Eric R Pleiss

Hicks was just promoted/returned to AAA yesterday. Had a great last month at New Britain.

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. 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 victory. Red Wings Report Rochester 0, Louisville 1 Box Tommy Milone's career with the Minnesota Twins organization started in earnest on 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'd scatter 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 of 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 1 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 strike outs in total. 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 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 a 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, 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 again pitched well in the second game, 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

Oh yeah, I bungled that one. Oops.

Hicks had done well, and could certainly handle a promotion, as long as it only goes as far as AAA. With Buxton continuing to impress at High-A, he could be promoted to AA before long, even with his limited playing time in 2014.

Hu pitched well, no doubt about that, but I think with the Twins' phobia of letting MiLB pitchers go deep into games, what Tomshaw did was more noteworthy, so I gave him the nod.

The Twins had a busy day, but not as busy as some fans had hoped. They moved Sam Fuld back to Oakland in return for the soft-tossing lefty Tommy Milone. Milone will report to AAA for now, but should be up with the Twins before the end of next week. The Twins tried hard to find a buyer for Kurt Suzuki, but finding no suitors, the Twins bought high on Suzuki themselves, signing him to a two-year $12 million dollar extension, with a vesting option for a third year. To replace Sam Fuld on the 25-man roster, the Twins have promoted monstrous switch hitter Kennys Vargas from Double-A.Transactions Left-hander Mat Batts was promoted from Elizabethton to Cedar Rapids. Batts started his career with the GCL Twins before moving up to the E-Twins and now will get a shot with the Kernels. He will take the spot of Aaron Slegers who received a promotion to Ft. Myers. Red Wings Report Rochester 2, Lehigh Valley 5 Box Sean Gilmartin did not have his best stuff, surrendering five runs on five hits over six innings. He walked three and struck out four. His ERA in AAA is still just 3.98. Deolis Guerra pitched the final two innings and gave up one hit, walked one, and struck out one. The Red Wings had plenty of base runners, the collected nine hits and a walk, but could not string things together to score more than a pair of runs. Six of the Wings' nine hits came from Pedro Florimon, Eric Farris, and Chris Rahl, each of them was 2-4, hitting in the seven-eight-nine spots. Josmil Pinto, who probably wasn't having a great evening after hearing about the Suzuki extension, was 1-4, but hey, no strike outs! Rock Cats Review Erie 4, New Britain 5 Box Tyler Duffey pitched eight innings, but didn't have the lead while he was on the mound, as the Rock Cats rallied for three runs in the bottom of the eighth to give Duffey the win. Duffey gave up seven hits, four earned runs, a walk and two strike outs. Alex Wimmers, recently promoted to AA, picked up his first save with he Rock Cats, pitching a scoreless ninth inning. Aaron Hicks had a big day at the plate for New Britain, he was 3-4 with two runs scored, a double, a home run, and an RBI. Hicks is now hitting .301/.392/.439 over 40 games in New Britain. Stephen Wickens was 2-4 with a double and an RBI, and Mike Kvasnicka was 1-4 with a three run homer that gave the Rock Cats the win in the eighth. Miracle Matters Clearwater 9, Fort Myers 3 Box Matt Tomshaw was bad on Thursday night. He faced 20 batters in three innings. He gave up 11 hits, nine runs (all earned), walked one, and struck out four. Two of the 11 hits he gave up were home runs. The bullpen pieced together six scoreless innings, but the damage was already done. Brandon Peterson pitched 2.2 and struck out three and walked one, Todd Van Steensel went 2.1 and also struck out three, he walked two. And D.J. Johnson ended things pitching in the ninth, he struck out one and walked one. Nothing much doing for the Miracle with the bats, they collected just six hits, but worked their way into five walks. They also struck out 11 times. No Miracle batter had more than one hit. Levi Michael, who is back on the field after dealing with a foot injury, was 1-3 with a walk, a run scored, and a strike out. Byron Buxton was 1-3 with two runs scored, a triple and a walk. Kernels Nuggets Burlington 1, Cedar Rapids 4 Box Chih-Wei Hu picked up his fourth win for the Kernels and is now 4-0 with a 1.50 ERA at Low-A. He went six innings, gave up just one run, struck out four and walked one. Brandon Bixler pitched the seventh and the eighth without allowing any runs, and Jared Wilson pitched a scoreless ninth. Max Murphy was 2-3 with a home run and two RBIs, and Mitch Garver had a home run of his own, a two run dinger on a 1-3 night. Logan Wade had two hits of his own, and a run scored, going 2-4 on the evening. E-Town E-Notes Elizabethton @ Kingsport - Postponed (rain) GCL Twins Takes GCL Twins 4, GCL Rays 5 Box Onesimo Hernandez went five innings, walked five, struck out three, and gave up two earned runs on four hits, including a home run to Tim Beckham. Seth Wagner earned a hold with 1.2 scoreless innings, even though he walked three batters. Trevor Hildenberger was tagged with a blown save and the loss (0-3) with two innings of three run ball that included four strike outs and no walks. The GCL Twins used 12 position players, and collected twelve hits and two walks. Corey Wimberly (rehab from AA) was 2-4 with a run scored and a double, Nelson Molina was also 2-4 with a run scored and Jack Barrie was 2-4, without a run scored. Jarrard Poteete had a double on a 1-4 night, and Manuel Guzman had a triple, accounting for the Twins' remaining extra base hit. Twins Daily Minor League Hitter/Pitcher of the Day Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day - Aaron Hicks, New Britain Rock Cats Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Tyler Duffey, New Britain Rock Cats Friday's Probables Rochester @ Lehigh Valley (6:05 CST) – Kris Johnson Erie @ New Britain (6:05 CST) – Virgil Vasquez Ft. Myers @ Lakeland (6:11 CST) – Ethan Mildren Cedar Rapids @ Beloit (7:00 CST) – Stephen Gonsalves Elizabethton @ Kingsport (4:00 CST), Double header – TBD DSL Twins @ DSL White Sox (10:30AM CST) - TBD GCL Twins @ GCL Red Sox (11:00AM CST) – TBD Click here to view the article

Download attachment: opening-day-optimism.jpg With the Minnesota Twins opening the season at home this year, the Opening Day start has a little more significance than the past couple of years when the Twins started the season on the road. The Twins have not started the year at home since 2009, and the last Twins pitcher to win the Opening Day game at home was Livan Hernandez in 2008 against the Los Angeles Angels. An Opening Day win would be a nice change of pace. Since the Twins moved to Minnesota to start the 1961 season, Opening Day starters are just 14-25, with 12 no decisions. Not exactly a great track record on baseball’s biggest day, but with names like Camilo Pascual, Jim Kaat, Jim Perry, Bert Blyleven, Frank Viola, Brad Radke, and Johan Santana, the Twins’ Opening Day starter has historically been some of the most beloved players in Twins history. Looking over the current 40-man roster, and some non-roster invites to Spring Training, there are several players who have a shot at being the Opening Day starter. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] I’ll rank them from least likely to start to most likely to start on Opening Day. ~~~ Originally published at KnuckleballsBlog.com~~~ Rafael Perez (1% chance to start Opening Day) – Perez was just signed to a minor league deal with the club a week ago. He’s spent his entire big league career working out of the bullpen, and has not had a K/9 above 6 since 2008. He has put up strong ERAs every year except 2009, but with the declining strike out rates and a ballooning walk rate, his ERA has been propped up by an above average strand rate. Perez has an uphill battle to even make the team as a left-handed reliever, and an even tougher climb into the starting rotation. Rich Harden (4%) – Like Perez, Harden is with the Twins on a minor league deal. Harden has not pitched in the big leagues since 2011, and while he has had a consistently above-average strike out rate, he has not been an above-average pitcher since 2009. There is some question as to whether or not Harden’s shoulder can stand up to the high pitch counts associated with starting, so there is a pretty decent chance that if he makes the team at all, the Twins would prefer that he work out of the bullpen to keep him healthy for the entire season. I like him more than Perez because Harden has a track record as a starting pitcher, and because the Twins are so desperately in need of strikeouts, but he is still a long shot to even break camp with the Twins. Mike Pelfrey (7%) – Pelfrey signed a 1-year deal with the Twins this offseason hoping to rebuild his value coming off of Tommy-John surgery. Pelfrey is still not a full year removed from surgery, so there are concerns about his ability to be ready to start the season in the rotation, though he seems to be on track. Unlike Harden and Perez, if he is healthy, Pelfrey has a guaranteed spot in the rotation. If I was confident that Pelfrey would be healthy when the Twins break camp I would have him higher, but it is early in camp and I anticipate that he will end up needing an extra few weeks get all the way up to speed. Liam Hendriks (10%) – Hendriks is a fringe candidate to make the 25-man roster out of spring training, but with questions about health among several of the arms ahead of him on the pecking order, he is likely to be the next man in if any one of the projected five starters are not ready to start the season. Even a healthy Liam Hendriks is a longshot to take the ball for the Twins on Opening Day as Ron Gardenhire usually likes to reward his veterans. Kevin Correia (12%) – Poor Kevin Correia has been written off since before the ink was dry on his shiny-new 2-year $10 million dollar contract. Correia certainly is not the type of pitcher that would typically get the ball on baseball’s biggest stage, but the Twins seem to like his veteran leadership and clubhouse presence, something that went a long way forCarl Pavano (who started back-to-back Openers in 2011 and 2012). Pavano had almost a year and a half of starts with the Twins under his belt prior to taking the mound on Opening Day, but with no other experienced veterans on the roster, Correia might end up pitching by default. Kyle Gibson (13%) – The Twins seem dead set on starting the year with Aaron Hicks in center field field despite not having any Major League experience. If the Twins are trying to build excitement in 2013 and invite fans to buy into the Twins future, Gibson could wind up pitching on Opening Day to help build momentum toward 2014 and beyond. But like Pelfry, Gibson is coming off of Tommy John surgery, and unlike Pelfrey, Gibson figures heavily into the Twins future plans, so they are likely to treat him with kid gloves. The Twins are looking to limit his inning totals in 2013, so putting him on the mound from Day 1 does not do a lot to aid that effort. Scott Diamond (15%) – After playing the role of savior for the 2012 Twins, Diamond was the overwhelming favorite to take the ball on Opening Day. If Diamond is healthy he will undoubtedly be pitching on April 1st. But Diamond had surgery in December to remove some bone chips from his throwing elbow and is reported to be progressing through his rehab slower than anticipated. There is still an outside chance that Diamond is healthy when the Twins open 2013, but the Twins want Diamond healthy long-term, so if any question marks remain about his health, expect the Twins to take things nice and slow. Vance Worley (38%) – Vance Worley seems to have become the Twins de facto Opening Day starter because there really is not anyone else with a real shot at keeping him from it. He has a lot of things working in his favor: he is healthy, he is young and exciting, has a chance to be a long-term part of the Twins ballclub, and he is not Kevin Correia (which is to say he is not old, ineffective, and overpaid). When the Twins traded away Ben Revere for Worley and Trevor May, I would not have though Worley had any shot to pitch on Opening Day, but he seems to be the last man standing. -ERolfPleiss Read more about the Minnesota Twins at KnuckleballsBlog.com, including Eddie Rosario Turning Heads. Click here to view the article

