Twins resumed their winning ways and came up with a 4-1 victory against one of the hottest pitchers in baseball. The Twins ended a 20-inning scoreless drought when Kennys Vargas homered to give the Twins a 1-0 lead in the forth off of Corey Kluber. The Twins picked up a couple more runs against Kluber and thanks to a magnificent performance from Phil Hughes the Twins cruised to victory. Red Wings Report Rochester 1, Syracuse 1, Suspended - Rain Box The game in Syracuse was suspended because of rain, they'll resume things on Friday. Rock Cats Review New Britain 1, Richmond 10 Box Jose Berrios picked up his fourth loss of the year in AA (2-4, 3.89 ERA in seven starts). Berrios lasted 5.2 innings, gave up eight hits, four runs (three earned), he struck out four and walked one. He was relieved by Mason Melotakis who was hit hard, giving up three runs (two earned) in just an inning. Edgar Ibarra did not fare much better, finishing the game for the Rock Cats with 1.1 innings of three run (two earned) baseball. With a 10-1 loss, there are not a lot of positives. The Rock Cats managed just seven hits as a team, and even their hottest hitter, Levi Michael, was held hitless on an 0-3 night. Mike Gonzales had a pair of hits, 2-3 with a strike out, and Tony Thomas and Brandon Waring were both 1-4 with a double. Waring's double drove home the only run of the evening for NEw Britain. Waring, 28, has spent part of the last seven years bouncing around the Minor Leagues. He was originally drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the seventh round of the 2007 draft. Waring eventually moved over to Baltimore and split time between AA and AAA between 2009 and 2013 before joining the Twins organization this winter. Waring is having one of his worst professional seasons, hitting just .201/.302/.395, all in AA. The primary hole in Waring's game is strike outs, he has 146 of them in 378 at bats, 38.6%. Miracle Matters Fort Myers 5, Bradenton 2 Box The Miracle played a bullpen game, using six different pitchers, none more than the three innings from the scheduled starter, Madison Boer. Boer did not give up a run, scattered two hits, struck out one, and walked no one. He was replaced by Todd Van Steensel to start the fourth. Van Steensel went two hitless innings, giving up a lone walk and he struck out four. Van Steensel now has a 1.89 ERA over 14 innings at AA. Van Steensel is having a spectacular season, before the promotion to High-A he made 23 appearances for Cedar Rapids with a 1.30 ERA spread over 34.2 innings with 45 strike outs and nine walks. But I digress, after Van Steensel, Tyler Jones entered and coughed up the lead. He gave up two earned runs in the sixth on three his, a walk and a strike out. D.J. Johnson pitched the seventh and the eighth, giving up just two hits while he struck out five and picked up the win. Nick Burdi picked up his first save in High-A, he gave up a hit but struck out the other three batters he faced, and no walks! The Miracle rallied to score four runs in the top of the ninth to win, capped by a Max Kepler grand slam to right field. That was Kepler's only hit of the evening, but he made it count. The Miracle had only four hits last night, with Travis Harrison, Tyler Grimes and Bryan Haar also contributing. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 6, Burlington 5 Box Lewis Thorpe has his ERA moving in the wrong direction after a tough outing in Burlington, Iowa. Thorpe lasted just 4.2 innings giving up five runs. He struck out seven and walked just one, but he gave up six hits and was hurt by a couple of errors leading to three unearned runs. Brandon Bixler came on in relief and pitched 1.2 innings of 1 hit baseball before Dallas Gallant came on and had 1.2 hitless innings, including three strike outs. Jake Reed picked up his third save with a scoreless ninth inning. Gallant and Reed are pitching great since they were promoted to Cedar Rapids, both sporting ERAs under 1. The Kernels used a four run seventh inning to take the lead, three runs coming on a bases loaded triple from Jonatan Hinojosa. Hinojosa would score on the next batter on a passed ball. That run proved to be the difference maker. In addition to his three-run triple, Hinojosa had an RBI single in the fifth and finished the night 2-5 and two strike outs. Hinojosa was signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2010 and has played just 10 games above Rookie ball in his career, all coming in the last week and a half and he's off to a red hot start hitting .364/.378/.545. Hinojosa has been used all over the field, but has settled in to spend most of his time at 3B in 2014. Mitch Garver was 2-3 with a double and a walk, and Ryan Walker also had two hits from the ninth spot in the order 2-4, with an RBI and two runs scored. E-Town E-Notes Elizabethton 7, Pulaski 1 Box Sam Gibbons had one of his strongest outings of the seasons for the Twins, pitching seven scoreless innings, yielding just one hit, two walks and eight strike outs. Flamethrower Brandon Poulson struck out three batters in his inning of work, but also gave up a solo home run. Kuo Hua Lo pitched a scoreless ninth to wrap things up. Nick Gordon was 2-5 with two runs scored, but the biggest contributor last night for the Twins was Tyler Kuresa whow as 2-4 with a double, a run scored, and three RBIs. If you've never heard of Tyler Kuresa, don't