Eric R Pleiss

Good angle here. Pen is both stressed and thin, giving all those extra innings to front (back of the bullpen is good, right, so the front? something like that) of the bullpen guys isn't good.

The Twins got in a hole early, and catcher Chris Gimenez pitched again, but with a nearly five-hour rain delay before the game started, not many fans stuck around Target Field to see the White Sox beat the Twins 9-0. After the game the Twins optioned Nik Turley back to Rochester and placed Ehire Adrianza on the DL.Find out everything that happened in the Twins minor league system on Thursday. TRANSACTIONS The Twins to add two pitchers before Friday’s game. Twins Daily has learned that Trevor Hildenberger will be one of them.Red Wings sign and add Dillon Gee to roster, place Kam Mickolio on DL. UPDATE: Instead of going to Rochester, Gee will be going to Cleveland on Friday with Hildenberger.John Curtiss promoted to Rochester from Chattanooga.Twins Daily has also learned that SS Jermaine Palacios, C/1B Mitchell Kranson, 2B Brandon Lopez and OF Jaylin Davis have been moved up to Ft. Myers.Jeff Johnson (The Gazette, Cedar Rapids) has said that 1B Amaurys Minier, IF Joe Cronin, IF Jorge Munoz and OF Lean Marrero will join the Kernels from Extended Spring Training.There are also some moves in Ft. Myers which we will report when we receive verification.RED WINGS REPORTLehigh Valley 2 @ Rochester 4 Box Score Yohan Pino gave the Red Wings 4.1 innings of one-run baseball, lifted for Alex Wimmers in the fifth after recording a quick out and walking the second batter of the inning. Pino gave up six hits, but just one run, walked one, and struck out one. Wimmers earned the win with 2.0 innings of one-run ball. Wimmers gave up four hits, struck out two, and walked no one. He gave the ball to Drew Rucinski who got the Wings through the seventh and eighth innings without giving up a run (and only one hit), and Michael Tonkin persevered the Red Wings’ two-run lead, earning his first save of the year. The Red Wings collected five extra base hits, with Mitch Garver leading the way on a 2-3 night with a double, a home run, a pair of RBIs and a walk. Zack Granie continues to hit, and was 2-4 at the top of the line up. Niko Goodrum and Bengie Gonzalez each piled on a couple of hits as well. ByungHo Park was 1-4 but did not strike out, so that’s a moral victory. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Pensacola @ Chattanooga – POSTPONED – Rain The start of the second half of the season will be postponed for a day. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 1 @ Florida 8 Box Score The Miracle scored a run in the top of the first but were 0-7 with runners in scoring position, stranding eight runners and failed to score another run, falling to Florida 8-1. Max Murphy was 3-3 with a walk at the top of the lineup, and number two hitter Alex Perez was 3-4 and accounted for 6 of the 9 Miracle hits on the night but the 3-4-5 hitters were 0-11 with five strike outs, failing to capitalize on a bunch of base runners. Starter Lachlan Wells cruised into the fourth inning before giving up a pair of runs in the fourth, and another in the fifth, and sixth before being lifted for Williams Ramirez. Wells’ line on the night was 5 hits, 4 runs (all earned), one walk, and 8 strike outs. Ramirez gave up two runs of his own before escaping the sixth inning, giving up a pair of hits and a walk. Jonny Drozd finished the game for the Miracle, giving up two runs (one earned) on three hits, and a walk. He struck out three. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 4 @ Quad Cities 0 Box Score Kernels third baseman Travis Blankenhorn has been named the Midwest League Player of the Week. Blankenhorn hit five extra base hits, scored six runs, stole a base, and drew five walks while hitting .407 for the week. Blankenhorn was 1-3 with a walk and two RBIs on Thursday night, driving in half of the Kernels’ runs. Lewin Diaz added another run with a solo home run, and Jermaine Palacios had the remaining RBI to account for all four of the Kernels runs. The Kernels should have scored another five or so runs, but were just 2-12 with runners in scoring position, stranding eight base runners. Eduardo Del Rosario gave the Kernels a fantastic start, picking up his seventh win of the year to move to 7-3. Del Rosario gave up just two hits while keeping the River Bandits off of the scoreboard. He walked one and struck out seven over 6.0 innings. The Kernels bullpen held the Riverbandits hitless over the last three innings with 2.0 innings from Colton Davis, and a scoreless ninth from Hector Lujan. E-Town E-Notes Danville @ Elizabethton – POSTONED - Rain E-Town season opener postponed until tomorrow. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Eduardo Del Rosario, Cedar Rapids Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Mitch Garver, Rochester FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Lehigh Valley @ Rochester (6:05pm) – Matt Tracy (2-0, 7.20) Pensacola @ Chattanooga (6:15pm) – Stephen Gonsalves (2-3, 3.18) Fort Myers @ Florida (6:05pm) – Lewis Thorpe (0-2, 2.12) Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (6:35pm) – Sean Poppen (5-1, 2.80) Danville @ Elizabethton (DH starting @ 5:00pm) – Edwar Colina (0-0, -.--), Moises Gomez (0-0, -.--). Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Thursday's games. Click here to view the article

With the draft in the rear view window, and players starting to sign, we can once again focus on the games at hand. The Twins won on Thursday afternoon, earning a series split against the Mariners, and remain a couple of games in front of the Tribe.Find out everything that happened in the Twins minor league system on Thursday. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 8 @ Scranton/WB 2 Box Score Rochester starter Aaron Slegers gave up a run in the bottom of the first inning, but got into a nice groove after that, going 5.0 innings, striking out 5, walking 2, and giving up no additional runs. He was replaced by Alan Busenitz in the sixth who gave up a run over 2.0 innings. He struck out three and walked no one, giving up just two hits. Trevor Hildenberger came in for the six-out save, shutting down the RailRiders over the final two frames, he gave up two hits, walked no one, and struck out two. The final score does not look close as the Red Wings added a four-spot in the top of the ninth inning to extend their lead and blow open a close game. The Wings were led by Leonardo Reginatto who was 3-5 with a pair of RBI and Zack Granite who was on base four times on Thursday, 2-3 with a double, an RBI and a pair of walks. ByungHo Park was 1-4 with an RBI and a walk, and is now hitting just .191, and only .135 over his last 10 games. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 1 @ Tennessee 4 Box Score Stephen Gonsalves gave up a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning, and the Lookouts were never able to dig out from that hole. Gonsalves settled into the game going 7.0 inning, and striking out 10. He gave up just five hits, walked one, and surrendered three earned runs. He was replaced by Randy Rosario in the eighth, who gave up one more run on two hits. The Miracle managed just four hits on Thursday evening. One each from Nick Gordon (1-5) Jonathan Rodriguez (1-3) and two from nine-hitter Ryan Walker (2-3). All-in-all, a fairly forgettable night for the Chattanooga hitters. MIRACLE MATTERS Charlotte 2 @ Fort Myers 3 (Game 1) Box Score With a pair of seven-inning games on the schedule, the Miracle figured they could play even more baseball, with the first game going into “extra innings” with the Miracle winning on a ninth inning walk-off as Alex Perez reached on a fielding error, scoring Bradley Strong from third. Miracle Starter David Fischer gave up both of the Miracle runs over 5.0 innings. He gave up just three hits, but walked SEVEN to go along with just 3 strike outs. He was replaced by Anthony McIver who pitched 2.0 innings to get the Miracle through regulation, giving up one hit and striking out two. Williams Ramirez came in for the final two innings and got the win with those ninth inning heroics. He gave up one hit, walked one and struck out three to move to 2-0 on the year. The Miracle racked up 11 hits on the night and the only hitter without a hit was leadoff hitter Max Murphy (0-5). Alex Perez was 2-4 with a walk and a run scored to lead the Miracle. Sean Miller (2-4) and Brian Navarreto (2-4) also had multiple hits. MIRACLE MATTERS Charlotte 1 @ Fort Myers 3 (Game 2) Box Score In the second half of the double-header the Miracle limited things to just seven innings, taking an early 1-0 in the first, and holding on for the duration. Starter Cody Stashak gave the Miracle 5 scoreless innings, giving up just three hits, walking only one, and striking out five. He was replaced by Jonny Drozd for an inning of work, and he put the Stone Crabs down 1-2-3. Tom Hackimer earned his first save of the year with 1.0 innings of work in the seventh. He gave up an unearned run on one hit and he struck out one. Miracle batters scored three runs on just five hits. The biggest hit of the night was a two-RBI ground rule double from Rafael Valera (1-2). Max Murphy made up for his hitless first game and was 1-3 with a double and a run scored. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 4 @ Quad Cities 5 Box Score Cedar Rapids and Quad Cities both scored two runs in the first inning of an exciting game at Modern Woodmen Park. The Kernels ultimately fell 4-5, but not because of Jaylin Davis who was 3-4 with a double and a pair of RBI. Travis Blankenhorn kicked in a pair of extra-base hits, a double and a triple, as part of a 2-4 night that included a walk and two runs scored. Jermaine Palacios also added a pair of hits, an RBI and two runs scored. Clark Beeker did not make it out of the fifth inning, pitching just 4.2 innings and throwing 102 pitches as he gave up eight hits, four runs (three earned), walked two, and struck out three. He was lifted for Max Cordy who gave the Kernels four scoreless outs, he gave up just one hit, walked two, and struck out one. Colton Davis gave Cedar Rapids another scoreless inning before Alex Robinson came in for the ninth, with the game tied thanks to a couple of Kernels runs in the top of the inning, and gave up the winning run on a sacrifice fly before grabbing a strike out to end the inning. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Stephen Gonsalves, Chattanooga Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Travis Blankenhorn, Cedar Rapids FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Pawtucket (6:05pm) – Yohan Pino (0-3, 7.82) Chattanooga @ Tennessee (6:00pm) - Randy LeBlanc Ft. Myers - OFF Clinton @ Cedar Rapids (6:35pm) – Eduardo Del Rosario (6-3, 5.08) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Thursday's games. Click here to view the article

A day after five Chattanooga Lookouts players were named to the North Division All-Star Team, six Cedar Rapids Kernels players are headed to the Midwest League All-Star game as members of the West team, including four position players. Travis Blankenhorn was selected as the starting third baseman, Lewin Diaz was selected as the starting first baseman, Mitchell Kranson was named the starting designated hitter, and Jermaine Palacios was named the starting shortstop. Pitchers Clark Beeker and Sean Poppen were named as reserves. Find out everything that happened in the Twins minor league system on WednesdayTransactions: The Twins claimed Chris Heston off waivers from the Dodgers and placed him on the active roster and to make room, the Twins released Nick Tepesch. Additionally, the Twins placed Jorge Polanco on the bereavement list, and Kennys Vargas recalled from Rochester. In Cedar Rapids, the Kernels released Zack Tillery; no corresponding roster move announced at this time. RED WINGS REPORT Scranton/WB @ Rochester Box Score With the game tied 1-1 in the top of the seventh inning, Red Wings starter David Hurlbut made quick work of the first two batters on a called third strike and lazy fly ball. Then things went south. The next two batters singled to put runners on the corners and Hurlbut left the game, replaced by Trevor Hildengerger to face Gleyber Torres. Hildenberger, who hasn’t given up an earned run of his own since May 16th, gave up a double, plating both runs, and hanging two additional earned runs on Hurlbut. Hildenberger struck out the next batter to close the inning with the Wings now down 3-1. Hurlbut’s day should have given Rochester a chance, 6.2 innings, eight hits, three earned runs, one walk and 11 strikeouts. Unfortunately the bullpen didn’t have their best stuff on Wednesday afternoon. In the top of the ninth the Wings got into more trouble and Kevin Chapman and Kam Mickolio each gave up a run. Down 5-1 in the bottom of the ninth, with their 3-4-5 hitters due up, Rochester managed only a single from clean-up man Matt Hague, while Niko Goodrum and ByungHo Park went down on strikes, and designated hitter John Ryan Murphy ended the game, forcing Matt Hague out at second on a grounder to the shortstop. The Red Wings had just four hits of their own on Monday, led by Zack Granite, leading off, with a 2-4 night that included a triple and a run scored. In addition to Hague’s single, the only other player with a hit was Leonardo Reginatto with a single of his own. The Wings struck out 12 times as a team and walked just twice. ByungHo Park was 0-4 with four strikeouts, winning himself a Golden Sombrero. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Jackson 2 @ Chattanooga 7 Box Score The Lookouts used 12 hits to defeat the Generals on Wednesday afternoon in Chattanooga. The Lookouts took the lead in the third with a three-spot and never looked back. The game was as close as 4-2 after six innings, but another three-spot in the seventh inning put the game out of reach for Jackson. The Lookouts were led by Dan Gamache 2-3 with a triple, a walk and three RBI, and every Lookouts player recorded a hit with the exception of Ryan Strausborger, but Strausborger contributed on the defensive side of the ball with an outfield assist on a force play at second base. Levi Michael, Edgar Corcino and T.J. White all had multiple hits. Lookouts starter Felix Jorge had another strong start, his fourth quality start in a row, giving up just two runs over 6.2 innings. He gave up seven hits, including a solo home run, struck out nine and walked just one. Jorge appeared to have things under control in the seventh inning after striking out Colin Walsh for the second out of the inning and a man on first, but with the game in hand, and Jorge at 104 pitches, Jake Mauer made the call for Raul Fernandez to come in and face the General’s designated hitter. Frenandez did his job inducing a ground out to end the inning. Fernandez pitched two more innings to earn the seven-out save. He struck out four, walked one and gave up one hit. MIRACLE MATTERS Tampa @ Fort Myers Postponed due to rain. Game will be made up on Thursday as part of a doubleheader with two 7-inning games, starting at 4:30pm Central. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids @ Clinton Box Score The Kernels raced out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first thanks to run scoring doubles from Mitchell Kranson (two RBI) and Caleb Hamilton (one RBI). The Lumberkings got two runs back in the second inning, and then took the lead with a three-run fourth. The Kernels then tied the game at 5 in the top of the fifth on a Jaylin Davis double that scored a pair of runs. Unfortunately, the Kernels then gave up four runs in the sixth, putting them down 9-5, a deficit they could not overcome, despite a ninth inning rally. Kernels’ starter Sean Poppen was tagged with the first five runs of the game over 4.2 innings. He gave up six hits, two walks and struck out three. He was replaced by Alex Robinson who gave up three runs in just a third of an inning despite not giving up a single hit, just a pair of walks and a hit batsman as he left with the bases loaded and no outs in the sixth. Hector Lujan allowed those three runs to score, after replacing Robinson, and then gave up a run of his own as well. Ryan Mason came in and got the Kernels back on track, 2.0 innings, two hits and five strikeouts. The Kernels scored their six runs on just four hits, which is a pretty impressive feat considering they had just four walks as well, but all four of their hits were doubles and all came with runners in scoring position. No Kernels player had more than one hit, just doubles from Davis, Kranson Hamilton and Whitefield (ninth inning). TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Felix Jorge, Chattanooga Lookouts Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Dan Gamache, Chattanooga Lookouts FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester - Aaron Slegers (4-3, 6.23) Chattanooga – Ryan Eades Fort Myers – Dereck Rodriguez (4-2, 2.66) & Brady Anderson (2-1, 4.01) Cedar Rapids – Domenick Carlini (3-3, 4.85) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Wednesday's games. Click here to view the article

The Twins needed a couple of fresh arms in the aftermath of the Astros series, so they’ve promoted a couple of minor league arms, with ripple effects all through the system. The new names on the Twins to know are Alex Wimmers and Randy Rosario, but the full list of transactions is below.Transactions: Jake Reed assigned to Chattanooga from Rochester, Ryan Pressly optioned to Rochester from Minnesota, Jason Wheeler designated for assignment from Minnesota, Alex Wimmers promoted to Minnesota from Rochester, Randy LeBlanc promoted to Chattanooga from Fort Myers, Nick Anderson promoted to Chattanooga from Fort Myers, Randy Rosario promoted to Minnesota from Chattanooga, Andrew Vasquez promoted to Fort Myers from Cedar Rapids.Logan Lombana returns to Cedar Rapids from extended spring training. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 3 @ Durham 6 Box Score Rochester's bullpen has a 1.08 ERA over the last seven games, including 19.2 consecutive scoreless innings headed into Thursday night’s game and Niko Goodrum has a nine-game hitting streak. The scoreless innings streak came to an end as Alan Busenitz gave up a run in the seventh inning, but Goodrum extended his streak on a 3-4 night that included a double and a pair of RBI. Leonardo Reginatto also had a pair of hits, including a double and a walk, but the rest of the Red Wings squad had just two hits. ByungHo Park was 0-3 with two strikeouts and a walk. The Red Wings were down 6-0 before they pushed three runs across in the eighth to make the final score look respectable. Red Wings starter Nik Turley gave up five runs over 6.1 innings, including three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Turley struck out seven to go along with just one walk. Busenitz was charged with an earned run over 1.2 innings of work, he struck out three and walked none. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 1 @ Birmingham 3 Box Score Nick Gordon entered the game leading the Southern League in extra-base hits (23) and got to enjoy the night off in Birmingham. The Lookouts bats sputtered without him, just 1-11 with runners in scoring position, and scoring just a single run despite FIVE doubles. Ryan Strausborger was 2-3 with a double and a run scored, the only Lookout with more than one hit. Lookouts starter Matt Tracy pitched very well, 7.0 innings, just five hits, two runs (both earned) and he struck out four against just one walk. Unfortunately for Tracy, he gave up a pair of solo home runs, and without any run support was tagged with his fourth loss of the season. Mason Melotakis gave up a run on two hits in one inning of relief. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 1 @ Bradenton 5 Box Score Before the game it was announced that Chris Paul, Dereck Rodriguez, Sam Clay, and Brian Navarreto were all selected to the Florida State League All-Star Game. The Miracle could have used some all-star bats on Thursday night as they stranded 13 runners! The Miracle bunched their hits at the top of the order with leadoff man Max Murphy picking up three singles on a 3-5 night (he also scored the lone run), and the next batter up, Nelson Molina, was 3-5 as well. Zander Wiel the third hitter in the lineup, had a pair of hits and a walk on a 2-4 night. The three combined for 8 of the Miracle’s 10 hits. Brady Anderson was tagged with his first loss of the season after giving up four runs (all earned) in 5.0 innings. He gave up nine hits, including a home run, walked two, and struck out three. He was replaced by Tom Hackimer for 2.0 innings. Hackimer gave up three hits, a run and two walks. Michael Theofanopoulos closed out the pitching for the Miracle with three strikeouts in the eighth inning. KERNELS NUGGETS Quad Cities 1 @ Cedar Rapids 11 Box Score The Kernels made up for the lackluster hitter performances in the rest of the system on Thursday night, exploding for 11 runs. Travis Blankenhorn led the way (and hit leadoff, how perfect) with a 2-4 night that included a triple and a home run. Jermaine Palacios had three hits, Jaylin Davis, Mitchell Kranson and Aaron Whitefield each had a pair of hits for the Kernels, and Lewin Diaz and Caleb Hamilton each had a hit of his own. In addition to Blankenhorn’s solo home run in the fifth inning, Aaron Whitefield hit one too. Sean Poppen picked up his fourth win of the year to move to 4-1 and lowered his ERA to 2.12 with 6.1 innings of five-hit baseball. He gave up one run, unearned, struck out five, and did not walk anyone. Logan Lombana went 2.2 perfect innings to finish off the River Bandits, striking out five of the seven batters he faced (he induced a double-play to the first batter he faced in the seventh). TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Matt Tracy, Chattanooga Lookouts Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Niko Goodrum, Rochester Red Wings FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Norfolks (6:05pm) – David Hurlbut (2-3, 3.41) Chattanooga @ Birmingham (7:05pm) – Felix Jorge (5-1, 3.48) Ft. Myers @ Bradenton (5:30pm) - Dereck Rodriguez (3-2, 2.95) Cedar Rapids @ Burlington (6:30pm) – Domenick Carlini (2-3, 5.65) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Thursday's games. Click here to view the article

The Twins split a double-header on Thursday, in large part because Jose Berrios (the version of Jose Berrios that Twins fans have been DREAMING of) pitched a wonderful game in the nightcap to keep the Twins from being swept by the Rockies. On the minor league side of things the Twins’ affiliates scored almost 40 runs. Lots of action to cover below, so let’s find out everything that happened in the Twins minor league system on Thursday.RED WINGS REPORT Lehigh Valley 8 @ Rochester 10 Box Score This was NOT a classic pitchers duel as neither pitcher made it into the sixth inning of this minor league matinee. Former first-overall draft pick Mark Appel held the Red Wings in check through three innings, but then the wheels fell off and the Wings got to Appel for sixruns in the fourth. Meanwhile, Red Wings starter Jason Wheeler gave up a seven-spot in the second inning, and yet somehow still managed to earn the win thanks to that big Wings fourth inning. Wheeler made it through five innings, gave up eight hits, seven runs (all earned) and walked two. He struck out six and also gave up a pair of home runs (both in the seven-run second, including a Rhys Hoskins grand slam). Wheeler gave way to Buddy Boshers who came in for 3.0 innings and gave up one run one on one hit, a solo home run. Trevor Hildenberger came in and earned his second save of the year, in an exciting ninth in which he gave up a walk and a hit, but used a pair of strike- outs to avoid letting the Iron Pigs score. Matt Hague and Tommy Field both had three-hit games for the Wings. Hague was 3-5 with a double and a solo home run. Field was 3-4 with a double, a walk, an RBI, and a pair of runs scored. Zack Granite led the way with 3 RBI as part of a 1-4 afternoon that also included a stolen base. ByungHo Park was the only player without a hit or a walk, going 0-5 on the afternoon. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 3 @ Biloxi 9 Box Score The Lookouts were behind for the entire game after giving up a run in the bottom of the first inning. Starter Fernando Romero made it into the fifth inning, but left and was charged with six earned runs, and one more unearned run. He gave up five hits, walked four and struck out four. He was replaced by Luke Bard who gave up six hits in just 1.2 innings and was charged with two runs (one earned) before giving way to Raul Fernandez who had a great relief appearance with the pressure off. Fernandez struck out five, walked one, and gave up just one hit in two innings of scoreless relief. The Miracle scattered seven hits, but didn’t get any hits from their leadoff man Nike Gordon, 0-4 with a strikeout, a walk and a stolen base. Travis Harrison (remember him?) was the only hitter with multiple hits, 2-4. Former first-round draft pick Levi Michael remained hot with a 1-3 night that included a double, a walk, an RBI and a run scored. MIRACLE MATTERS Clearwater 2 @ Fort Myers 5 Box Score Before the game started the Miracle got good news as lefthander Lewis Thorpe was activated from the DL in Cedar Rapids and immediately promoted to Fort Myers. Thorpe has not pitched in a MiLB game since 2014 thanks to a Tommy John surgery and a lengthy bout with mononucleosis. He will start for the Miracle on Friday. Sort of a hodgepodge solid effort from the Miracle pitching staff as they used four pitchers