The Twins had a busy day, but not as busy as some fans had hoped. They moved Sam Fuld back to Oakland in return for the soft-tossing lefty Tommy Milone. Milone will report to AAA for now, but should be up with the Twins before the end of next week. The Twins tried hard to find a buyer for Kurt Suzuki, but finding no suitors, the Twins bought high on Suzuki themselves, signing him to a two-year $12 million dollar extension, with a vesting option for a third year. To replace Sam Fuld on the 25-man roster, the Twins have promoted monstrous switch hitter Kennys Vargas from Double-A. Red Wings Report Rochester 2, Lehigh Valley 5 Box Sean Gilmartin did not have his best stuff, surrendering five runs on five hits over six innings. He walked three and struck out four. His ERA in AAA is still just 3.98. Deolis Guerra pitched the final two innings and gave up one hit, walked one, and struck out one. The Red Wings had plenty of base runners, the collected nine hits and a walk, but could not string things together to score more than a pair of runs. Six of the Wings' nine hits came from Pedro Florimon, Eric Farris, and Chris Rahl, each of them was 2-4, hitting in the seven-eight-nine spots. Josmil Pinto, who probably wasn't having a great evening after hearing about the Suzuki extension, was 1-4, but hey, no strike outs! Rock Cats Review Erie 4, New Britain 5 Box Tyler Duffey pitched eight innings, but didn't have the lead while he was on the mound, as the Rock Cats rallied for three runs in the bottom of the eighth to give Duffey the win. Duffey gave up seven hits, four earned runs, a walk and two strike outs. Alex Wimmers, recently promoted to AA, picked up his first save with he Rock Cats, pitching a scoreless ninth inning. Aaron Hicks had a big day at the plate for New Britain, he was 3-4 with two runs scored, a double, a home run, and an RBI. Hicks is now hitting .301/.392/.439 over 40 games in New Britain. Stephen Wickens was 2-4 with a double and an RBI, and Mike Kvasnicka was 1-4 with a three run homer that gave the Rock Cats the win in the eighth. Miracle Matters Clearwater 9, Fort Myers 3 Box Matt Tomshaw was bad on Thursday night. He faced 20 batters in three innings. He gave up 11 hits, nine runs (all earned), walked one, and struck out four. Two of the 11 hits he gave up were home runs. The bullpen pieced together six scoreless innings, but the damage was already done. Brandon Peterson pitched 2.2 and struck out three and walked one, Todd Van Steensel went 2.1 and also struck out three, he walked two. And D.J. Johnson ended things pitching in the ninth, he struck out one and walked one. Nothing much doing for the Miracle with the bats, they collected just six hits, but worked their way into five walks. They also struck out 11 times. No Miracle batter had more than one hit. Levi Michael, who is back on the field after dealing with a foot injury, was 1-3 with a walk, a run scored, and a strike out. Byron Buxton was 1-3 with two runs scored, a triple and a walk. Kernels Nuggets Burlington 1, Cedar Rapids 4 Box Chih-Wei Hu picked up his fourth win for the Kernels and is now 4-0 with a 1.50 ERA at Low-A. He went six innings, gave up just one run, struck out four and walked one. Brandon Bixler pitched the seventh and the eighth without allowing any runs, and Jared Wilson pitched a scoreless ninth. Max Murphy was 2-3 with a home run and two RBIs, and Mitch Garver had a home run of his own, a two run dinger on a 1-3 night. Logan Wade had two hits of his own, and a run scored, going 2-4 on the evening. E-Town E-Notes Elizabethton @ Kingsport - Postponed (rain) GCL Twins Takes GCL Twins 4, GCL Rays 5 Box Onesimo Hernandez went five innings, walked five, struck out three, and gave up two earned runs on four hits, including a home run. Seth Wagner earned a hold with 1.2 scoreless innings, even though he walked three batters. Trevor Hildenberger was tagged with a blown save and the loss (0-3) with two innings of three run ball that included four strike outs and no walks. The GCL Twins used 12 position players, and collected twelve hits and two walks. Corey Wimberly was 2-4 with a run scored and a double, Nelson Molina was also 2-4 with a run scored and Jack Barrie was 2-4, without a run scored. Jarrard Poteete had a double on a 1-4 night, and Manul Guzman had a triple, accounting for the Twins' remaining extra base hit. Twins Daily Minor League Hitter/Pitcher of the Day Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day - Aaron Hicks, New Britain Rock Cats Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Matt Tomshaw, Fort Myers Miracle Friday's Probables Rochester @ Lehigh Valley (6:05 CST) – Kris Johnson Erie @ New Britain (6:05 CST) – Virgil Vasquez Ft. Myers @ Lakeland (6:11 CST) – Ethan Mildren Cedar Rapids @ Beloit (7:00 CST) – TBD Elizabethton @ Kingsport (4:00 CST), Double header – TBD DSL Twins @ DSL White Sox (10:30AM CST) - TBD GCL Twins @ GCL Red Sox (11:00AM CST) – TBD

The Twins fell behind early in San Francisco and could not take advantage of six walks from starter Tim Lincecum in the first six innings. Brian Dozier and Joe Mauer both had two hits at the top of the lineup but the rest of the Twins batters had a tough day against the Giants. Down in the Minor Leagues the Twins affiliates went 2-2. Download attachment: Arcia.jpg Red Wings Report Rochester 7, Scranton/WB 1 Box Mike Pelfrey pitched five scoreless innings, walking two, and giving up four hits. He threw just 83 pitches as he works his way back from his groin injury, but he managed only 43 strikes. Edgar Ibarra came into the game and gave up a solo home run, but otherwise pitched well, he struck out four, walked one, and gave up two hits. Deolis Guerra closed out the game with two perfect innings, and struck out two hitters. Red Wings hitters jumped on Scranton starter Brian Gordon for six early runs, chasing him from the game after four innings. Josh Willingham was 2-4 with a home run and a double, plus a walk and two RBIs. Oswaldo Arcia added a three run home run in the fourth inning, an finished the game 3-5 with a double and that home run, two runs scored and four RBIs. He's now hitting .315/.370/.616 in AAA and I would imagine the Twins are looking to recall him after the Giants series this weekend. Eric Farris and Brad Nelson also picked up a couple of hits and Dan Rohlfing picked up the remaining RBI. Pedro Florimon started a SS, went 0-4 with three strike outs. Ouch. Rock Cats Review New Britain 2, Binghamton 3 Box Taylor Rogers pitched six innings and gave up two runs, one earned, and struck out five Binghamton batters. He also walked three and gave up six hits, so while he managed to produce quality start, he did not have his best stuff. Cole Johnson pitched two innings in relief but after the Rock Cats tied the game at two-two in the top of the eighth, he was tagged for a solo home run and took the loss. Binghamton Mets pitchers Tyler Pill, Jon Velasquez, and Chase Bradford did not walk a single Rock Cat last night, and struck out eight. The Top of the New Britain order did their job, with the one through five hitters going a combined 8-20. The bottom of the order was a combined 0-13 with four strike outs. Reynaldo Rodriguez needed a big game after going hitless in his last three and he delivered, going 2-4 with a double last night. Corey Wimberly and Daniel Ortiz also picked up two hits a piece in the losing effort. Miracle Matters Fort Myers 4, Dunedin 2 Box Jason Wheeler pitched his way around seven hits and two runs (one earned) in a back and forth game to pick up the win for the Miracle. Brian Gilbert picked up a hold with two scoreless innings of relief, and Tyler Jones came on for the ninth and picked up a save. The Miracle took and early lead thanks to an Adam Brett Walker home run in the second, and after The Dunedin Blue Jays tied it up Jorge Polanco put the Miracle up for good with a sixth inning solo blast of his own. Despite six runs, and a couple of long balls, there were no standout performances at the plate, and Tyler Grimes was the only player to notch two hits. Dalton Hicks, batting cleanup for the Miracle was 0-3 with three strike outs and Nike Goodrum, hitting right after Hicks, was also 0-3 with two strike outs of his own. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 0, Quad Cities 9 Box Ryan Eades faced 24 batters in just 3.2 innings in a losing effort for the Kernels. Have gave up 10 hits, four walks, and a home run and struck out just three. Alex Muren entered with two outs in the fourth, allowed an inherited running to score, but otherwise pitched two and a third scoreless innings. Todd Van Steensel came on and mopped up for the Kernels, giving up just one hit in two innings of work. Quad Cities' starter Michael Feliz went just four and a third innings, but their bullpen finished strong, with four and two third scoreless innings, walking no one, and they struck out three. All totaled, the Kernels had just three hits on the night, one each by Mitch Garver (1-4), Jason Kanzler (1-4, 2B), and Joel Licon (1-2, BB). Licon had the best night, in addition to the hit and the walk, he also reached on an error and stole a base, but the Kernels could not manage a single run. Twins Daily Players of the Day Twins Daily Minor League Hitterr of the Day - Oswaldo Arcia, Rochester Red Wings Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Mike Pelfrey, Rochester Red Wings Saturday's Probable Starters Rochester @ Scranton/Wilkes Barre (6:05 CT) – Logan Darnell (Listen) New Britain @ Binghamton (6:05 CT) – Tyler Duffey (Listen) Ft. Myers @ Dunedin (5:05 CT) – Brett Lee (Listen) Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (6:00 CT) – Ethan Mildren (Listen) Click here to view the article

This is the 7th story in "Those Damn Yankees" series, stories about Twins-Yankees rivalry by some of our favorite Twins Daily writers, leading up to the Bombers visit July 1st to the 4th. Download attachment: Santana.jpg The Twins, according to legend, are afraid of the Yankees. And you know what, after some quick post-season exits at the hands of the Yankees, that is a pretty easy narrative to build. Add the fact that the Twins have struggled to beat the Yankees in the regular season, despite the Twins having fairly successful regular season teams for most of the 2000’s, and you begin to see how that narrative continues to grow. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] In the 11 years between 2000 and 2010 the Twins compiled a .537 winning percentage, going 957-826. During that same span the Twins went 25-57 against the New York Yankees, a .325 winning percentage. Take out the 77 games against the Yankees and the Twins are 163 games above .500 instead of just 131. That is a significant bump. During that same period the Twins played the Yankees four times in the post-season, managing to win just two games, losing 12 and being swept in 2009 and 2010. That brings the Twins’ 11-year record against the Yankees to 27-69 (.281). That is bad, almost as bad as the 2003 Detroit Tigers (43-119), the worst team of the last 50 years. During that same 11-year span the Yankees were 1060-718, had a losing record against only one American League team (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, 45-54), and won two World Series titles (and losing in the World Series two other times). So clearly the Yankees were a better team than the Twins over that same period, but the Yankees’ .596 winning percentage is not so much larger than the Twins’ .537 that you would expect the Twins to fail so miserably against the Yankees during that span. Assuming each team’s regular season winning percentages represented their true talent over those 11 years, the Yankees should have beaten the Twins only about 53% of the time, not the nearly 72% clip they had over that span. So what gives? Why did the Yankees perform so well against the Twins, especially in the post season? For me, it comes down to roster construction, and specifically the post-season pitching rotations, where teams often turn to only their top three or four pitchers. 2003 [TABLE] Game (score, winner) Twins (starting pitcher) Yankees (starting pitcher) 1 (3-1 Twins) Johan Santana Mike Mussina 2 (1-4 Yankees) Brad Radke Andy Pettitte 3 (1-3 Yankees)[TD=width: 213]Kyle Lohse[/TD] [TD=width: 213]Roger Clemens[/TD] [TD=width: 213]4 (1-8 Yankees)[/TD] [TD=width: 213]Johan Santana[/TD] [TD=width: 213]David Wells[/TD] [/TABLE] The Twins, with a lack of depth in their starting rotation chose to go back to their ace on four days of rest, facing elimination in Game 4. The Yankees, alternatively, felt strong enough to run out David Wells (4.14 ERA, 4.3K/9, essentially a league average pitcher in 2003 despite his 15-7 W/L record) knowing that should they be pushed to a decisive Game 5 they could turn to Mike Mussina, their ace, against Brad Radke (4.49 ERA and a pitch-to-contact friendly contact rate of 82.2%). So while you would have expected the Twins to score more than 3 runs over the final 3 games in this series, outside of Santana the Twins certainly did not have a rotation that could even dream of keeping up with New York (and remember that the Kyle Lohse of 2003 (4.61 ERA) is a far cry from the pitcher he has been over the past three seasons). 2004http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-includes/js/tinymce/plugins/wordpress/img/trans.gif [TABLE] Game (score, winner) Twins (starting pitcher) Yankees (starting pitcher) 1 (2-0 Twins) Santana Mussina 2 (6-7 Yankees) Radke Jon Lieber 3 (8-4 Yankees)[TD=width: 213]Carlos Silva[/TD] [TD=width: 213]Kevin Brown[/TD] [TD=width: 213]4 (5-6 Yankees)[/TD] [TD=width: 213]Santana[/TD] [TD=width: 213]Javier Vazquez[/TD] [/TABLE] The Twins essentially ran the same group of pitchers out there again in 2004, except inserting Silva for Lohse (and Lohse ended up taking the loss in game four, appearing in relief as the game stretched to extra innings). Silva’s 4.21 ERA looks bad against the numbers that pitchers are putting up today, but amidst the steroid era scoring environment and the high-run environment of the Metrodome, it graded out as an ERA+ of 112. Kyle Lohse was really the team’s only other option there, but with an ERA north of 5 that year, he certainly did not look like a postseason starter. The Yankees, on the other hand, had almost a completely new staff. Still anchored by Mike Mussina, this staff had Lieber and Vazquez making one year pit stops in New York, along with Brown who joined the Yankees in the twilight of his 19 year MLB career. Download attachment: MoralesNathan2009.jpg This time the starting pitching was not as big an issue as the bullpen and a lack of timely hitting from the Twins' regulars. The Twins won Game 1 on a great performance from Santana, then proceeded to lose Game 2, and Game 4 in extra innings after subpar performances from the consistently reliable Joe Nathan. The Twins should have won every game in this series with the exception of Game 3 (which was a blowout until the Twins scored 3 runs in the bottom of the ninth). A little bad luck and some untimely hitting cost this team the Series, but after a similar result in 2003, that bad luck started to look more like a Twins inability to defeat the Bronx Bombers. 2009 [TABLE] Game (score, winner) Twins (starting pitcher) Yankees (starting pitcher) 1 (2-7 Yankees) Brian Duensing CC Sabathia 2 (3-4 Yankees) Nick Blackburn A.J. Burnett 3 (1-4 Yankees)[TD=width: 213]Carl Pavano[/TD] [TD=width: 213]Pettitte[/TD] [/TABLE] After being swept in the post-season by the Oakland Athletics in 2006, the Twins stumbled in 2007 and just missed the post-season in 2008 after losing game 163, but they were back in the post-season again in 2009 to take on the Yankees. My initial thought when looking at the Twins starters: LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL.Download attachment: BakerGroundBallReaction.jpg I was going to say that things were probably not as bad as they looked, but Brian Duensing was the Twins’ only starting pitcher with an ERA under 4 (3.64), and he had made only nine starts that season (but he was sparkly good as a starter in those 9 games, pitching 52.2 innings to the tune of a 2.73 ERA despite just a strikeout rate of 5.6K/9). It seems ridiculous that the Twins started Duensing in Game 1, but the Twins burned Scott Baker in Game 163, along with half of their bullpen, the day before. Still, Blackburn might have been their best option in Game 1, and that alone is laughable from the 2013 perspective. This was a Twins team that snuck into the playoffs and faced just about the most lopsided pitching matchups I can imagine. The Twins were at a special disadvantage as Joe Mauer, Denard Span, and Jason Kubel were their main offensive weapons, and as left-handed hitters, all were on the wrong side of the platoon against Sabathia and Pettitte. Hard to imagine the Twins winning a game in this series, even if the two teams had been offensively similar (and they were not; the Yankees scored almost 100 more runs than the Twins in 2009). Maybe a little tough luck to be swept, but the Twins had the worst of it in every matchup. 2010 [TABLE] Game (score, winner) Twins (starting pitcher) Yankees (starting pitcher) 1 (4-6 Yankees) Francisco Liriano Sabathia 2 (2-5 Yankees) Pavano Pettitte 3 (1-6 Yankees)[TD=width: 213]Duensing[/TD] [TD=width: 213]Phil Hughes[/TD] [/TABLE] For me, this was probably the most frustrating series against the Yankees. Maybe I do not even have to go that far; game 1 of this series was probably one of the most frustrating games I have watched as a Twins fan. Download attachment: LirianoPitch.jpg The Twins went into this series with the Yankees owning home field advantage and playing in front of sold out crowds at brand spankin’ new Target Field. Twins euphoria had likely not been higher since 1991. Liriano was pitching well again (of course he was, it was an even numbered year) and the Twins staked him to an early 3-0 lead and Liriano was cruising through the first five innings. Then in the sixth inning, following a Nick Swisher strike out, Mark Teixeira doubled and then advanced on a wild pitch. Liriano walked the next batter (Alex Rodriguez) and as a fan you started to get that feeling that the Yankees were going to blow things open. They did. Liriano fell apart and the Yankees grabbed the lead with a four run inning. At that point, just about everyone in Twins territory knew that the game, and ultimately the series, was over (or at least it surely seemed that way). The Twins again struggled against left-handed pitching and in the final game of the series Brian Duensing could not make it out of the fourth inning and the Twins lost to the Yankees once again. In 2004 I felt cheated. When the Yankees thoroughly defeated the Twins in the other three post season series, largely because of a lack of staring pitching, no such feeling ensued. Sure the Yankees had some great arms, but the Twins never had more than one pitcher who might be considered an above average post-season hurler. In 2009 they had none. Hate on the Yankees all you want, but the real culprit here is a lack of starting pitching. Download attachment: yankee20sweep3.jpg ~~~ Originally published at www.knuckbleballsblog.com ~~~ For more of Those Damn Yankees, check out.... The Cuzzi Call by Nick Nelson The Twins and Yankees Go Way Back by Thrylos Confessions Of A Twins Fan by Brad Swanson Chuck Knoblauch by Cody Christie Dealing with Yankee Fans by PeanutsFromHeaven Derek Jeter Gift Baskets by Twins Fan From Afar Click here to view the article