be alarmed. He was a 16th round draftee in the most recent MLB draft. Interestingly enough, Kuresa was originally drafted in the 10th round by the Twins coming out of high school, but elected to head to the University of California in Santa Barbara. He was then drafted in the 14th round as a junior, but returned to school before being taken by the Twins this spring, four years and six rounds later than his original selection. Kuresa is a 1B/DH type, and as a college senior, is not having any trouble in Rookie Ball, posting an .807 OPS through his first 37 games. GCL Twins Takes GCL Orioles 7, GCL Twins 4 Box Michael Theofanopoulos (which is just plain fun to say) started for the Twins and pitched three innings. He struck out three, walked one, gave up five hits and two runs. He was replaced by Reyson Zoquiel who pitched just a third of an inning while walking three and giving up a hit. Callan Pearce went 4.2 innings of scoreless relief, which is quite a task for any reliever, and then Eduardo Del Rosario pitched the ninth. Del rosario gave up three hits, two runs, a walk and he struck a batter out. Outside of Pearce, a pretty rough day on the bump for the GCL Twins. The Twins did not do much with the bats either, picking up six hits, six walks, and nine strike outs. Joel Polanco was the only hitter with multiple hits, he was 2-4 with a run scored and an RBI. Twins Daily Players of the Day Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day - Max Kepler, Fort Myers Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Sam Gibbons, Elizabethton Friday's Probables Rochester @ Syracuse (6:00 CST) – Sean Gilmartin New Britain @ Altoona (6:00 CST) – TBD Ft. Myers @ Charlotte (5:30 CST) – Matt Tomshaw Cedar Rapids @ Burlington (6:30 CST) – Ryan Eades Elizabethton @ Pulaski (6:00 CST) – Felix Jorge GCL Twins @ GCL Red Sox (11:00am CST) – TBD - DOUBLEHEADER

What did you folks think of the slight alteration to my usual format this week? I tried to pick out a key player on each team and give a little more info. Yay or nay?

The Twins enjoyed an off day on Thursday, and begin a four-game series with the Royals on Friday evening. The Royals are red hot right now, having just taken over first place in the American League Central, and looking to do damage against a struggling Twins squad. While things might not go well at Target Field this weekend, there will be plenty of solid performances in the Minor Leagues. Let's take a look at what happened on Thursday. Red Wings Report Durham 9, Rochester 0 Box Consistency matters to the Twins front office, and Alex Meyer hasn't strung a bunch of solid starts together for a while now. Last night he had his second poor outing in a row, lasting just 3.2 innings, surrendering a home run, three walks, and five hits. With all of that damage he limited the Bull to just two runs, but threw 84 pitches, jut 45 for strikes. The lone positive from Meyer's outing is that he stuck out seven of the nineteen batters that he faced. A.J. Achter stranded both of Meyer's runners when he took over int he fourth, and then pitched two more innings without giving up a run. The floodgates opened up when Deolis Guerra gave up three runs in 1.2 innings, and then Aaron Thompson gave up four runs in 1.1. The Red Wings hitters did not have a strong night either, picking up only four hits, one walk and striking out 11 times. One hit for Wilkin Ramirez extended his hitting streak to 10 games. Aaron Hicks picked up two more hits, and is playing very well in the week since he was promoted to AAA, continuing to earn a September call up. Rock Cats Review Bowie 11, New Britain 6 Box A day after the Byron Buxton/Mike Kvasnicka collision, the focus returned to the action on the field. Pat Dean started for the Rock Cats and went 5.2 innings. Dean gave up seven runs, five earned, in route to his ninth loss of the season. Dean's AA ERA is over five and he's given up five or more runs in four of his last five starts. Adrian Salcedo finished up the sixth and the newly acquired Jason Adam pitched the final three innings. Adam struck out one, walked one, and was tagged for four earned runs on six his. The Rock Cats had an opportunity to break this game open in the first inning with the bases loaded and one out, but managed to score only one run, likely costing themselves a chance to win. Levi Michael followed up his strong AA debut with another big day at the plate. He was 2-4 with two runs scored, a walk, and his first RBI in a Rock Cats uniform. Eddie Rosario was 2-5 with two RBIS, and two strike outs. He's hitting just .245/.302/.386, while being used primarily as an outfielder. Tony Thomas had a nice evening as well, 2-4 with a double and a run scored. The Rock Cats had plenty of opportunities to win this game late, but combined for 13 strike outs and stranded eight runners. Miracle Matters St. Lucie 8, Fort Myers 9 Box The Miracle won via the walk-off hit by pitch, as Travis Harrison took one for the team to push home the winning run with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth. Steven Gruver started for the Miracle and gave up ten hits through five innings. He struck out two, walked one, gave up a home run and was tagged for five runs, three earned. B.J. Hermsen came on and walked three batters in the sixth, giving up a run on no hits. Tyler Jones pitched a great seventh, striking out the side. Alex Muren