to defeat the Clearwater Threshers and complete the four-game series sweep. Brady Anderson gave up a pair of runs in the fourth inning, but otherwise kept runs off the board over 4.1 innings. He gave up six hits, struck out three and gave up a two-out, two-run homer. Michael Theofanopoulos came in and gave the Miracle 2.2 scoreless innings and gave up just one hit, struck out one, and earned the win when the Miracle took the lead with a three-run fifth. Williams Ramirez earned a save for a scoreless eighth inning in which he walked two and Sam Clay picked up his second save of the year with a scoreless ninth. The Miracle did not collect any extra-base hits and struck out 10 times but were 4-9 with runners in scoring position and managed to do just enough to come out on top. Bradley Strong was 2-4 with an RBI and Kevin Garcia also had a pair of hits, going 2-4 with a strikeout and a run scored. Alex Perez was one non-strikeout away from the Golden Sombrero award as he was 0-3 with three strikeouts and a walk. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 6 @ Wisconsin 3 Box Score The Kernels gave up a run in the bottom of the first, but got it back in the second and took the lead for good in the top of the fourth en route to a 6-3 victory. Kernels starter Domenick Carlini pitched great for the Kernels, giving up just one run over six innings. He gave up five hits but struck out four and did not issue a single free pass. He did, however, give up a leadoff home run to start the game. Carlini gave way to Colton Davis who pitched a pair of scoreless innings and then Logan Lombana came on to pitch the ninth and gave up three hits, two runs and a walk, but used three strikeouts to limit the damage and secure the Kernels victory. Jaylin Davis had himself a night for the Kernels, 3-5 with three extra-base hits, a double and two home runs. This close on the heels of his three-home run night on Tuesday. Brandon Lopez pitched in with a couple of hits of his own, going 2-4 out of the nine hole for the Kernels second baseman. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Domenick Carlini, Cedar Rapids Kernels Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Matt Hague, Rochester Red Wings FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Scranton/WB (5:35pm) - Aaron Slegers Chattanooga @ Biloxi (6:35pm) – Ryan Eades (1-0, 5.31) Bradenton @ Ft. Myers (5:35pm) - Lewis Thorpe (1st start since 2014) Cedar Rapids @ Wisconsin (6:35pm) – Clark Beeker (5-1, 2.56) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Thursday's games. Click here to view the article

Brian Dozier was back in the lineup for the Twins as they played just their second game of the week after an off day on Monday and a rainout on Wednesday night. Dozier was a little rusty after his time off and struck out three times, but birthday boy Miguel Sano hit a birthday #powerbanana and the Twins held on to beat the White Sox 7-6. TRANSACTIONS On Thursday afternoon, Rochester announced that Drew Rucinski had reported to the Red Wings. To make room, Nik Turley had been sent down to extended spring training. That was a pretty large hint of things to come. You see, by sending Turley to extended rather than Chattanooga, he could be immediately recalled to the Red Wings whenever they needed another pitcher. But why would the Red Wings need another pitcher? Well, following the Twins game, the team announced that Jose Berrios would be called up prior to Saturday's game in Cleveland and make the start. A corresponding move will be made at that time as well.Find out everything that happened in the Twins minor league system on Thursday. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 3 @ Pawtucket 2 Box Score The Red Wings pushed two runs across in the top of the ninth inning to earn a victory on Thursday night in Pawtucket. With two outs in the ninth, down by a run with runners on first and second, Bengie Gonzalez singled home Niko Goodrum to tie the game and a Zack Granite single scored John Ryan Murphy from third to put the Wings ahead. Ninth inning heroes Granite and Gonzalez were the only Red Wings with multiple hits, each with a pair of singles and an RBI. The other run was driven in earlier on a Leonardo Reginatto double in the fifth. Starter Adalberto Mejia gave the Red Wings 6.2 strong innings, scattering 7 hits and giving up two runs. He struck out a pair and did not walk anyone. Busenitz, Chapman and the recently demoted Drew Rucinski held the Red Sox scoreless for the rest of the night and Rucinski picked up the victory thanks to the ninth inning heroics. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 1 @ Montgomery 7 Box Score Chattanooga starter Matt Tracy gave up a 7-spot in the bottom of the second inning, putting the Lookouts in a big hole they could not dig out of. Tracy stayed in to finish the third inning, and then Randy Rosario gave the Lookouts three innings of one-hit baseball. He struck out four and walked one. Flame throwing Nick Burdi pitched the final two innings of the night, perfectly, and struck out three. Jon Rodriguez came into Thursday night riding a 14-game hitting streak, just one shy of Zack Granite’s season leading 15-game hitting streak, but was held hitless on the night, going 0-3 with a walk. In fact, almost all of the Lookouts were hitless, combining for just three hits, a trio of singles from Edgar Corcino, Ryan Walker and Dan “Rolfs are the best” Rohlfing. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 2 @ Charlotte 3 Box Score Fort Myers scored a run in the top of the first inning, but trailed the rest of the way as the Stone Crabs got to Lachlan Wells for three earned runs in the bottom of the first. Wells pitched six innings, gave up eight hits, just those three runs, and struck out two while not walking anyone. He was replaced by Brady Anderson who kept the Stone Crabs off the board for the final two innings, giving up a pair of hits and a walk in two innings. The Miracle had nine hits on the night, but were just 1-4 with men in scoring position and didn’t put many guys past first base. Brian Navarreto led the way for the Miracle, going 2-3 with a double and an RBI. Bradley Strong and Sean Miller each added two singles. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 0 @ Bowling Green 10 Box Score The Kernels managed just four hits against Hot Rods starter Travis Ott, and did not manage to pick up any runs on a tough night in Bowling Green. The Kernels had opportunities, but were 0-5 with runners in scoring position and twice hit into double plays. Kernels starter Sean Poppen gave up five runs (three earned) over six innings, giving up nine hits and a walk against six strike outs. Max Cordy equaled Poppen’s results in just an inning, giving up five more runs in the seventh. Logan Lombana came in for mop up duty and managed an uneventful eighth inning, giving up a walk, but no hits and no runs to finish the day for Kernels hurlers. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Nick Burdi – Chattanooga Lookouts Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Brian Navarreto – Fort Myers Miracle FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Pawtucket (5:05pm) – LHP Jason Wheeler (2-1, 4.85) Chattanooga @ Montgomery (7:05pm) – RHP Felix Jorge (3-1, 3.71) Ft. Myers @ Charlotte (5:35pm) – RHP Chris Anderson (0-0, 14.14) Cedar Rapids @ Bowling Green (6:35pm) – LHP Domenick Carlini (0-2, 5.74) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Thursday's games. Click here to view the article

The Twins dropped the finale against the Oakland Athletics on Thursday afternoon after falling behind early thanks to another poor performance from Kyle Gibson. Gibson has to be on thin ice, especially with the way Berrios is pitching in AAA. Only a matter of time before the Twins have to make room for Jose Berrios, and right now, it looks like Gibson’s spot is vulnerable. But hey, for a fan, even a ball game that ends in a loss is better than no baseball at all, and that’s what happened to half of the minor league system on Thursday.Find out everything that happened in the Twins minor league system on Thursday. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester @ Buffalo Postponed – Rain Thursday’s game will be made up as part of a doubleheader on June 26th. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Pensacola @ Chattanooga Postponed - Rain Thursday’s game will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Saturday, May 6th. As Thursday was originally scheduled as Star Wars Night (May the 4th), Star Wars night has been rescheduled for June 24th. MIRACLE MATTERS Daytona 7 @ Fort Myers 0 Box Score The Miracle were shut out for the second time this year, and struggled to hit Daytona starter Jesus Reyes, managing just 6 hits over 7.2 before Reyes yielded to the pen. Miracle starter Keaton Steele cruised through his first three innings, facing just one over the minimum after giving up a first inning single, but ran into trouble in the top of the fourth. Steele was tagged for three runs in the top of the fourth on five hits. Steele gave up another pair of runs in the sixth before he was done for the night. Steele’s final line was 9 hits, 5 runs, one walk, two strike outs, and one home run. He gave way to Sam Clay who picked up a pair of strikeouts in the seventh before giving way to Williams Ramirez for the final two innings. Ramirez gave up a pair of runs in the ninth, but the game was well out of hand by then. Leadoff hitter Zack Granite had three of the Miracle’s seven hits, a triple and a pair of singles. The other four hits came one apiece (all singles) from Shane Kennedy, Sean Miller, Rafael Valera and Nelson Molina. The Miracle did not earn any walks on the night, but struck out only three times. KERNELS NUGGETS Lake County @ Cedar Rapids Box Score Twins Daily’s own Seth Stohs was in attendance in Cedar Rapids for a tight game that saw the Kernels take an early lead, only to fall behind the Captains, then the Kernels took the lead back in the eighth only to give up a run in the top of the ninth. The Kernels wore really ugly Star Wars jerseys with some 8-ball looking robot on them. Whatever. Starter Tyler Wells went five innings, giving up a pair of runs and striking out seven (against just one walk). He left with the game tied at 2. Andrew Vasquez came in and pitched three strong innings of relief, and was in line for the win before being charged with a run in the top of the ninth. He put a man on with one out before being replaced by Tom Hackimer. Hackimer came in and gave up a game-tying double to the first batter he faced, but limited the damage to just that one run before ending the inning. With the game tied in the bottom of the ninth, the Kernels started the inning with Travis Blankenhorn being hit by a pitch and then Brandon Lopez singled on a bunt back to the pitcher to put runners at first and second with no outs. Ben Rortvedt was showing bunt, trying to trade an out to move runners over, but reliever Ryder Ryan would have none of it, and walked Rortvedt to load the bases with no outs. With a chance to win the game and be the hero, Aaron Whitefield was called out on strikes to bring up Christian Cavaness, who struck out as well, bringing up leadoff hitter Jermaine Palacios needing a base hit to win the ballgame but hit a sharp grounder to third to send the game to extras. What a Twins sequence of events! Tom Hackimer put the leadoff runner on in the 10th, but then used three strikeouts, including a breaking ball that was swing on and missed and then HIT the batter for the second out, to bring the Kernels up in the 10th. The Kernels didn’t do a dang thing in the bottom of the 10th, and on the game went. Then the Kernels farted the game away in the 11th. The leadoff hitter reached on a HBP that was eventually awarded after the umpire originally called a deadball as the baseball appeared to be initially ruled a foul tip off the KNOB of the bat. The runner would eventually come around the score to give Lake County the lead. The Kernels did not do a dang thing in the bottom of the inning and lost a game they should have won (twice!). TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Tyler Wells – Cedar Rapids Kernels Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Zack Granite – Fort Myers Miracle FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Pawtucket @ Rochester (6:05pm) – Adalberto Mejia (0-0, 0.00) Pensacola @ Chattanooga (6:15pm) – Matt Randy LeBlanc (0-1, 36.00) Ft. Myers @ St. Lucie (5:30pm) – Lachlan Wells (1-3, 3.68) Fort Wayne @ Cedar Rapids (6:35pm) – Sean Poppen (0-0, 1.67) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Thursday's games. Click here to view the article

Not a ton of great pitching, but a lot of nice team performances, and bottom of the order contributions on Thursday. And exciting games for the fans.