Rochester and New Britain both had morning/early afternoon games on Thursday. It was also get-away day for the Twins. The Cedar Rapids Kernels got a day off in Peoria, though it was not planned. Ft. Myers got another strong offensive performance from our Hitter of the Day. Welcome Eric Pleiss, the newest writer of the Twins minor league reports. He'll bring his interesting perspective to what's going on down on the farm, discussing what happens in the Twins system each Thursday. (Note - if anyone is interested in writing either the Saturday or Sunday's minor league report each week, be sure to send a PM to Seth Stohs). TWINS NOTES The Twins were powered to a win by some clutch hitting from Sam Fuld and a three run dinger from Aaron Hicks. Ricky Nolasco was not great, but he pitched well enough for the Twins to escape with a victory to climb a game over .500 for the second time this year. The Twins are back home tonight to begin a weekend series against the Detroit Tigers. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 8, Pawtucket 1 Box Score The Red Wings raced out to an early 2-0 lead thanks to a couple first inning walks issued by Pawtucket's Anthony Ranaudo. The Red Wings eventually tacked on six more runs, highlighted by a four-run fourth inning. Danny Santana was 3-4 with a walk and a double, and Wilkin Ramirez, Brad Nelson, and Eric Farris all had two hits and two RBI to match. Chris Parmelee extended his hitting streak to a Red Wings season high nine games. Wings' lefty Kris Johnson picked up the win with six strong innings, giving up just three hits and a single, unearned run. He walked four Red Sox batters, but had six strikeouts as well. Johnson is now 2-2 and his ERA is just 2.86. Another lefty, Matt Hoffman, came in to the game in the seventh and picked up a rare three inning save, fanning four hitters. Hoffman's best outing of the year lowered his ERA to 1.17. The Red Wings look for a series win on Friday with Trevor May on the mound. Download attachment: achter.jpg Also of note, from A.J. Achter, the Red Wings went to Dave & Busters tonight. The @RocRedWings cleaned house at Dave & Buster's tonight. pic.twitter.com/vHBCVfllDo — A.J. Achter (@ajachter35) April 25, 2014 ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 3, New Hampshire 5 Box Score Despite an early 2-0 lead in the first inning, the Rock Cats didn't have enough offense to overcome three errors and fell to a New Hampshire team that tallied 11 hits. The top of the Rock Cats lineup was just 1-15, with no walks and five strike- outs, not exactly the production you're looking for from your one, two and three hitters. Kennys Vargas was the bright spot for the Cats, going 1-3 with a double, an RBI and a run scored. Taylor Rogers pitched six full innings (his longest outing as a Rock Cat) and left with a no-decision despite giving up 9 hits and 3 earned runs. Adrian Salcedo took the loss allowing two late runs to score, and Lester Oliveros mopped up in the eighth and ninth, giving up one hit and picking up a couple more strikeouts. The Rock Cats begin a seven-game road trip on Friday, beginning in Richmond, VA, with lefty Sean Gilmartin on the hill. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 9, Jupiter 6 Box Score The Miracle scored all nine of their runs in the second inning after falling to an early 0-2 deficit. Ft. Myers sent 12 men to the plate in that inning. The big hits were a grand slam from Jorge Polanco and a two-run bomb from Mike Gonzales. Polanco was the hero of the day, and the only Miracle hitter with multiple hits, going 2-4 including that grand slam. He's now hitting .333 on the year. Brett Lee picked up the W for the Miracle, helped out by his offense because he gave up four runs (two earned) and walked a couple Hammerhead hitters. Madison Boer picked up his second save of the young season with a 1-2-3 ninth inning, lowering his already impressive ERA to 1.29 KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids @ Peoria RAINED OUT - PPD The Kernels were rained out on Thursday night in Peoria, IL, the final game for a four-game series against the Chiefs. The Kernels luck out as the game will be made up at a later date IN CEDAR RAPIDS (as the Kernels are not due back in Peoria during the first half of the Low-A season). The Kernels remain on the road this weekend, at the Clinton (IA) Lumberkings. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 pm on Friday night. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Kris Johnson, Rochester Red Wings Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day - Jorge Polanco, Ft. Myers Miracle FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Pawtucket (5:15 p.m. CST) – Trevor May (Listen) New Britain @ Richmond (6:05 p.m. CST) – Sean Gilmartin (Listen) Palm Beach @ Ft. Myers (6:05 p.m. CST) – Jose Berrios (Listen) Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (6:30 p.m. CST) – Kohl Stewart (Listen) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Thursday games. ~~~ Also, since the Twins beat the Rays 9-7 yesterday (Thursday), you can get 50% off a L or XL pizza from PapaJohns.com if you use the 'TWINSWIN' promo code on Friday. ~~~ Click here to view the article

Thirty-year old Yohan Pino made his major league debut on Thursday night, after nearly ten full years pitching in the Minor Leagues. Pino pitched well, yielding just two runs over seven innings to go along with seven strikeouts. Like Andrew Albers before him, Pino will have to prove he has staying power after a strong initial outing. Download attachment: NickGordon.jpg Red Wings Report Rochester 8, Pawtucket 6 Box The Red Wings were down 6-0 headed to the bottom of the seventh inning before they exploded for eight runs in the next two frames to steal a victory from the Pawtucket Red Sox. Clay Buchholz was making a rehab start for the Red Sox, and pitched six scoreless innings of two hit baseball, but once he turned the game over to his bullpen the Red Wings went to work. In the bottom of the seventh Chris Colabello singled, Daniel Ortiz and pinch hitter Brad Nelson both worked walks, and then, with two outs, James Beresford hits a bases clearing double, his twelfth of the year. Still down 6-3 in the bottom of the eighth, the Red Wings loaded to bases again, following a Chris Herrmann double and Josmil Pinto and Chris Colabello walks. Daniel Ortiz stepped up to the plate and hit a grand slam to right field to give the Red Wings a 7-6 lead. Doug Bernier followed that up with another double, and he later scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of James Beresford. Daniel Ortiz led the way with that grand slam, finishing the night 2-3 with a walk. On the bump it was a tough night for Logan Darnell (who was a candidate to start for the Twins on Thursday), he gave up five earned runs by the end of the third inning, but then hung on to pitch into the sixth without any more damage. He struck out one, walked four, and surendered eight hits to go along with those five earned runs in 5.1 innings. Deolis Guerra gave up a run on a solo home run, but gave up no other hits. He struck out three of the six batters he faced. Michael Tonkin picked up the win with a scoreless top of the eighth and Aaron Thompson earned the save. Rock Cats Review New Britain 13, Harrisburg 5 Box The Rock Cats scored multiple runs in the second, third, fourth and eighth innings to cruise to a 13-5 victory against Harrisburg. Despite all the run scoring, Aaron Hicks, starting his rehab assignment and leading off for the Rock Cats, was 0-3 before being lifted for pinch hitter Brad Boyer. Maybe the Rock Cats were looking to limit Hicks to just three at bats, but being lifted for a light hitting second basemen is not a great confidence boost for a guy looking to find his way with the bat. Nate Hanson (4-6), Kennys Vargas (2-6) and Reynaldo Rodriguez (3-5) all hit home runs for New Britain and Eddie Rosario (1-6) and Tony Thomas (1-4) added extra base hits of their own as part of a 19 hit slug fest for the Rock Cats. The Rock Cats pitching staff, buoyed by that offensive outburst, managed to pitch around twelve hits, including eight from starter Pat Dean, who picked up the win with a six inning, three run (four earned) outing. Dean struck out four and scattered eight hits. Adrian Salcedo, Mark Hamburger and Cole Johnson each pitched an inning in relief to finish the game. Miracle Matters Fort Myers 4, St. Lucie 7 Box B.J. Hermsen struggled in his first start of the season, giving up four runs in the third inning, before being lifted for Alex Wimmers who pitched three innings of long relief, giving up three runs of his own. Down 7-1 heading to the seventh, Mason Melotakis and Steven Gruber each pitched a scoreless inning to end a tough night for the Miracle. The Miracle managed ten hits, but could not overcome their early deficit. Max Kepler was 2-4 and hit a two-run homer in the seventh as the Miracle tried to make a late charge, but a timely pitching change by St. Lucie put an end to the Fort Myers rally. Adam Brett Walker (1-3) and Aderlin Mejia (2-4) had the other two Miracle RBIs. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 0, Kane County 7 Box Kane County's Duary Torrez shut out the Kernels and held them to just three hits in a rain shortened five inning game (the game was actually suspended with two outs in the bottom of the fifth). Chad Christensen, Mitch Garver and Jason Kanzler all picked up singles, but that was the extent of the Kernels offensive output. They did not have an extra base hit or a walk. Aaron Slegers earned the loss to Kane County, giving up seven runs, all earned, in just three innings. He struck out one batter and gave up a home run. Dallas Gallant pitched 1.2 innings in relief, giving up just a single hit before the rains came. The Kernels were probably glad that this one was quickly washed away from their memories. E-Town Twins Takes Elizabethton 11, Greenville 3 Box In their first game of the season, the Elizabethton Twins slugged 13 hits, and took advantage of three Greeneville errors to plate eleven runs. Twins' first round draft pick Nick Gordon played shortstop and hit second in the E-Town lineup. He was 4-5 with a double, two runs scored and a walk. He was also perfect in the field in five chances. Talk about a great way to make his professional debut! Trey Vavra, son of Twins coach Joe Vavra, was 2-5 with four RBIs, hitting in the eight-hole. The Twins used four pitchers, and starter Stephen Gonsalves pitched four innings. He struck out four, walked one, gave up three hits and two runs. Kuo Hua Lo gave up an unearned run in his inning of relief, and Cameron Booser and Randy LeBlanc both pitched two scoreless innings to complete the E-Town victory. Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Nick Gordon, Elizabethton Twins Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Pat Dean, Rochester Red Wings Friday's Probable Starters Rochester @ Buffalo (6:05pm Central) – Kris Johnson (Listen) Reading @ New Britain (6:35pm Central) – Taylor Rogers (Listen) Ft. Myers @ St. Lucie (5:30pm Central) – Tim Shbuya (Listen) Cedar Rapids @ Kane County (6:30pm Central) – Lewis Thorpe (Listen) Elizabethton @ Greeneville (6:00pm Central) - Sam Gibbons (Listen) Click here to view the article