struggled in the eighth, surrendering two runs on a long ball to Gavin Cecchini. D.J. Johnson pitched the ninth and vultured a victory. Johnson has now made seven appearances for the Miracle and has yet to give up an earned run. Opposing hitters are hitting just .192 against him, and he owns a 1.00 WHIP. The Miracle hitters took advantage of seven free passes from the Mets' pitching staff, and along with fourteen hits, managed to squeak out a victory. Max Kepler (perhaps angry that all four Talk to Contact hosts left him unprotected in their pretend MLB expansion draft) had three hits, including a triple, a walk, an RBI and three runs scored. Kepler is hitting over .350 in his last ten games, and has raised his batting average fourteen points in that time. Kepler is currently on the 40-man roster and hopefully he's taking the step forward the Twins have been hoping for from their German Wunderkind. Aderlin Mejia was 2-4 with a double and two walks, and Adam Brett Walker had a double of his own as part of a 2-5 night with an RBI a strike out and a run scored. Travis Harrison, despite driving home the winning run on a hit-by-pitch, as I mentioned above, was 0-3 but picked up a pair of free passes and two RBIs. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 10, Beloit 3 Box The Kernels were firing on all cylinders on Thursday night. Mat Batts picked up his first win as a member of the Kernels with six innings of five-hit baseball. He struck out seven and walked one. He's sporting a nifty 2.12 ERA for the Kernels over three starts and 17 innings. Batts was drafted in the 17th round of the most recent MLB draft, out of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, and is now pitching at his third level of the season. He was successful in three appearances in the Gulf Coast League, not giving up any earned runs there, he was 2-0 in four starts in Elizabethton with a 2.05 ERA over 15 innings, and now has that nice 2.12 ERA in Low-A with Cedar Rapids. If you're curious about the uncommon spelling of Mat, his full name is Harison Mathis Batts. After Batts left, Brian Gilbert pitched the next two innings, giving up a run, and Brandon Bixler mopped up in the ninth, giving up a run as well but preserving the victory. The Kernels picked up fourteen hits and struck out just five hits en route to a 10 run game. Ever starter except for Logan Wade (0-4 with a walk and two runs scored) and Michael Quesada (0-5) had a hit, and six players had multi-hit games. Mitch Garver led the way for the Kernels on a 3-5 night with a double and three RBI. Chad Christensen had a double of his own, he went 2-5 with two RBI and two runs scored. The win on Thursday gave the Kernels a three-game sweep against the Snappers and moved them to 62-60. The Kernels have a four game lead for a playoff spot with just eighteen games remaining. E-Town E-Notes Greeneville 3, Elizabethton 5 Box Michael Caderoth earned his fourth victory of the year for the E-Town Twins with five innings of two run baseball. He struck out five, walked two and gave up only a single earned run. Flamethrower Brandon Poulson made his second appearance since being signed as a Minor League Free agent, and struggled. Poulson walked the first batter he faced, Edwin Medina, who then promptly stole second and third. The next batter singled home the run. A passed ball then moved the runner over to second. Poulson then induced a fly out and a strike out. Then the runner on second base stole third. Poulson then walked the next batter and was lifted for Cameron Booser. Not a great day for Poulson, but I'm sure his head is still spinning as he transitions into professional baseball. Booser pitched 2.1 scoreless, and Dereck Rodriguez picked his his fifth save of the year with a scoreless ninth (though he did give up a pair of hits). Jeremias Pineda led the way for the Elizabethton Twins, leading off and going 4-5 with a run and a double. Trey Vavra also had a nice night, he was 2-3 with a pair of doubles, a pair of RBIs, and a pair of runs scored. GCL Twins Takes GCL Rays 5, GCL Twins 3 Box Josh Guyer pitched five innings, walked two, struck out two, and was charged with a single unearned run. Reyson Zoquiel (whose name is listed in the box score but I am sure is a made up person) pitched only a third of an inning, giving up a walk and a hit. Zack Jones pitched 1.2 scoreless, and then Trevor Hildenberger came on and coughed up the lead thanks to three unearned runs. In fact, of the five runs the GCL Twins gave up on Thursday night, only one was earned. Tyree Davis was the only Twins player to record multiple hits, he was 2-2 with two doubles after entering the game for Frank Encarnacion. The GCL Twins had just seven hits, but three were for extra bases, all doubles. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Mat Batts, Cedar Rapids Kernels Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Max Kepler, New Britain Rock Cats FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Syracuse @ Rochester (6:15 CST) – Kris Johnson Harrisburg @ New Britain (6:05 CST) – Taylor Rogers Palm Beach @ Ft. Myers (6:05 CST) – Aaron Slegers Peoria @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 CST) – Stephen Gonsalves Greeneville @ Elizabethton (6:00 CST) – Sam Gibbons GCL Twins @ GCL Red Sox (11:00am CST) – TBD Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Thursday games.