The Twins had Thursday off to recover from a blasting delivered by the Rangers in the series finale, and the minor league squads took center stage. Rochester and Cedar Rapids won games in their last at-bats, and three of the four games were one-run squeakers.Find out everything that happened in the Twins minor league system on Thursday. RED WINGS REPORT Gwinnett 4 @ Rochester 5 Box Score Jason Wheeler cruised through six innings, and the Red Wings were in a scoreless tie headed to the seventh. Wheeler gave up a pair of runs in the top of the seventh, but the Wings scored two more in the bottom half of the inning. Wheeler came back out for the eighth, but gave up hits to the first two batters he faced and was replaced before getting an out. He was replaced by Alan Busenitz. Busnetiz got a line-out from the first batter he faced, but let both base runners score, one by wild pitch and the other on a single to right field. It was a bumpy inning for Busenitz in the eighth, but he came back out in the ninth and shut the Braves down. In the bottom of the ninth, the Wings pushed three runs across for a come from behind win with six consecutive singles to open the frame. The Red Wings ended up with 12 hits (six of them in the ninth inning alone!), and were led by Matt Hague, 2-4 with a home run, two RBIs, and two runs scored. John Ryan Murphy continues to turn things around with a 2-4 night that included an RBI. In his last four games, Murphy has improved his average from .067 to .233 with six hits in 15 at-bats. Ehire Adrianza continues his hot play, was 2-3 and is hitting .500 after six games. Interestingly he started the game in left field, perhaps signaling the Twins desire to find a replacement for Danny Santana, their ultra-utility man who brings poor play to almost every position on the diamond, and doesn’t hit well enough to make up for any of that. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 5 @ Jackson 4 Box Score Starter Paul Clemens ran into trouble in the fifth inning and was lifted after 4.2 innings, giving up just a pair of hits, but walking four to go along with four strike- outs. He was replaced by Todd Van Steensel who didn’t have a great night, giving up two runs in just 0.2 innings, on three hits and three walks. He struck out one. Van Steensel was replaced by Luke Bard who frickin’ mowed some dudes down, 2.2 innings pitched, one hit, no walks, five strikeouts. John Curtiss came in for the ninth and earned his third save of the year with a scoreless ninth. Despite falling behind in the fifth inning, the Lookouts rallied in the top of the sixth, putting three runs across, which gave them just enough offense to hang on for a 5-4 win. No Lookouts player had multiple hits, and they combined for just six hits but added eight walks. Engelb Vielma, Edgar Corcino and Travis Harrison all had doubles, and Ryan Walker was 0-2 but contributed three walks. MIRACLE MATTERS Bradenton 1 @ Miracle 2 Box Score In a pitchers’ duel in Fort Myers, the Miracle earned a 2-1 come-from-behind victory. Starter David Fischer pitched into the fifth, but put the first man aboard and was lifted for Sam Clay. Fishcher gave up four hits, one run, three walks and struck out five over four-plus innings. Clay came in and earned the win with 3.0 scoreless innings. Clay gave up just a single hit and struck out three, and has pitched 10 scoreless innings with 13 strikeouts since giving up 6 earned runs over 0.2 innings in his first appearance of the year. Anthony McIver pitched a couple of scoreless innings to earn the save for the Miracle. He gave up two hits, walked one and struck out two. Max Murphy had a nice night with three singles, and Brian Navarreto was 3-3 with an RBI and a run scored to lead the way for the Miracle. The Miracle had plenty of opportunities to score more runs on Thursday night, but were just 2-9 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 5 @ Peoria 3 Box Score With the score tied 3-3 in the top of the 12th inning, the Kernels got a lift from the number nine hitter, Aaron Whitefield, who launched a two-run home run to cap an exciting road victory. Whitefield finished the night 2-5. Four other Kernels had multi- hit nights, including Mitchell Kranson 2-5, Jaylin Davis 3-5, Caleb Hamilton 2-5 (including a solo home run), and Ariel Montesino 2-5. The Kernels needed six pitchers to get through 12 innings, thanks to a couple of blown saves. Starter Sean Poppen went 6.1 solid innings, gave up 1 run on five hits, two walks, and struck out six before being lifted for Andrew Vasquez who let an inherited runner score and surrendered the Kernels’ narrow lead giving up a pair of hits, a pair of walks, and a run of his own on a bases loaded walk, in just a third of an inning. Hector Lujan, the third pitcher of the evening, came in and quickly got a ground out to end the bases loaded threat. Lujan pitched a 1-2-3 eighth, but gave up a leadoff single in the ninth (a run that would come around to score) and was lifted for Tom Hackimer. Hackimer got two quick outs, but a two-out liner to center brought home the tying run, and after a ground out, the game went to extra innings. Alex Robinson replaced Hackimer to start the 10th and gave the Kernels two scoreless innings, giving up a hit, a walk, and he struck out a pair to earn the win when the Kernels pushed across two in the top of the 12th. Quin Grogan earned the save to end the 3 hour and 42 minute game. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Sam Clay, Fort Myers Miracle Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Aaron Whitefield, Cedar Rapids Kernels FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Louisville @ Rochester (5:35pm) – Adalberto Mejia (0-0, -.--) Chattanooga @ Jackson (6:05pm) - Randy LeBlanc (0-0, -.--) Dunedin @ Ft. Myers (5:35pm) – Keaton Steele (1-2, 6.19) Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (6:30pm) - TBD Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Thursday's games. Click here to view the article

What must be done? I think you're seeing it happen. Players are going up, getting chances, making changes, moving around, and trying their best. I think we have already seen a lot of bullpen arms and guys move into back of the rotation, and there are plenty of young guys on the roster right now who came from the stocked farm system of 2-years ago. The Twins might be bad again (might? Ha, will), but they should certainly be fun to watch play and improve.