The Twins did not play on Thursday, but that does not mean they were idle. Reports are that center fielder Sam Fuld is ready to join the Twins on Friday in Detroit and that catcher Eric Fryer has been recalled to take the place of Josmil Pinto. The Twins have not announced a corresponding roster move to make room for Sam Fuld, but Aaron Hicks is a likely candidate to either go on the disabledl list with a bum shoulder, or be demoted to AAA to work on hitting right- handed against right-handed pitchers. Download attachment: Garver.jpg Mitch Garver, Cedar Rapids Kernels. Photo Credit: KnuckleballsBlog.com Red Wings Report Rochester 4, Lehigh Valley 0 Box Yohan Pino ran his record up to 9-1 with seven shutout innings. He struck out nine batters, walked three and surrendered just two hits. Ryan Pressly finished the game for the Red Wings, throwing two scoreless innings and allowing only one hit. This is the eighth shutout of the year for the Red Wings and their eighth consecutive series opening win as well. Rochester had just six hits of their own, but five of them came from the top of the order with leadoff hitter Eric Farris and number two hitter James Beresford both enjoying 2-4 nights. Deibinson Romero, in the third spot, was 1-3 and Pedro Florimon, hitting in the nine-hole, picked up the Wings' only other hit of the night. Beresford's 2-4 night extended his hitting streak to nine games and he had two RBIs as well. Josmil Pinto, making his 2014 Red Wings debut, went 0-4. Rock Cats Review POSTPONED Rain kept Reading and New Britain from taking the field on Thursday night. The Rock Cats head back home to take on the Trenton Thunder over the weekend, so this game will be made up at a later date. Miracle Matters Charlotte 8, Fort Myers 7 Box Matt Tomshaw gave up ten hits, including a home run and five runs (four earned) through the first six innings, but the Miracle bats kept Fort Myers in the game and he left with a no decision. Mason Melotakis was charged with a blown save. He pitched three innings, struck out four and gave up just two hits. Brandon Peterson came on to pitch the tenth inning and escaped unscathed, but when he returned in the top of the eleventh he lost the lead when he gave up an RBI triple. He recorded one out and ultimately was charged with two earned runs and the loss. Brian Gilbert finished the game, giving up two hits before retiring the side. The Miracle had eight hits to go along with seven walks, led by Dalton Hicks and Tyler Grimes, who both had 2-5 nights. Second basemen Anderlin Mejia was on base three times, going 1-4 with a walk and he also scored a run. Adam Brett Walker was on base three times as well, also 1-4 with a walk, but the Miracle could not find a way to bring him across the plate. Despite scoring seven runs, the Miracle were done in by ten strikeouts and 4-16 hitting with runners in scoring position. The Miracle stranded ten runners. The Miracle are on break until June 16th for the Florida State LEague All-Star Game on Saturday in Bradenton. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 5, Quad Cities 2 Box 2013 second round draftee Ryan Eades pitched seven innings and worked around nine hits to allow just two earned runs. Eades struck out two and walked one. Alex Muren pitched the final two innings for the save. Muren struck out three and walked one, but faced just six batters thanks to a double play. The Miracle were out hit on the night 9-5, but they took advantage of eight walks to push some runs across. Mitch Garver was the standout performer, going 2-3 with two doubles, two RBI and a run scored. He's now hitting .312/.407/.489 in 62 games with the Kernels. Garver also caught James Ramsay stealing to end the first inning. No other Kernels hitter had multiple hits, but Engelb Vielma, Ryan Walker, Bryan Haar and Jon Murphy all reached safely twice thanks to all those free passes the River Bandits gave up. Twins Daily Players of the Day Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Yohan Pino, Rochester Red Wings Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day - Mitch Garver, Cedar Rapids Kernels Friday's Probable Starters Lehigh Valley @ Rochester (6:15 CST) – Alex Meyer (Listen) Trenton @ New Britain (6:35 CST) – Virgil Vasquez (Listen) Burlington @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 CST) – Lewis Thorpe (Listen) Click here to view the article

Originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com Download attachment: HermsenST2012c-300x225.jpg Last week the Minnesota Twins added eight players to their 40-man roster, maxing out their roster with 40 players. The Twins will likely remove at least one player prior to the upcoming Rule 5 draft, but for now, the Twins do not have room for any additions. If Spring Training started tomorrow, here are the 40 players that would be competing for a coveted 25-man roster spot and a place on the 2013 Opening Day roster. We'll start with the Pitchers today, and look at the position players later this week. Phtoto: B.J. Hermsen, recently added to the Twins 40-man roster. PhotoCredit: Knuckleballs Right Handed Pitchers (Age, Position, Highest 2012 Level) Alex Burnett - 25, Reliever, MLB - Burnett appeared in 67 games for the Twins in 2012 and posted the best ERA of his career (3.52). Unfortunately, Burnett struck out batters at the lowest rate in his career (4.5/9), while still walking more than three batters per nine innings and his 2012 success is unlikely to continue in 2013, if he makes the 25-man roster, it will be as a middle-inning, low-leverage, reliever. Jared Burton - 31, Reliever, MLB - Like Alex Burnett, Burton also posted the best ERA of his career (2.18). Unlike Burnett, Burton's success came from an increase in stike out rates and a decrease in walk rates. Burton is almost a lock for the 25-man roster, and will likely be the eighth inning set up man. Cole De Vries - 27, Starter, MLB - De Vries was a long shot to make the 25-man roster in 2012, but because of a string of injuries and generally poor play from other Twins starters, De Vries started 16 games en route to a 4.11 ERA. De Vries is a typical Twins-type pitcher, low walks, low strike outs, and is a long shot to make the 25-man roster again in 2013, but unless the Twins acquire multiple starting pitchers through trades or free agency, the Twins do not have a lot of other competent options. Casey Fien - Casey Fien, Reliever, MLB - Fien returned to Major League action after spending 2011 in the Minors. Fien had several surprisingly good appearances toward the end of the year, earning a 2.06 ERA to go along with 32Ks in just 35.0 IP. Fien's previous MLB performance and Minor League track record does not indicate that he's likely to continue to perform at a high level, but he's gained the trust of Ron Gardenhire and has a farily good chance to make the 25-man roster with a strong performance this spring. Kyle Gibson - Kyle Gibson, Starter, AAA - Gibson spent all of 2012 rehabbing from Tommy John surgery and pitched in four different leagues during his rehab, including the Arizona Fall League where the big right-hander was said to be consistently throwing 93-94 MPH with good control. If fully healthy, Gibson is in line to be one of the Twins five starters in 2013. Deolis Guerra - 23, Reliever, AAA - Guerra split time in 2012 between Double-A New Britain and Triple-A Rochester and posted a 4.11 ERA in his first full season as a reliever, with high strike out numbers (9.1K/9) and low walk totals (3.3/9). At 23 Guerra is still fairly young for AAA and I expect him to start the season in Rochester, though he will have a chance to play in Minnesota before the season ends. Edit: Per John Bonnes and ScottyB, Deolis Guerra is out of options, so he'll need to make the 25-man roster or risk being claimed off of waivers. Liam Hendriks - 23, Starter, MLB - Hendriks struggled to turn his Minor League success into Major League succes and spent the better part of 2012 searching for his first big league victory. Hendriks finished the year 1-8 with a 5.59 ERA and only 50 strike outs over 85.1 innings. Ideally Hendriks would start 2013 in Rochester, working to fine tune his command against lesser hitters before being asked to join the Twins. If Hendriks makes the Opening Day roster it will likely be because the Twins lack other viable options rather than their belief in Hendriks ability to succeed at a high level. B.J. Hermsen - 22, Starter, AA - Hermsen is another Twins-type pitcher with low strike out numbers and in Hermsen's case, extremely low walk rates (1.6/9). Hermsen is unlikely to merit serious consideration for the starting rotation in 2013 because he has no experience above AA. Hermsen has continually put up ERAs around 3, and if he can continue to put up good numbers in AAA he should earn himself a September call-up and, if the Twins do not add a couple of free agents on multi-year deals, could be a candidate to start for the Twins in 2014. Lester Oliveros - 24, Reliever, MLB - Oliveros had Tommy John surgery in 2012 and will spend most, if not all, of 2013 rehabbing his elbow. He will be moved to the 60-day DL once Spring Training begins, opening up a roster spot. Josh Roenicke - 30, Reliever, MLB - Claimed off of waivers from the Colorado Rockies, Roenicke is unlikely to start the season in the Twins bullpen and instead the Twins will probably attempt to pass Roenicke through waivers later this spring and use him as roster depth in Rochester. However, Roenicke did post an impressive 3.25 ERA last season with the Rockies, so the Twins might be willing to give him a longer look in Spring Training before ultimately relegating him to the Minor Leagues. Anthony Swarzak - 27, Long Man/Spot Starter, MLB - The Twins have seen enough of Swarzak over the past couple of years (198.2 IP) to know what they have out of the 27-year old. Swarzak has struggled when he's been asked to start, but as a long man in the bullpen he's performed moderately well (5.79 ERA as Starter, 4.03 as reliever). I believe that the Twins will bring Swarzak back in a similar role in 2013, but if they are intent on finding a spot for B.J. Hermsen, this could be somewhere they'd be willing to make a switch. Michael Tonkin - 23, Reliever/Closer, High-A - While Tonkin has never pitched above High-A Fort Myers, he posted a 12.6 K/9 in 2012 and followed that up with a spectacular Arizona Fall League performance posting a 2.45 ERA over 14.2 innings with a 0.75 WHIP. Tonkin will likely start 2012 at Double-A New Britain, but he could certainly be in Rochester by the All-Star break. Tim Wood - 30, Closer, Reliever, MLB - Wood was claimed off of waivers from the Pittsburgh Pirates after spending all of 2012 in Triple-A. As a likely closer, Wood does not have the kind of strike out numbers you would typically expect, but he's posted a 3.49 and 2.19 ERA each of the last two seasons in Triple-A so he's doing something right. You have to wonder why a guy with a 2.19 ERA did not get a September call-up with the Pirates as they were once again spiraling their way to another losing record. Before his successful 2011 and 2012 seasons, Wood struggled mightily in the PCL, splitting time between the Miami Marlins and Texas Rangers systems. Do not expect to see Wood on the 25-man roster this spring, as he's likely to spend most of the season in Rochester. Left Handed Pitchers Scott Diamond - 26, Starter, MLB - Diamond is the lone Twins starter to be guaranteed a spot in the 2013 rotation, so as long as he makes it through Spring Training without injury he has a secure spot on the 25-man roster. Diamond is now 2 years removed from being drafted by the Twins in the Rule 5 draft and while his strike out numbers are dreadfully low (12.6% strike out rate), he manages to keep the base paths clear by limiting walks and inducing ground balls. If Diamond can repeat his 2012 numbers the Twins will be ecstatic. Brian Duensing - 29, Reliever/LOOGY/Starter, MLB - With the Twins again searching for answers from their starting rotation Duensing given another chance to win a spot as a starter. He didn't fare well. Overall, Duensing has a 4.57 ERA as a starter compared to just a 3.38 ERA out of the pen. As a starter Duensing is subject to facing a lot more right handed batters (.302/.358/.473, AGV/OBP/SLG), whereas in the bullpen he can be used selectively against left handed batters (.217/.261/.298). Hopefully the Twins understand who Duensing is at this point in his career and keep him in the pen. He's a lock to be on the 25-man roster and should begin the year as the teams primary LOOGY (Left-handed One Out guY). Pedro Hernandez - 23, Starter, MLB - Hernandez is one of the players the Twins acquired in the Francisco Liriano deal with the White Sox. Hernandez has just one disastrous Major League start, and has only 52.1 innings at Triple-A. The Twins should send Hernandez back to Rochester to start 2013, and unless things go poorly for the Twins rotation again this year, he's unlikely to put on a big league uniform anytime before September. Glen Perkins - 29, Reliever/Closer, MLB - After signing a 4-year, $11.85 million dollar deal this past winter, Glen Perkins went out and had one of the best years of his career, posting a 2.56 ERA to go along with 78 strike outs and just 16 walks in 70.1 innings. Perkins will start 2013 as the Twins primary closer, a role he shared at times in 2012 with Matt Capps and Jared Burton. Tyler Robertson - 24, Reliever/LOOGY, MLB - Making his Major League debut in 2012, Robertson performed poorly, but his Minor League performance in 2012, prior to his stint with the Twins, show the signs of life you like to see from a big left-hander. He gets plenty of strike outs (10.4/9 innings), and he doesn't give up a lot of a home runs. For Robertson the biggest issue is going to be control, as he walked 14 batters in his 25 innings for the Twins a year ago. Robertson is great against left-handed batters (.190/.268/.317), but if he cannot learn to get out right-handed hitters (.290/.436/.484) he is not going to stick around for long. Robertson should start the year as the Twins #2 LOOGY and a middle reliever. Caleb Thielbar - 25, Reliever, AAA - Thielbar made it as far as AAA in 2012, but at the end of 2011 he had never pitched above High-A. Thielbar likely needs some additional Minor League seasoning before the Twins are ready to put him on the 25-man roster, especially after a terrible Arizona Fall League permanence in which he posted an 11.05 ERA with 8 walks in just 13.0 innings. The Twins definitely have plenty of arms on the 40-man roster, but they don't have a lot of talent in the bunch. If the Twins start the season with this same group of arms they'll have Scott Diamond, Kyle Gibson, and Liam Hendriks as their one-two-three starters, and will be well on their way to another 90 loss season. It is more likely that the Twins sign at least two free agent pitchers, and bring in another arm via trade, but until anything happens, there is not a lot of hope readily available in Minnesota. For a look at Twins position players on the 40-man roster, click over to Knuckleballs. -ERolfPleiss Click here to view the article