The Twins managed just three hits against the Oakland Athletics and Jon Lester and lost the game by a score of 3-0. It will not be much easier for the Twins on Friday night as they face Scott Kazmir and his 2.53 ERA. Down in the Minor Leagues, things went a little better for the organization. Red Wings Report Rochester 7, Indianapolis 0 Box Sean Gilmartin picked up his second win at AAA to move his record to 2-3 with six scoreless innings against the Indianapolis Indians. Gilmartin gave up only three hits while he walked two and struck out five. His ERA is now 3.57. Lester Oliveros pitched the seventh and eighth without giving up a hit or a walk and stuck out three. Deolis Guerra finished the game and stuck out two in the ninth. The Red Wings held the Indians to just 3-30 hitting with two walks and 10 strike outs.The Red Wings pulled out to an early 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning and cruised to victory. James Beresford was a big catalyst for the Red Wings, finishing the night 3-5 with a double and two runs scored. Daniel Ortiz was 2-3 with two runs scored, a home run, three RBI and a walk. Josmil Pinto was 1-2 with a walk, a double and an RBI. Rock Cats Review New Britain 1, Akron 3 Box Tyler Duffey pitched 7.1 innings and gave up three runs on four hits. He struck out five and walked one. Unfortunately, the Rock Cats could manage only one run and Duffey took the loss. He's now 8-3 with a 3.80 ERA. Edgar Ibarra pitched two-thirds of an inning and walked two. The Rock Cats actually out-hit the Akron RubberDucks 6-4, but the Rock Cats didn't receive any support from the bottom of the lineup as the 7-8-9 hitters went 0-9. Jorge Polanco was 2-4 with a strikeout, the only Rock Cats player with multiple hits. Brandon Waring was 1-3 with the Cats' only extra base hit of the night, a double. Miracle Matters Fort Myers 6, St. Lucie 2 Box The Ethan Mildren Fan Club has reason to be excited as Mildren picked up his second win at High-A with six innings of two run baseball. Mildren gave up just four hits, but two of them were solo home runs. Alex Muren earned a hold with a scoreless seventh inning. He walked two and stuck out one, so it was a little bit of a bumpy ride. Tyler Jones pitched a scoreless eighth and D.J. Johnson did the same in the ninth. Levi Michael continues to play well. He was 2-4 with a run scored, a walk and two RBI leading off for the Miracle. Byron Buxton was 1-5 (infield single) with a run scored and two strikeouts. He's hitting just .236 for the Miracle. Adam Brett Walker II hit his Florida State League leading 23rd home run of the year, a solo shot in the eighth. Aderlin Mejia and Niko Goodrum each added two hits with 2-4 performances. Kernels Nuggets Kane County 3, Cedar Rapids 4 (11 innings) Box The Kernels took an early lead in the bottom of the second, but Mat Batts ran into some trouble and left after six down 3-2. Batts gave up five hits, three runs (two earned), walked no one and struck out eight. His ERA is 2.45. Jared Wilson pitched the seventh and eighth without giving up a hit or a walk and he recorded a strikeout. Jake Reed pitched two scoreless innings as well, to take the Kernels through the tenth. Reed gave up just one hit and struck out four. Dallas Gallant pitched a scoreless eleventh and picked up the win when the Kernels scored in the bottom of the inning. Mitch Garver and Engelb Vielma both had 3-4 nights and they each hit a double. Engelb Vielma led off the 10th with a double, but could not come around to score. Garver's double also came in extra innings, leading off the 11th inning. He was lifted for pitch runner Jon Murphy who raced around to score when Bryan Haar doubled to left field, winning the game for the Kernels. E-Town E-Notes Danville 0, Elizabethton 12 Box The Elizabethton Twins had their bats working early and had a 9-0 lead by the end of the fifth inning, adding three more in the bottom of the seventh. Every E-Twin hitter except leadoff man Jeremias Pineda had two hits, and Nick Gordon (3-6), Tanner English (3-5) and Jorge Fernandez (4-5) did even better than that. Gordon added a triple and three RBIs to his three hits. English had a double and two RBIs and Fernandez had a triple and three RBIs of his own. The pitching staff held their own as well, giving up just five hits and two walks while they stuck out 13 Danville Braves hitters. John Curtiss started, struck out eight in his five innings, and then turned the game over to the bullpen. Kuo Hua Lo pitched two hitless innings, striking out three and walked none. Samuel Clay mopped up the final two innings of the night, giving up a lone hit and stuck out a pair. GCL Twins Takes GCL Twins 5, GCL Orioles 6 Box Despite two runs in the top of the ninth, and four errors from the GCL Orioles, the GCL Twins fell to the GCL Orioles 5-6. The Twins received a nice performance from their starter Brandon Easter who went five innings, gave up two runs (one earned), struck out six and walked two. Callan Pearce gave up four earned runs in the bottom of the sixth and picked up the loss. He also pitched a scoreless seventh. Zack Jones pitched the eight inning, striking out the side and scattered a hit and a walk. Rainis Silva was 2-4, the only Twins player with two or more hits. Amaurys Minier was just 1-5 but he made it count with a two-run home run. No other player had an extra base hit for the Twins on a pretty quiet night in the batters box. DSL Twins Takes DSL Padres 3, DSL Twins 4 Jose Ramirez gave up two earned runs over five innings, scattering three hits to go along with a walk and six strike outs. He turned the game over to Jose Martinez with a 3-2 lead. Martinez lost the lead in the top of the seventh, but the DSL Twins retook the lead in the bottom of the seventh, so Martinez earns the win and a blown save. Martinez pitched the final four innings, he gave up two hits, a run and struck out one batter. The DSL Twins and the DSL Orioles combined for seven runs on just six hits, three hits for each team. The only Twins players with hits last night were Jorge Andrade (1-2 with a walk and two runs scored), Luis Martinez (1-3 with a walk and an RBI) and Lewin Diaz (1-3 with a double and two RBI). Twins Daily Minor League Hitter and Pitcher of the Day Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day - Nick Gordon, Elizabethton Twins Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Ethan Mildren, Fort Myers Miracle Friday's Probables Rochester @ Indianapolis (6:15 C) - Mark Hamburger (Listen) New Britain @ Erie (6:05 C) – Pat Dean (Listen) Ft. Myers @ St. Lucie (5:30 C)– Brett Lee (Listen) Kane County @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 C) - Stephen Gonsalves (Listen) Danville @ Elizabethton (6:00 C) - TBD GCL Orioles @ GCL Twis (11:00am C) – TBD DSL Twins @ DSL Padres (9:30am C) – TBD Click here to view the article

To be honest, there isn't a single player in the Minor Leagues that I'm excited about. But I am really enjoying this Twins team, especially that Yohan Pino and Jared Burton.