"When you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail." - Benjamin Franklin On Wednesday the Twins made sure it was known that they were not happy with Aaron Hicks and his level of preparation at the major league level. On Thursday, the Twins squandered a great start from Phil Hughes (the Talk to Contact Pitcher of the Week). But then Hicks bailed out the Twins with a 10th inning victory, with a walk off double to defeat the Red Sox. Down in the minor leagues, things did not go quite as well for the Twins affiliates. Download attachment: alex meyer.jpg Red Wings Report Rochester 5, Columbus 4 BOX The Red Wings had a big first inning and then held on for the victory thanks to a special outing from Alex Meyer. Meyer picked up his second win of the season, pitching five innings of no-hit baseball before reaching his pitch limit. Meyer struck out seven Clippers hitters, but he also struggled with command and issued four free passes. His ERA now stands at 3.79 and he has 49 strikeouts in 40.1 innings in 2014. Deolis Guerra entered the game in the sixth and stretched the no- hitter into the seventh inning before being tagged for three runs (two earned). Ryan Pressly picked up a hold, but pitched only two-thirds of an inning and gave up two hits and a run. Aaron Thompson picked up his first save of the season, striking out the side to end the game. The Red Wings were led to victory by a first inning grand slam from cleanup hitter Deibinson Romero, his only hit of the game. Oswaldo Arcia was the DH last night and went 2-4 with a double, a strike out and two runs scored. His average at AAA is now .298. Chris Herrmann had another big night, 3-4 with a double, and is now 12-26 with a home run, a triple and three doubles since being demoted a week ago. Also of note, the Red Wings' center fielder, Eric Farris, extended his hitting streak to eight games. Rock Cats Review New Britain 5, Portland 13 BOX The Rock Cats gave up TWENTY hits and committed two errors in the loss to the Sea Dogs, snapping the Rock Cats' four game winning streak. Sean Gilmartin pitched five innings and was charged with only one earned run, but defensive miscues led to two unearned runs. He left the game with the score tied at three. Adrian Salcedo was the second man up for the Rock Cats and was tagged with his fifth loss of the season (0-5). Salcedo pitched just 1.1 innings, giving up five runs, all earned, on six hits, including the go-ahead two run home run from Portland's biggest star, Mookie Betts, who had three hits and extended his reached base safely streak to 65 games. Cole Johnson came in next and gave up just his third run of the season in 1.2 innings of work. Ryan O'Rourke pitched the ninth and gave up four more runs to close out a mostly forgettable day from the New Britain bullpen. Reynaldo Rodriguez was 3-4 with a strikeout and a walk, extending his hitting streak to a season-high ten games. Kennys Vargas extended his own hitting streak to five games with a 1-3 performance with two walks, and he has now hit safely in 20 of the last 23 Rock Cats games. Brad Boyer also reached base three times for the Rock Cats with two hits and a walk. Vargas and Daniel Ortiz both had doubles, the Rock Cats' only two extra base hits of the evening. Miracle Matters Fort Myers and Brevard County RAIN OUT Heavy rain forced the cancellation of the series finale between the Miracle and the Manatees. The Miracle return home on Friday to begin a four-game series with the Daytona Cubs. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 2, Burlington 6 BOX Not much happening on either side of the ball last night for the Kernels. Felix Jorge started for the Kernels and picked up the loss (2-4) after 4.1 innings in which he was tagged with five runs (four earned). He walked four batters and struck out just two. His ERA now sits at 8.80. Yorman Landa pitched 2.1 innings of relief, surrendering one run and Jared Wilson closed out the game in the ninth, striking out the side. Offensively, the Kernels managed just four hits, all coming in the first four innings. The best performance of the night came from Bo Altobelli, who was 1-3 with a walk, an RBI and a run scored. After the fourth inning, Burlington reliever Alfonso Alcantara came in and pitched five innings of no-hit baseball to finish off the Kernels. TwinsDaily Players of the Day Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Alex Meyer, Rochester Red Wings Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Reynaldo Rodriguez, New Britain Rock Cats Friday's Probable Starters Columbus @ Rochester (6:05pm Central) – Mike Pelfrey (Listen) New Britain @ Harrisburg (6:00pm Central) – Pat Dean (Listen) Daytona @ Fort Myers (6:05pm Central) – Alex Wimmers (Listen) Cedar Rapids @ Burlington (6:30pm Central) – Aaron Slegers (Listen) Since the Twins beat the Red Sox on Thursday afternoon thanks to a walk-off winner from Aaron Hicks, you can get 50% off your online order at PapaJohns.com on Friday using the code "TWINSWIN". Click here to view the article

The Minnesota Twins dropped a day game to the Tribe on Thursday afternoon, losing the four-game series three games to one. The Twins fell behind early and while they managed to pull within one run after the top of the seventh, the Indians pulled away for a 9-4 victory. Every team in the Twins system was on the road today, and the road was not a friendly place. Transactions The Twins announced that they called up Matt Guerrier. To make room for Guerrier on the 40-man roster, the Twins DFAd Brooks Raley, and he was claimed by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. To make room for Guerrier on the 25-man roster, the Twins optioned lefty Logan Darnell back to AAA. Before Thursday's game, Sam Fuld was put on the 7-day concussion list, and Eduardo Nunez was called up. After Thursday's game the Twins also optioned SS Pedro Florimon and C/OF Chris Herrmann to AAA Rochester. Aaron Hicks could be joining the Twins Friday in Detroit, coming off the concussion list. Could Oswaldo Arcia be the second, or who else could join the Twins? How about Eric Fryer? He would allow Josmil Pinto to remain the DH. Download attachment: hurlbut.jpg Photo from Bryan, https://www.flickr.c...otos/begreen90/Red Wings Report Rochester 1, Columbus 5 Box Columbus completed a four-game sweep of Rochester, and Scott Diamond was tagged with the loss. Diamond pitched all eight innings for the Red Wings. He gave up five earned runs, walked three and struck out four. Diamond was surprisingly efficient, despite the walks and earned runs, throwing just 108 pitches, and shutting down the final ten batters he faced. Trevor Bauer, one of the prized jewels in the Cleveland Indians system, was the story of the night. He went 7.2 innings, gave up just three hits, two walks, and struck out nine. The Red Wings mustered just three hits, one each from Eric Farris, Deibinson Romero, and Eric Fryer. The best thing for Rochester is getting out of Columbus. They scored just eight runs over the four game series. Rock Cats Review New Britain 5, Bowie 6 Box New Britain battled on Thursday night, and took a two-run lead in the top of the eighth inning. Sean Gilmartin turned in a quality start for the Rock Cats, going six innings and giving up three earned runs. Cole Johnson pitched a scoreless inning of relief, and Lester Oliveros was tagged with a Blown Save and the Loss, giving up three runs (one earned) in the bottom of the eighth as Bowie stole a win from the Rock Cats. The Rock Cats had eleven hits, and six of them came from their corner outfielders, Reynaldo Rodriguez (RF) and Daniel Ortiz (LF). Both were 3-4, but Rodriguez benefited from men on base in front of him and Ortiz hitting behind him as Rodriguez picked up two RBIs (including a solo home run) and scored three times. Miracle Matters Fort Myers 3, Jupiter 2 Box The Miracle's David Hurlbut pitched nine innings of six-hit baseball, throwing just 99 pitches and led Fort Myers to fourth consecutive victory. From the fifth inning through the eighth, Hurlbut did not allow a single batter to reach base. His final line was nine innings, six hits, two runs (one earned), NO WALKS, and he struck out three. His ERA now sits at an impressive 1.69. Levi Michael, now hitting .322 in his third year in the Florida State League and finally looking like the player the Twins expected when they drafted him, led off the game. He left before his at bat was over after fouling a ball off of his foot. Byron Buxton was just 1-5, but he hit a double and scored a run. He still appears to be adjusting to playing full speed, and had a couple more strike outs tonight. This was really a team effort tonight as the Miracle spread their eight hits around to seven different batters, and four different players scored runs. The Miracle also stole three bases, one each for Niko Goodrum, Jorge Polanco, and Adam Brett Walker II. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 7, Wisconsin 11 Box Felix Jorge pitched into just the fourth inning (3.2), giving up eight earned runs, throwing 80 pitches and taking the loss for the Kernels. Alex Muren replaced Jorge but did not fare much better, pitching just 2.1 innings, giving up three earned runs. Both Jorge and Muren gave up two home runs. Brandon Bixler, who has been excellent this season for the Kernels, entered in the seventh and gave the Kernels two scoreless innings, lowering his ERA to 0.47. The Kernels scored plenty of runs, but when the pitching staff gives up eleven runs, there is not much hope of pulling out a win. Jason Kanzler led the way on Thursday with a 3-5 night, two RBIs, a home run, three runs scored and no strike outs. J.D. Williams and Engelb Vielma each picked up two hits of their own and five different Kernels picked up RBIs, but the seven runs they scored just could not overcome Jorge's poor start. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY HITTER: Jason Kanzler, Cedar Rapids Kernels PITCHER: David Hurlbut, Fort Myers Miracle FRIDAY'S PROBABLES: Rochester @ Toledo (6:00 PM Central) – Yohan Pino (Listen) New Britain @ Bowie (5:35 PM Central) – Pat Dean (Listen) Jupiter @ Fort Myers (6:05 PM Central) – Alex Wimmers (Listen) Cedar Rapids @ Wisconsin (6:35 PM Central) – Aaron Slegers (Listen) Click here to view the article