The Twins managed just three hits against the Oakland Athletics and Jon Lester and lost the game by a score of 3-0. It will not be much easier for the Twins on Friday night as they face Scott Kazmir and his 2.53 ERA. Down in the Minor Leagues, things went a little better for the organization. Red Wings Report Rochester 7, Indianapolis 0 Box Sean Gilmartin picked up his second win at AAA to move his record to 2-3 with six scoreless innings against the Indianapolis Indians. Gilmartin gave up only three hits while he walked two and struck out five. His ERA is now 3.57. Lester Oliveros pitched the seventh and eighth without giving up a hit or a walk, and stuck out three. Deolis Guerra finished the game and stuck out two in the ninth. The Red Wings held the Indians to just 3-30 hitting with two walks and ten strike outs. The Red Wings pulled out to an early 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning and cruised to victory. James Beresford was a big catalyst for the Red Wings, he finished the night 3-5 with a double and two runs scored. Daniel Ortiz was 2-3 with two runs scored, a home run, three RBI and a walk. Josmil Pinto was 1-2 with a walk, a double, and an RBI. Rock Cats Review New Britain 1, Akron 3 Box Tyler Duffey pitched 7.1 innings and gave up three runs on four hits. He struck out five and walked one. Unfortunately the Rock Cats could only manage one run and Duffey took the loss; he's now 8-3 with a 3.80 ERA. Edgar Ibarra pitched two thirds of an inning and walked two. The Rock Cats actually out hit the Akron RubberDucks 6-4, but the Rock Cats did not receive any support from the bottom of the lineup as the 7-8-9 hitters went 0-9. Jorge Polanco was 2-4 with a strike out, the only Rock Cats player with multiple hits. Brandon Waring was 1-3 with the Cats' only extra base hit of the night, a double. Miracle Matters Fort Myers 6, St. Lucie 2 Box The Ethan Mildren FanClub has reason to be excited as Mildren picked up his second win at High-A with six innings of two run baseball. Mildren gave up just four hits, but two of them were solo home runs. Alex Muren earned a hold with a scoreless seventh inning. He walked two and stuck out one, so it was a little bit of a bumpy ride. Tyler Jones pitched a scoreless eighth, and D.J. Johnson did the same in the ninth. Levi Michael continues to play well, he was 2-4 with a run scored, a walk, and two RBI leading off for the Miracle. Byron Buxton was 1-5 (infield single) with a run scored and two strike outs. He's hitting just .236 for the Miracle. Adam Brett Walker II hit his Florida State League leading 23rd home run of the year, a solo shot in the eighth. Aderlin Mejia and Niko Goodrum each added two hits with 2-4 performances. Kernels Nuggets Kane County 3, Cedar Rapids 4 (11 innings) Box The Kernels took an early lead in the bottom of the second, but Mat Batts ran into some trouble and left after six down 3-2. Batts gave up five hits, three runs (two earned), walked no one, and struck out eight. His ERA is 2.45. Jared Wilson pitched the seventh and eighth without giving up a hit or a walk and he recorded a strike out. Jake Reed pitched two scoreless innings as well, to take the Kernels through the tenth. Reed gave up just one hit and struck out four. Dallas Gallant pitched a scoreless eleventh and picked up the win when the Kernels scored in the bottom of the inning. Mitch Garver and Engelb Vielma both had 3-4 nights and they each hit a double. Engelb Vielma led off the 10th with a double, but could not come around to score. Garver's double also came in extra innings, to lead off the 11th inning. He was lifted for pitch runner Jon Murphy who raced around to score when Bryan Haar doubled to left field, winning the game for the Kernels. E-Town E-Notes Danville 0, Elizabethton 12 Box The Elizabethton Twins had their bats working early, and had a 9-0 lead by the end of the fifth inning, adding three more in the bottom of the seventh. Every E-Twon hitter except leadoff man Jeremias Pineda had two hits, and Nick Gordon (3-6), Tanner English (3-5) and Jorge Fernandez (4-5) did even better than that. Gordon added a triple and three RBIs to his three hits. English had a double and two RBIs, and Fernandez had a triple, and three RBIs of his own. The pitching staff held their own as well, giving up just five hits and two walks while they stuck out 13 Daville Braves hitters. John Curtiss started, went five innings, struck out eight and left turned the game over to the bullpen. Kuo Hua Lo pitched two hitless innings, he struck out three and walked none. Samuel Clay mopped up the final two innings of the night, he gave up a lone hit and stuck out a pair. GCL Twins Takes GCL Twins 5, GCL Orioles 6 Box Despite two runs in the top of the ninth, and four errors from the GCL Orioles, the GCL Twins fell to the GCL Orioles 5-6. The Twins received a nice performance from their starter Brandon Easter who went five innings, gave up