If you are a real baseball junkie, Thursday was a great day of baseball. The Twins organization played EIGHT baseball games yesterday. The Twins played two (lost both), the Red Wings played one (squandered a great pitching performance), the Rock Cats played two (split a double header), the Miracle played one (a lopsided loss) and then Kernels played two as well (swept both sides of a double header). With so much baseball action on Thursday, we will get right to it! Download attachment: trev-may.jpg (Bare Antolos/Rochester Red Wings) RED WINGS REPORT Louisville 2, Rochester 1 BOX SCORE In their last eight games, the Red Wings pitchers have struck out 94 hitters in just 71.0 innings. Alex Meyer was a big part of that stretch, owning 22 of those Ks in just 12.1 innings. On Thursday, Trevor May took his turn and struck out 11 Louisville hitters over six full innings (giving up two earned runs on just three hits). Perhaps even more exciting for May and Twins fans is that he rebounded from a poor outing the week before and he only walked a single batter last night. The bullpen did their job and held the Bats scoreless in the final three frames, but the Red Wings offense could not find a way to break through a strong performance from Louisville's Josh Smith, who lowered his ERA to 2.20 on the night. The Red Wings tallied only three hits, so there are not a lot of strong offensive performances to discuss. Chris Parmelee extended his hitting streak to 14 games, the longest in the International League this season, and could match his longest career hitting streak with a hit tomorrow. Parmelee also drew a walk and was one of two Red Wings hitters that reached base multiple times. James Beresford was the other man on base more than once, and he managed a hit and two walks, and scored the lone run of the evening. Oswaldo Arcia played the entire game at DH going 1-4 with two strikeouts as he continues to rehab from his wrist injury. ROCK CATS REVIEW Game 1 - New Britain 6, Harrisburg 3 BOX SCORE In the first game of the double header (two seven inning games) the Rock Cats came out on top, thanks to a quality start from Taylor Rogers (six innings pitched, three earned runs, one strike out) and a perfect inning from Lester Oliveros. First basemen Reynaldo Rodriguez led the day with three RBIs on a 2-4 night, all three ribbies coming via a three run homer in the first inning to put the Rock Cats on top. Kennys Vargas was 1-3 with two runs scored and two RBI on a homer of his own in the fifth. Right fielder Mike Kvasnicka provided the rest of the offense with a solo home run of his own. Brandon Waring, featured on the most recent Talk to Contact podcast, was 1-4. Game 2 - New Britain 3, Harrisburg 4 BOX SCORE The Rock Cats out-hit the Senators, and the Senators committed three errors (in a seven inning game) and the Rock Cats still could not find a way to win. Tyler Duffy surrendered a late run, pitching for six full innings, struck out five batters and his ERA sits at just 1.50 this spring. Cole Johnson came in and blew the save, giving up three unearned runs in the bottom of the seventh, recording just a single out. Kenny Wilson was 2-4 with a run scored and Nate Hanson was 2-3 with an RBI but other than those two guys, a pretty underwhelming performance from he rest of the Rock Cats team. Rock Cats manager Jeff Smith was ejected for the third time this year, undoubtedly frustrated as the Rock Cats are now just 7-17 in this young season. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 2, Palm Beach 8 BOX SCORE The Miracle had nine hits, but Jose Berrios only made it through five innings, giving up four runs, three earned. He recorded four strike outs, two walks, and gave up six hits. Mason Meloakis came in and made things worse, surrendering four earned runs over 1.2 innings. Madison Boer closed out the game with 1.1 innings, giving up just one hit and he struck out two Palm Beach Cardinals. The Miracle were just 3 for 11 with runners in scoring position and they left nine men on base. This was a game of missed opportunities. Aderlin Mejia who is hitting over .400 went 1-5 with a double and a strike out. Mike Gonzales and Adam Brett Walker II were both 2-4 but there was not much going on with this Miracle team. KERNELS NUGGETS Game 1 - Kane County 2, Cedar Rapids 5 BOX SCORE A ho-hum performance from the Kernels pitching staff last night. Starter Josue Montanez did not give up an earned run, but gave up a couple unearned runs and pitched only four innings. Yorman Landa picked up the win with two scoreless innings in relief and Brandon Peterson picked up the save. The Kernels one through five hitters collected all seven of their hits, with Ivory Thomas, Joel Licon, Bo Altobelli and Engelb Vielma all hitless at the bottom of the order. Mitch Garver led the way with a 2-3 night with a double, two runs scored, and an RBI. Zach Larson was the other big contributor, going 2-3 with a run scored. Game 2 - Kane County 4, Cedar Rapids 5 BOX SCORE The second game of the night was a back and forth battle, and multiple runs were scored in almost every inning. Kohl Stewart was on the hill for the Kernels, he pitched 5.2 innings and gave up three runs, but only one was earned. He struck out four Cougars to go along with just two walks. Not Stewart's best outing of the year, but another encouraging outing from one of the Twins prized Minor League possessions. Engelb Vielma picked up two hits in the night cap, but he continues to struggle at the bottom of the lineup, now hitting just .200. Logan Wade was 2-4 with two doubles and two runs batted in to lead the way for the Kernels. DH Bryan Santy also picked up two ribbies with a two run bomb in the fourth inning. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Trevor May, Rochester Red Wings Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Logan Wade, Cedar Rapids Kernels MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Louisville @ Rochester (6:05 CST) – Scott Diamond (Listen) New Hampshire @ New Britain (5:35) – Sean Gilmartin (Listen) Ft. Myers @ Palm Beach (5:35 CST) – David Hurlbut (Listen) Kane County @ Cedar Rapids (5:00 CST) – Felix Jorge (Listen) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Thursday games here. Click here to view the article

The Twins were off Thursday and begin a three game series with the San Francisco Giants on Friday night. The Twins have been playing well against good baseball teams over the past couple weeks, but winning a series on the road against a surprisingly tough Giants team will be a real test for the Twins. It was a tough night in the minor leagues for the Twins affiliates, with the Twins organization picking up only one win. Download attachment: tonkin.jpg Red Wings Report Rochester 2, Scranton/WB 1 Box Alex Meyer started for the Red Wings and pitched only 5.1 innings before being lifted with the bases loaded. His final line, with only one run surrendered, looks decent only because Yohan Pino came into the game and picked up two outs to end the threat. Pino struck out the side in he seventh to close out his appearance.* Aaron Thompson picked up a hold with 0.2 of an inning, and Michael Tonkin finished the game with a four-out save. The Red Wings managed only six hits, but Brad Nelson, the Red Wings first basemen, in the midst of a 1-37 slump, put the Wings ahead 2-1 in the seventh with a solo home run. Oswaldo Arcia was 1-4 and picked up the other Red Wings RBI, and the rehabbing Josh Willingham was also 1-4. Maybe even more interesting, neither Arcia or Willingham had a strike out Thursday. Mike Pelfrey will make another rehab start for the Red Wings Friday night. *Pino continues to have a special 2014 season, picking up his sixth win of the year, splitting time between the bullpen and starting rotation. He has given up only six runs all year and his ERA now sits at 1.42. He's 30 years old and has yet to reach the big leagues, despite spending parts of each of the past five years in Triple-A. Rock Cats Review New Britain 0, Richmond 0 Box The Rock Cats and Flying Squirrels were suspended after an inning and a half in New Britain because of rain. There was a delay of almost two hours before the game was officially called off. The Rock Cats are on the road tomorrow against Binghamton, so the game will have to be made up later in the year. Miracle Matters Fort Myers 5, Dunedin 7 Box Alex Wimmers did not have his best stuff on Thursday: He walked five, struck out four, and gave up seven hits and six earned runs in four innings. Wimmers now has a 4.62 ERA. Wimmers, a 2010 first round draft pick and former Big Ten pitcher of the year has really struggled the past two years after a case of the yips and an eventual Tommy John surgery derailed his minor league career in 2012. After Wimmers was bounced, Mason Melotakis pitched three innings, giving up a run on two hits and Steven Gruver pitched a scoreless eighth to close out the night. Despite giving up six early runs, the Miracle stormed back with a four-run sixth to close the gap to two runs, but the Blue Jays' bullpen shut down the Miracle the rest of the way. Travis Harrison extended his hitting streak to twelve games with a 1-3 night. Adam Brett Walker II and Mike Gonzales hit back-to-back dingers in that four-run sixth, the first time the Miracles have had back-to-back home runs all year. ABW was the only Miracle hitter with multiple hits, but the first seven hitters in the Miracle lineup all had a hit. Stuart Turner, hitting eighth, and Max Kepler hitting ninth, were both 0-4 with two strike outs. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 6, Quad Cities 11 Box The Kernels had an early three to one lead, but Aaron Slegers had a forgettable night, giving up ten runs (all earned) in three innings. He gave up 14 hits, did not walk anyone and struck out just one of the twenty-two batters he faced. Slegers' ERA jumped all the way up the 5.36. He was finally pulled after pitching to four batters in the fourth, and Jared Wilson came in and pitched three innings of scoreless ball. Yorman Landa finished the final two innings, giving up a single run. The Kernels relievers struck out nine River Bandits and walked just two. Mitch Garver, Bryan Haar, and Jason Kanzler were all 2-4 on the night. Kanzler, recently activated from the disabled list, hit a home run in the eight, his second in two games. Only two other Kernels contributed hits of their own, with Ryan Walker and Chad Christensen both going 1-5. Kernels batters struck out eleven times, including three by second basemen Tanner Vavra. Twins Daily Players of the Day Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Michael Tonkin, Rochester Red Wings Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day - Jason Kanzler, Cedar Rapids Kernels Friday's Probable Starters Rochester @ Scranton/Wilkes Barre (6:05 CT) – Mike Pelfrey (Listen) New Britain @ Binghamton (6:05 CT) – Taylor Rogers (Listen) Ft. Myers @ Dunedin (5:30 CT) – TBD (Listen) Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (7:00 CT) – Ryan Eades (Listen) Click here to view the article

Download attachment: eddie_leon_autograph.jpg In 1965, the first year of the MLB draft, the Twins had the ninth overall selection. They used it on a talented shortstop from the University of Arizona, Eddie Leon. But Leon didn't sign with the Twins, instead going back to Arizona and earning All-American honors in 1966. The following year, he was selected third overall by the Chicago Cubs in the June secondary draft, but once again failed to sign and went back to school. Like he did in 1966, he once again earned All-American honors. Finally, in 1967, Leon was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the second round of the June secondary draft and at the age of 20 reported to the Double-A Pawtucket Indians in the Eastern League. When asked why he declined to sign his first times through the draft,[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Leon told The Baseball Historian that not only was he not getting what he felt was an "adequate" bonus for a first round draft pick, but also because he wanted to finish his Civil Engineering degree at the University of Arizona. ~~~This is the first post in a series highlighting the Minnesota Twins ~~~ ~~~ number one draft picks, originally published at BaseballTwins.com~~~ Leon played 51 games for the AA-Indians and hit just .202/.261/.307 and made 13 errors in 211 chances, posting just a .938 fielding percentage. Despite his poor performance at AA Leon was promoted to Triple-A Portland for the final 17 games of the year, where Leon hit slightly better - .233/.283/.349 - and made just two errors in 62 chances. In 1968 Leon played the full season in Portland, building off his late season success from '67. Leon's offensive numbers were up across the board, and while he committed 30 errors in 705 chances, he was rewarded for a successful season with a brief September call up with the Cleveland Indians. Eddie Leon made his Major League debut on September 9, 1968 playing in Metropolitan Stadium against the Minnesota Twins, the team that first drafted him three years earlier, entering the game in the 9th inning as a pinch runner for shortstop Larry Brown. Two days later, once again against the Twins, Eddie Leon was back in the lineup as a 10th inning defensive replacement for pinch-hitter Jimmie Hall. In the top of the 12th inning, with the Indians having just taken a 1-0 lead and runners on first and second with no outs, Leon stepped to the plate with a chance to extend the Indians lead - and promptly struck out. He would appear in five more games that September, but would not have another plate appearance. Download attachment: eddie-leon.jpg In 1969, Leon was back in Triple-A, but after a strong first half in which he hit .262/.313/.349 and had his best fielding percentage of his minor league career, he was promoted back to Cleveland and was the regular short stop for the remainder of the year. For the next three years Leon was the starting shortstop for the Cleveland Indians. He finished his Cleveland career with a .243/.302/.325 batting line. Following the 1972 season, Leon was traded to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for Outfielder Walt Williams. 1973 was a struggle for Leon and he hit just .228/.291/.291. The early 1970s was certainly not a time of high offensive output, but Leon's hitting line was good enough only for a 62 OPS+ (only slightly better than perennial Twins All-Star, Drew Butera). Leon was a part time player in 1974 and only played in 31 games for the White Sox. Often appearing as a pinch hitter or late-inning defensive replacement, Leon only accumulated 53 plate appearances and hit just .109/.143/.130. Following the 1974 season, Leon was once again traded, this time going to the New York Yankees in exchange for 31-year-old reliever Cecil Upshaw. He played just two innings for the Yankees, entering the May 4th game in Milwaukee as a defensive replacement in the 8th inning and not receiving an at bat. That would be Leon's final appearance in Major League baseball as he was released by the Yankees the following day and spent the remainder of 1975 and all of 1976 playing baseball in the Mexican League for the Tampico Alijadores. Read more about the Minnesota Twins at BaseballTwins.com, including the most recent post about Darin Mastroianni's Heat Maps. Click here to view the article

If you can still remember early April, Chris Colabello was a monster. He was hitting .346/.386/.577 through the first 20 games of the year. He had nine multi-hit games, and went hitless just four times. He was the darling of the American League for a while due to some timely hitting and a bunch of RBIs. But his line since April 23 tells me the league has started to adjust. Since April 23, Colabello has been hitting an anemic .125/.188/.188. Over those 17 games he has just two extra base hits, five walks, and twenty-five strikeouts. He hasn't had a single two-hit game over that span, and he has more games (nine) without a hit, than he does games with a hit (eight). [/hr] Originally published at http://www.baseballtwins.com. [/hr]So what is ailing Colabello? Let's start by taking a look at his spray charts. This is a good place to look for symptoms of Colabello's issue. We'll use the April 23 date to split up his season. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NQfoieke-Sw/U3Uabhm1ykI/AAAAAAAAFgI/kRsvLOi_zLw/s1600/colabello+pre.gif What we see in the early season spray chart is that Colabello was hitting the ball all over the field. He did a nice job of hitting some fly balls the other way, but still had plenty of power to center field and his pull side. We also see line drives spread out pretty evenly across the diamond. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CEiO2-rQNUI/U3Uabqyaf1I/AAAAAAAAFgE/KP9BI05rEb4/s1600/colabello+post.gif After April 23, Colabello's chart looks completely different. We see a higher percentage of his balls in play barely making it out of the batter's box, and lots of infield grounders. There are only a handfull of line drives, and no fly balls hit to his pull side. He's either poking the ball the other way, or rolling over the ball and grounding out to the shortstop and third basemen. What does this tell us, other than that Colabello has been struggling? Well, the lack of balls being hit to his pull side is discouraging. Colabello needs to be able to drive the ball to his pull side to be really effective. A couple of things could be going on with pitchers. They could be pitching him away more frequently. Last year there was a lot of talk about how far away from home plate Colabello stands, begging the opposing pitcher to attack the outside corner where Colabello would have a harder time getting to fastballs. The other thing that could be happening is that Colabello is struggling to catch up to MLB caliber fastballs, and after a hot first month, the opponents started to pick up on this, and are challenging him more with the fastball, throwing less breaking balls at him. Let's take a look at the data and see what pitchers are doing to Colabello. We'll start with the pitch location data, to see if pitchers are pounding him on the outside corner. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yLBLpP2DCcI/U3UckcSz2iI/AAAAAAAAFgY/IxskCzFJWcs/s1600/pitches+pre.gif What we see at the beginning of the year is a whole lot of pitches down in the zone, and while there is some evidence that pitchers prefer to pitch him outside, he was still seeing a lot of pitches over the plate and inside. After his mostly disappointing 2013 season, it was not surprising to see pitchers unafraid to throw the ball over the plate to Colabello, and to see what he did with it. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--xgUdI420jM/U3UckXG2QqI/AAAAAAAAFgc/M7RYfBS2PFA/s1600/pitches+post+23.gif After April 23, you see a lot more pitches down and away from Colabello, the part of the zone he has the most trouble covering because of his stance away from the plate. All of a sudden there are almost no more pitches down and in, a significant change from the early part of the season. We also see, surprisingly, that Colabello saw 24 pitches down the heart of the plate, belt high, a typically dangerous place for a baseball to be. But other than down and away, that is where Colabello is seeing the 2nd most pitches! We know that pitchers are in fact pitching Colabello more to the outside, but they are also throwing him pitches right into the heart of the plate, so there has to be more to it. Maybe pitch types will tell us a little more. http://2.bp.blogspot...ype by time.gif What we see in this graph is the first two months of the season, Colabello is seeing a lot more fastballs, almost 10% more, and a lot less off speed stuff. This, combined with a spray chart filled hit balls in play to his push side, leads me to believe that Colabello is having a hard time catching up to fastballs. Pitchers are comfortable throwing him fastballs because even when he recognizes the pitch, he has trouble hitting it with authority. Pitchers are throwing less off-speed pitches because those are the types of pitches that Colabello can handle. He's also seeing a lot more breaking balls than he was early in the year. When he's cheating a little bit to catch up to the fastball, he is more susceptible to the breaking ball, especially late break that Colabello would be unable to adjust to. This is not good news. While there are some minor adjustments Colabello could make, bat speed is pretty tough to improve. He either has it, or he doesn't. Standing a little closer to the plate could give Colabello better coverage down and away, and he can certainly help himself by laying off some of those outside pitches, but there might not be much Colabello can do to look more like the hitter he was through the first 20 games of the 2014 season. [/hr]For more baseball #analysis including the Bert Blyleven Trade Tree, visit http://www.baseballtwins.com. Click here to view the article

Download attachment: Parmelee.jpg The Twins ended their home stand on a positive note, Phil Hughes picked up the win with a quality start and the Twins picked up the series win over the Orioles. Let's see what happened in the minor leagues. Red Wings Report Louisville 6, Rochester 12 BOX The Red Wings extended their winning streak to three games and now sit four games over .500, tied for their best mark of the season. With the win the Red Wings won the four-game series against Louisville, the fourth consecutive year they've done so. Alex Meyer had a rough outing, so maybe the book is out on his new changeup. He went just 4.2 innings, giving up four runs, five hits, three walks and five strike outs. Meyer also gave up a home run in the fourth inning to Louisville's Mike Constanzo, ending Meyer's scorelss innings streak at 15 2/3 innings. Edgar Ibarra picked up the win for the Red Wings, pitching 2.1 innings (two his, one run, two walks and a strike out), and Matt Guerrier finished out the final two innings, serving up a home run along with three hits and a strike out. Sunday was a big offensive day for the Red Wings, setting or matching season highs for runs scored in a game, hits in a game, runs scored in an inning, hits in an inning, extra-base hits and total bases. Every Red Wings player picked up at least one hit and six players picked up at least two. Chris Parmelee led the way with a three for five night, scoring three runs, knocking in five RBIs and hitting two home runs and a double. He's now hitting .333 on the year with a .395 OBP and .600 slugging. Eduado Nunez, despite not playing in eleven of the past twelve Rochester games, was also three for five. He is now hitting .313. Rock Cats Report New Hampshire 2, Rock Cats 5 BOX The Rock Cats have now won three straight and earned their first series sweep of 2014. Virgil Vasquez, making his third start (and fifth appearance) of the year picked up the victory with 7.1 innings of four hit baseball. He only struck out one, but he lowered his ERA to 1.57. Adrian Salcedo, who came into the night with three consecutive strong outings, finished out the final 1.2 innings, giving up two hits and a walk while striking out four batters. His ERA came down a little bit, but it is still at 8.4 for the year, due mostly to an April 12 outing in which he allowed six earned runs in just a third of an inning. Despite scoring five runs, the Rock Cats had just seven hits on the night. Four of those runs came in the first inning. Corey Wimberly (1-4) led off the first with his only hit of the night, a triple. Nate Hanson ended the day 2-4 with a run scored and a first inning RBI, driving in Wimberly. Daniel Ortiz had the Rock Cats' only other extra base hit on the game, a first inning double off the left field wall that scored Hanson. Miracle Report Bradenton 4, Fort Myers 2 BOX The Minnesota Twins organization was dealt their only loss of the day in Fort Myers. The Miracle had just five hits against Bradenton and just two against starter Jason Creasy who struck out six hitters in 5.2 innings. Jason Wheeler pitched 5.2 innings as well, but he served up seven hits, three runs (two earned) a walk and five strikeouts. He now sports a 2.78 ERA. With just five hits and two runs (both unearned), there is not a lot to say about the Miracle hitting from Sunday. Five batters, Levi Michael, Byron Buxton (making his return to game action), Travis Harrison, Aderlin Mejia, and Adam Brett Walker II were hitless, and no one recorded more than one hit nor any extra base hits. If not for three Bradenton errors the Miracle might not have scored at all. Kernels Repor Peoria 0, Cedar Rapids 2 BOX The Kernels won the series in exciting fashion on Sunday night with a 2-0 shutout of the Peoria Chiefs. The Kernels scored early, tallying a run in the second and another in the third and held on for the win. Ryan Eades is now 3-3 after picking up the win, his ERA is down to 2.87 and he looks every bit the polished college pitcher the Twins thought they were drafting last year in the second round. Eades went five innings, struck out five, walked two and surrendered no runs on three hits. Yorman Landa pitched three innings and gave up just a hit to go along with four K's of his own. Hudson Boyd picked up the save with a perfect ninth inning. J.D. Williams, playing in just his second game of the year, was the hero of the day at the top of the Kernels lineup, reaching base three times with a 2-3 day and a walk. Ivory Thomas was 0-1 but he picked up three walks, a stolen base and scored a run. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Ryan Eades, Cedar Rapids Kernels Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day - Chris Parmelee, Rochester Red Wings MONDAY'S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Columbus (5:35 PM Central) - Brooks Raley (Listen) Trenton @ New Britain (5:35 PM Central) - TBD (Listen) Bradenton @ Fort Myers (6:05 PM Central) - Matt Tomshaw (Listen) Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (7:00 PM Central) - Ethan Mildren (Listen) Click here to view the article

Kurt Suzuki is out producing the expectations of even the most optimistic Twins fan. He’s 30 years old and coming in to 2014 had a career line of .253/.309/.375, and even that is rosy considering what he’s done the past two seasons, .234/.282/.332 (for reference, Talk to Contact favorite, Drew “Boat Anchor” Butera, is hitting .231/.300/.385 in 2014). So the Twins bought low on a guy and brought him in with the hopes that he could help out Josmil Pinto, and because Suzuki is seen as a good “clubhouse guy.” http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/suzuki.jpegMinnesota Twins catcher Kurt Suzuki (8) hits a two-run single against the Chicago White Sox in the third inning of an opening day baseball game at U.S Cellular Field in Chicago on March 31, 2014. (Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports) Through his first 34 games of the year, Suzuki is hitting .332/.388/.430. He has an OBP north of .380 against both left and right handed pitchers. The Twins like what he’s doing with the bat so much they have stuck him in the lineup four times as the starting designated hitter. [/hr]Originally published at http://knuckleballsblog.com/ [/hr] Maybe just a hot start, right? He’s actually been better in May than he was in March and April. He started hot, and now he is getting hotter. Over his entire career, Suzuki has played better in the first month of the year than any other month, exactly what you might expect from a catcher that the Oakland Athletics ran out as their everyday catcher at least 117 times for five straight years (he caught his fewest games since his rookie season last year, 93). Kurt Suzuki is doing all of this on a one-year, $2.75 million dollar contract. the Twins bought low and now they are in a great position to turn Suzuki into some surplus value via trade. Or, because he is only 30 years old, the Twins might consider signing him to a modest contract extension, just as they did with Ryan Doumit.* *Ryan Doumit hit .275/.320/.461 in 2012 in his first year (age 31 season) with the Twins. The Twins extended him for two additional years with an extra $7 million dollars in late June 2012, making his total deal with the Twins three years/$10 million. With Doumit, the Twins were basically getting output from Doumit in line with his career numbers, so there was a little less risk, but in two of the three seasons prior to coming to Minnesota, Doumit either hit poorly or was injured (or both), so they were able to sign (what looks like now) such a team friendly deal. The Twins ultimately flipped Doumit to Atlanta** following a poor 2013 season which saw Doumit struggle at the plate and with concussion issues. He’s hitting .200/.217/.222 for the Braves. **The Twins received LHP Sean Gilmartin in return for Doumit, a former first round draft pick (2011), who is currently performing well at AA New Britain (3-2, 3.63 ERA 39.2 IP, 12 BB, 37K) and if the Twins raid the AAA roster for pitching prospects Trevor May and Alex Meyer this summer, Gilmartin should be one of the logical selections to move up to AAA, where he pitched for parts of 2012 and 2013 in the Braves Org. I would guess that the Twins do not expect Kurt Suzuki to continue avoiding outs in almost 40% of his plate appearances, but ZiPS projects the 30 year old catcher to produce as a MLB regular the rest of the way. Combined with with he’s already done in 2014, he’ll end up with a nice 2014 line. If Suzuki keeps up his current pace into the All-Star break, or even just keeps his line to something like .300/.350/.400, which would represent some fairly significant regression over the next month plus, there will be a handful of teams calling Terry Ryan/Rob Antony looking to acquire the veteran catcher for a post season run. Because the Twins have Josmil Pinto (even with his raw defensive skills), and because they are not in a win-now situation, the Twins could feel relatively comfortable flipping Suzuki. In a trade scenario, the Twins would probably hope to fetch an intriguing Minor League player, as well as some MLB outfield depth, maybe a fourth outfielder capabale of playing center field and aleviating some of the Twins’ current outfield issues (especially if Sam Fuldexperiences setbacks returning from the concussion disabled list). Of course, what the Twins ultimately receive for Suzuki will depend on who their trading partner is, and where the Twins think they can add the most value. If the Twins look to extend Suzuki, I think that something similar to the Ryan Doumit deal is realistic, but with a slightly higher annual value. I would not be surprised if he received two additional years for $10 million dollars, bringing his total package in Minnesota to three years and just under $13 million. He’s younger than Doumit, and he is a much more complete player, providing value on both sides of the ball. If I am the Twins, I would attempt to extend Suzuki. The extension would not keep the Twins from trading Suzuki in a year or two, and if Josmil Pinto cannot live up to the hype from his 2013 call up when he hit .342/.398/.566, then the Twins have some hope of a bridge to the arrival of their next young catcher (who might be 2013 third-rounder Stuart Turner). If the Twins can make the extension team friendly then there is not a lot of risk in a deal like that, but if Suzuki and his agent (MVP Sports Group) are looking for a larger deal coming off of a big 2014, then the Twins should feel comfortable walking away. What would you do? [/hr]For more Twins news, including daily GameChats, visit http://knuckleballsblog.com/ Click here to view the article