two runs (one earned), struck out six and walked two. Callan Pearce gave up four earned runs in the bottom of the sixth and picked up the loss. He also pitched a scoreless seventh. Zack Jones pitched the eight inning, he struck out the side and scattered a hit and a walk. Rainis Silva was 2-4, the only Twins player with two or more hits. Amaurys Minier was just 1-5 but he made it count with a two-run home run. No other player had an extra base hit for the Twins on a pretty quiet night in the batters box. DSL Twins Takes DSL Padres 3, DSL Twins 4 Box Jose Ramirez gave up two earned runs over five innings, scattering three hits to go along with a walk and six strike outs. He turned the game over to Jose Martinez with a 3-2 lead. Martinez would lose the lead in the top of the seventh, but the DSL Twins retook the lead in the bottom of the seventh, so Martinez earns the win and a blown save. Martinez pitched the final four innings, he gave up two hits, a run, and struck out one batter. The DSL Twins and the DSL Orioles combined for seven runs on just six hits, three hitsfor each team. The only Twins players with hits last night were Jorge Andrade (1-2 with a walk and two runs scored), Luis Martinez (1-3 with a walk and an RBI), and Lewin Diaz (1-3 with a double and two RBI). Twins Daily Minor League Hitter and Pitcher of the Day Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day - Nick Gordon, Elizabethton Twins Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Ethan Mildren, Fort Myers Miracle Friday's Probables Rochester @ Indianapolis (6:15 C) - Mark Hamburger (Listen) New Britain @ Erie (6:05 C) – Pat Dean (Listen) Ft. Myers @ St. Lucie (5:30 C)– Brett Lee (Listen) Kane County @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 C) - Stephen Gonsalves (Listen) Danville @ Elizabethton (6:00 C) - TBD GCL Orioles @ GCL Twis (11:00am C) – TBD DSL Twins @ DSL Padres (9:30am C) – TBD

Kennys Vargas made his Target Field debut on Tuesday night and did not disappoint. The big fella hit a three-run home run to give the Twins a 3-1 victory, despite being out hit by a tally of 12-5. Phil Hughes once again looked like the Phil Hughes that was exciting Twins fans in the first half. Speaking of homers, check out the video below of Reynaldo Rodriguez's blast against Akron! The Twins won on Tuesday, but throughout most of the Minor League system, there was not a lot of excitement, as only the Kernels managed a victoryRed Wings Report Rochester 0, Louisville 1 Box Tommy Milone's career with the Minnesota Twins organization started in earnest Tuesday night. The first two batters he faced hit singles, then he walked the third hitter. Bases loaded with no outs in his first appearance, not exactly the start he was hoping for. The next batter hit into a run-scoring double play, and then Milone induced another ground ball to end the inning. That would be the only run he gave up all night. He scattered four more hits and a walk over the next six innings and left the game down 1-0 after seven. Aaron Thompson pitched a scoreless eighth, but the Red Wings could not muster a run in the top of the ninth and Milone was tagged with a loss, despite pitching well in his debut. The Red Wings hitters were completely flummoxed by Louisville's Dylan Axelrod, who pitched a complete game two hitter. Eric Farris picked up the first hit of the night, but was thrown out attempting to steal two batters later. James Beresford had the other Wings hit, a double. In his first game back at AAA after a promotion, Aaron Hicks was 0-2 and had the lone base on balls of the evening. Rock Cats Review New Britain 2, Akron 3 Box Jason Wheeler was given a 2-0 lead before he threw a single pitch, but ended up surrendering three runs over six innings and earning the loss despite a quality start. Those two first inning runs were the only two the Rock Cats would score all evening. Wheeler gave up seven hits, struck out four and walked two during the quality start. Adrian Salcedo pitched two innings of relief and struck out two and gave up just one hit. All the Rock Cats runs came off the bat of Reynaldo Rodriguez, who hit a two-run dinger in the first inning. Nate Hanson had a nice night at the plate, he was 2-3 with a walk and scored on the Rodriguez home run. Tony Thomas hit a double and was 2-4 with a strike out. Eddie Rosario was 0-4 and is hitting just .232/.269/.382 over 52 Double-A games this year. He has just eight hits (but five for extra bases, including two home runs) in his last 44 at bats. Miracle Matters Scheduled Off Day Kernels Nuggets Wisconsin 0, Cedar Rapids 9 Box With Joe Mauer and Ricky Nolasco starting their rehab assignments in Cedar Rapids, Kernels fans filled up Veterans Memorial Stadium. Nolasco started the game and pitched 3.2 scoreless innings. He walked one and struck out two. He was replaced by Ryan Eades, making his first relief appearance of the year, who held the Timber Rattlers scoreless over 4.1 innings. He struck out five, walked three and gave up just two hits. Hudson Boyd mopped up in the ninth inning with the Kernels leading 9-0 and pitched a scoreless inning. Joe Mauer was 1-3 and drove home a run in the first inning by grounding into a double-play. Chad Christensen hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning as part of his 1-5 day. Engelb Vielma was 2-5 with two runs scored and two RBIs hitting leadoff for the Kernels. Bryan Haar and Alex Swim were both 2-4 with an RBI. The Kernels totaled eleven hits, two walks and only three strikeouts. Only Mitch Garver (0-1, pinch hitting for Joe Mauer) and Michael Quesada (0-3 with a walk) failed to record a hit. E-Town E-Notes Johnson City 3, Elizabethton 2 Box The E-Town Twins tied up the game in the bottom of the ninth but could not bottle up Johnson City in the tenth and let this one get away. Randy LeBlanc pitched 3.1 innings as the starter and scattered five hits and an earned run. Keaton Steele pitched 2.2 innings, he struck out four, walked one and gave up a solo home run. Cameron Booser pitched a scoreless seventh. Dereck Rodriguez pitched three innings and was tagged with the loss when he gave up a run in the top of the tenth. He gave up just two hits and a walk while he struck out three, but both hits and the walk came in the top of the tenth and a sacrifice fly scored the winning run. Brett Doe was the only Twins player with multiple hits, as he was 2-4 with a double, the only extra base hit for the Twins on Tuesday. Nick Gordon entered the game in the eighth as a pinch hitter, he picked up an RBI on a sac fly before being lifted for a defensive replacement in the tenth. GCL Twins Takes GCL Orioles 2, GCL Twins 1 - Game 1 Box (Make up of 8/4 postponed game at GCL Twins) Josh Burris gave up one run in three innings, but because of yet another low scoring output in the Twins farm system, was tagged with a loss. Jhon Silva pitched two innings, struck out one and gave up an earned run on two hits. Zach Tillery pitched the final two innings of this seven inning game, giving up just two hits. Manuel Guzman led off for the GCL Twins and produced half of their hits with a 2-4 night. Ariel Montesino and Rainis Silva each had one hit. The GCL Twins had no extra base hits, no walks and nine strike outs. Ouch. GCL Twins 1, GCL Orioles 2 - Game 2 Box The GCL pitchers pitched well in the second game also, but again a lack of offense wasted their efforts. Michael Theofanopoulos pitched three innings, walked two, struck out one and gave up three hits, including a solo home run. Alexis Tapia pitched two scoreless innings. Zack Jones pitched 0.2 scoreless before Miles Nordgren took over and pitched 2.1 scoreless to bring the game to the ninth inning. In the bottom of the ninth, with the game tied, Leonel Zazueta was victimized by a couple of errors. With one out the runner on first (Daniel Franco) took off for second base, and then advances to third on a throwing error b Gabriel Ojeda. Zazueta then struck out the next batter for the second out of the inning but a passed ball by Gabriel Ojeda allowed the winning run to score. The GCL Twins had just three hits. One each from Amurys Minier, Nelson Molina and Manuel Guzman. Minier's hit was a solo home run, giving the Twins their only run of the game. In addition to going just 3-30 as a team, the GCL Twins also struck out eight times and walked only twice. DSL Twins Dialed In DSL Twins 3, DSL Reds 14 Box Down in the Dominican, the DSL Twins were throttled b the DSL Reds 14-3. Jadison Jiminez started and earned the loss, giving up five runs (three earned) over five innings. Johan Quezada gave up three unearned runs in the sixth and Erick Balbuena gave up five runs, four earned, in just a third of an inning to start the seventh. Argenis Silva finished the game for the Twins, pitching 1.2 innings of one-run ball. Ouches all around for the pitching staff. The DSL Twins had twelve hits and four walks, but could not keep pace with the DSL Reds and their fourteen runs. Emmanuel Morel was 2-5 with a run scored, and Edgar Herrera was 2-3 with a walk, a triple, and two runs scored. No other player had multiple hits, but every starter had at least one, and only a pinch hitter (Jorge Parra) and a pinch runner (Jorge Andrade) failed to record a hit. Twins Daily Minor League Players of the Day Pitcher of the Day - Tommy Milone, Rochester Hitter of the Day - Reynaldo Rodriguez, New Britain Wednesday's Probables Rochester - Off (Listen) New Britain @ Akron (6:05 C) – Virgil Vasquez (Listen) Ft. Myers @ St. Lucie (5:30 C)– Matt Tomshaw (Listen) Cedar Rapids vs Wisconsin (6:35 C) - TBD (Listen) Elizabethton - Off GCL Orioles @ GCL Twis (11:00am C) – TBD DSL Twins @ DSL Padres (9:30am C) – TBD ---- Twins win last night and you do today. Order a large or extra-large pizza from PapaJohns.com using the promo code TWINSWIN and get it for 50% off. Click here to view the article