The Twins extended their road losing streak to seven games and were swept out of Anaheim after another ineffective Ricky Nolasco start. Nolasco has been a disaster in just about every start he has made after his Twins debut. With Danny Santana dealing with a sore hamstring and the the Twins already short of middle infielders, the Twins demoted Yohan Pino and called up Jorge Polanco all the way from High-A Fort Myers prior to yesterday's game. Polanco becomes the first Twins player to make the jump from A-Ball to the big leagues since Kent Hrbek. Polanco walked and scored in his only at-bat in the ninth inning. Download attachment: kj.jpg Red Wings Report Rochester 0, Lehigh Valley 1 Box The Red Wings out-hit the IronPigs five to four, but could not put hits together when it mattered and were blanked 1-0. Kris Johnson was a hard-luck loser, pitching seven innings of four-hit baseball. Johnson struck out nine and walked five in addition to giving up a single run. His ERA now sits at 2.61. The IronPigs' Greg Smith pitched six innings of two-hit, five-strikeout baseball before yielding to the bullpen. The Red Wings didn't manage another hit until the ninth inning, rallying for three hits but failing to score a run thanks to an early caught stealing from Chris Rahl. Chris Colabello flew out to left field to end the game with two men on. James Beresford had the best day at the plate, going 2-4. The Red Wings' only extra base was an Eric Farris double. They had zero walks. Rock Cats Review New Britain 1, New Hampshire 2 Box Much like the Red Wings, the Rock Cats failed to pick up a timely hit and lost a tightly contested 2-1 game. Jason Wheeler pitched six innings and struck out two, walked three and gave up two earned runs on six hits. Adrian Salcedo followed up with two scoreless innings of relief but the Rock Cats could only manage one run and Wheeler was stuck with a loss. Aaron Hicks, leading off, was 1-4, but he made that one hit count with a solo home run in the eighth inning, the Rock Cats' only run. Kennys Vargas was 2-4 and was lifted for a pinch runner in the ninth. Eddie Rosario picked up an outfield assist, throwing out a runner at home to help keep the game close. Miracle Matters Fort Myers 3, St. Lucie 2 (Suspended after top of fifth) Box Tim Shibuya was not pitching great, having given up six hits, two runs (one earned), including a home run, before the game was suspended due to rain with one out in the top of the fifth. Anderlin Mejia started the day 2-2 with a double and a run scored to pace the Miracle. Niko Goodrum was 1-2 with an RBI and a stolen base. The game will be completed Friday. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 3, Peoria 6 Box Aaron Slegers struggled early, giving up a pair of runs in the first inning, and struggled through six innings. He gave up four runs (all earned) walked three, struck out three and scattered seven hits. Hudson Boyd gave up two runs in an inning of relief and Todd Van Steensel wrapped things up for the Kernels pitchers with a scoreless eighth. Cedar Rapids hung in this game despite Slegers struggles, trailing just 3-2 going into the sixth inning. Unfortunately the top of the order could not get things done and the Kernels' one, two and three hitters (Zack Granite, Engelb Vielma, and Chad Christensen) finished the night 0-10 with two strike outs. Bryan Haar was 2-4 with an RBI and Jon Murphy was 1-3 with a double, Cedar Rapids' only extra base hit. E-Town E-Notes Elizabethton 7, Burlington 0 Box Sam Gibbons, another of the Twins' young Australians, pitched seven scoreless innings, stuck out seven, walked just one, and surrendered only one hit. All of the E-Town hits came from the first five hitters, who combined to go 10-21, led by Nick Gordon who went 3-5 with a double and a triple. Tanner English also had a nice night at the plate, 4-5 with a solo home run. Pat Kelly, Thursday's Down on the Pond subject on the most recent Talk to Contact podcast, was 0-4. GCL Twins Takes GCL Twins 4, GCL Orioles 1 Box Matthew Batts struck out five in four innings, and Nelson Molina collected three hits as the GCL Twins picked up their third win of the year. Twins Daily Players of the Day Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Kris Johnson, Rochester Red Wings Twins Daily Minor League hitter of the Day - Nick Gordon, Elizabethton Twins Friday's Probable Starters Rochester @ Lehigh Valley (6:05pm CT) – Sean Gilmartin (Listen) New Britain @ New Hampshire Game 1 (5:05pm CT) – Mark Hamburger (Listen) New Britain @ New Hampshire Game 2 - Tyler Duffey (Listen) St. Lucie @ Fort Myers (6:05pm CT) - TBD (Listen) St. Lucie @ Fort Myers (completion from Thursday) (Listen) Clinton @ Cedar Rapids (6:35pm CT) – Lewis Thorpe (Listen) Elizabethton @ Burlington (6:00pm CT) – Chih-Wei Hu (Listen) GCL Red Sox @ GCL Twins (11:00am CST) – TBD Click here to view the article

When it rains, it pours. That was certainly the case Saturday in Minneapolis as the Twin Cities was drenched in yet another big rain storm. But it was also true down in Arlington where the Twins lost yet another road game to run their road losing streak to nine games. Kyle Gibson takes the hill on Sunday with a chance to send the Twins home on a positive note. Download attachment: matttomshaw.jpg Matt Tomshaw, Fort Myers Miracle; Photo Credit: Linwood Ferguson, http://www.captivephotons.com/ Red Wings Report Rochester 1, Norfolk 2 Box The Red Wings were hard luck losers in a 13-inning home game on Saturday night. Alex Meyer returned to form tonight and pitched six innings of one run baseball. The run he gave up was a two-out home run to Xavier Paul in the top of the fourth. He shook off the home run and struck out the next two hitters he faced. All told, Meyer struck out three and walked one. Edgar Ibarra pitched two perfect innings, and A.J. Achter followed that up with three perfect innings of his own to bring the Red Wings through the eleventh inning. Aaron Thompson gave up a single in the twelfth, but erased that with a double play and escaped the inning unscathed. Michael Tonkin came on in the thirteenth and gave up a one out single to Francisco Peguero. Peguero then stole second and advanced to third on the throw from Chris Herrmann. Peguero scored on a Michael Almanzar single to give the Norfolk Tide the lead. The Red Wings could not counter in the bottom of the thirteenth, despite a leadoff single from Chris Rahl. Thirteen innings and only one run means the Wings struggled with the bats. They managed eight hits (in 44 at-bats) and three walks, but outside of a Deibinson Romero double in the bottom of the ninth to extend the game to extra innings, they could not string any hits together and the Red Wings were 0-5 with runners in scoring position. Rock Cats Review New Britain 2, New Hampshire 6 Box The Rock Cats took an early 2-0 lead going into the bottom of the third, but Virgil Vasquez was touched up for three runs in the third on two singles and two walks. Vasquez hung on to pitch 6.1 innings, yielding another earned run in the seventh. He struck out four and walked four before the bullpen took over. Ryan O'Rourke came on to try to limit the damage in the seventh but walked two and gave up two runs before being replaced by Matthew Summers who finished the seventh and pitched a scoreless eighth. Eduardo Nunez was 2-3 with a triple and a walk and is hitting .400 on his rehab stint. Aaron Hicks was 0-2 with a pair of walks and is hitting just .162/.289/.270 in 11 minor league games so far this year. Reynaldo Rodriguez and Mike Kvasnicka were both 2-4 and each pushed across a run. The Rock Cats were 2-9 with runners in scoring position and stranded seven runners. Miracle Matters Fort Myers 3, Palm Beach 2 Box Matt Tomshaw pitched 7.1 innings, scattered nine hits, struck out five, walked one and left the game down 2-1 in the eighth. Mason Melotakis finished off the eighth inning and Madison Boer picked up a win with a scoreless ninth inning thanks to some errant pitching in the bottom of the ninth from Dixon Llorens. Down 2-1 entering the final frame, Niko Goodrum led off with a hit-by-pitch and Nate Roberts and Adam Walker followed with walks to load the bases with no outs. Dalton Hicks struck out swinging, but Travis Harrison was hit by a pitch in the next plate appearance, scoring Goodrum and keeping the bases loaded. The Miracle won the game on an error after the catcher Dante Rosenberg failed to make a catch for a force out at home after Max Kepler hit the ball to the shortstop. On the night, the Miracle scored three runs despite only four hits and took advantage of those late inning walks and HBPs. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 9, Clinton 5 (rain shortened) Box Twins Daily's Seth Stohs is down in Cedar Rapids this weekend and has full coverage of the Kernels' rain shortened 6.1 inning game. Since Seth has the full write up, I'll just give you the highlights. Ryan Eades picked up his fifth win despite giving up five runs (four earned) in five innings. He struck out five, gave up seven hits, including two home runs, and walked no one. Bryan Haar led the way offensively for the Kernels with seven RBI thanks to a grand slam and a three-run bomb. E-Town E-Notes Elizabethton 6, Bristol 0 Box Felix Jorge struck out three and walked three over five scoreless innings in his Elizabethton debut following a demotion from Cedar Rapids where he had a 9.00 ERA over 39 innings. Samuel Clay (1.0 innings), C.K. Irby (2.0) and Dereck Rodriguez (1.0) held the Bristol Pirates scoreless the rest of the way as the Twins cruised to a win. The 1-3 hitters combined to go 5-9 with two walks, four RBIs, and a home run. Tanner English was 2-4 with two RBI at the top of the order and Nick Gordon (in as a DH) was 2-4 from the second spot in the order. Right fielder Max Murphy was 1-2 with two walks, two RBIs and a home run from the three hole. GCL Twins Takes GCL Twins 4, GCL Red Sox 3 Box After Miguel Gonzalez surrendered three runs in the fifth the GCL Twins battled back to take a 4-3 lead in the top of the seventh and hung on for the victory. The Twins were paced by Dubal Baez who was 3-5 leading off and Joel Polanco who was 2-5 with a home run and two RBIs. Twins Daily Players of the Day Twins Daily Pitcher of the Day - Matt Tomshaw, Fort Myers Miracle Twins Daily Hitter of the Day - Bryan Haar, Cedar Rapids Kernels Sunday's Probable Starters Norfolk @ Rochester (12:05pm CT) – Logan Darnell (Listen) New Britain @ New Hampshire Game 1 (12:35pm CT) – Pat Dean (Listen) Palm Beach @ Fort Myers (3:05pm CT) - Jose Berrios (Listen) Clinton @ Cedar Rapids (2:05pm CT) – TBD (Listen) Bristol @ Elixabethton (5:00pm CT) – Derrick Penilla (Listen) GCL Red Sox @ GCL Twins (11:00am CST) – TBD Click here to view the article