Melotakis is already on the 40-man, so he's certainly more likely at this point. Though, JR Murphy could probably be removed any day to make more room.

It was another busy day in the Twins minor league system. Two hitters were one hit away from achieving a cycle. There were a couple of very strong pitching performances as well, especially for Cedar Rapids, but also in Chattanooga. Those Miracle bats, which were quiet most of the season, went off for the second straight day. There was a transaction, and so much information that we're just going to encourage you to start reading.Find out everything that happened in the Twins minor league system on Thursday. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 0 @ Gwinnett 3 Box Score The Red wings managed just four hits and were unable to push any runs across the plate on Thursday night. Half of the Red wings hits came from Tommy Field, 2-4 with a pair of singles. Daniel Palka was 0-4 but didn’t strike out, which is about as good as an 0-4 night can get for Mr. Palka. Despite getting tagged with the loss to fall to 1-1, Nick Tepesch pitched well enough to give the Wings a victory, going five innings and giving up just a single unearned run. He gave up seven hits and a walk, so there were plenty of base runners, but 7 strikeouts helped him pitch out of jams. French flame thrower J.T. Chargois pitched 1.2 innings of scoreless baseball, striking out a pair, giving up no hits, and one walk. D.J Baxendale finished the game for Rochester, and gave up a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth to help Gwinnett pad their 1-0 lead. If you’re into big, thick, burly beards – and who isn’t – let’s have a moment of silence for Jason Motte’s beard. Motte, closing for the Gwinnett Braves after being DFAd by the Rockies after posting an 8.31 ERA in the spring, signed a minor league deal with the Braves and is now rocking a baby-smooth face. The beard era of baseball might look as stupid as the big glasses and mustaches of the 70s and 80s in a decade or two, but for now, I’m sad to see the beard go. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Biloxi 0 @ Chattanooga 3 Box Score The Lookouts did not do much with the bats, but thanks to a combined 6-hit shutout from the pitching staff, they didn’t have to. The Lookouts collected hits from six different players, including a solo home run from my Rolf-brother, Dan Rohlfing, which gave the Lookouts a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth. Chattanooga pushed two more runs across, one each in the fifth and sixth, to put the score at 3-0. Felix Jorge moved to 2-0 and lowered his ERA to 1.72 with six scoreless innings in Chattanooga. Jorge gave up six hits, walked three and struck out four and stayed out of trouble. Flame thrower Nick Burdi pitched two scoreless innings of relief before turning the ball over to Mason Melotakis who walked one and struck out three to pick up his second save of the year. MIRACLE MATTERS Florida 3 @ Fort Myers 8 Box Score If you were not paying close attention this past winter, you might have missed that the Brevard County Manatees are now the Florida Fire Frogs. What is a Fire Frog? – some sort of prehistoric creature that roamed the Earth 278 million years ago. With that in mind, team president Joe Harrington said that the team name, “represents the geographic diversity of our fan base, has a hometown feel and speaks to the fun, vibrant experience our fans will enjoy at games.” Errr… whatever dude. Now on with the baseballing. The Miracle gave up 10 hits but gave up just three runs as part of a 8-3 butt kicking handed out to the Fire Frogs. The Miracle led just 2-1 headed into the home half of the sixth inning, but put their first five men on base to start what would turn out to be a five-run inning. Zander Wiel was the story of the game: the designated hitter was 3-3, just a home run short of a cycle, and picked up a pair of RBIs, plus the dude had a walk! Brian Navarreto had three hits (a single and two doubles) and his own pair of RBIs. David Fischer pitched well, giving up six hits over six innings, yielding just one run, and he struck out seven while walking none. The lone run he gave up was a solo homer. Anthony McIver struggled a bit, giving up two runs in two innings of relief on four hits. He walked two and struck out three. Nick Anderson came in for mop up duties in the ninth and set down the side in order. KERNELS NUGGETS Kane County 5 @ Cedar Rapids 3 Box Score Before the Thursday game against the Cougars, the Kernels announced that RHP Alex Schick was headed to the seven-day disabled list, to be replaced on the active roster by RHP Logan Lombana from extended spring training. Lombana spent parts of last season in the bullpen for both the Kernels and the Fort Myers Miracle. The Kernels opened their seven game home stand with a great performance from starter Tyler Wells who notched 11 strikeouts over 7 innings, but it all went for naught as the Kernels coughed up three runs in the top of the ninth to fall to 5-3. Wells started the game by sending the Cougars down in order in the first and second innings, all via strike out! Wells' final line was seven innings, six hits, two runs (both earned), no walks, those 11 wonderful strike outs. Wells was replaced by Colton Davis, who picked up both the loss and a blown save after giving up three runs in the top of the ninth. Davis pitched two innings, gave up four hits, three runs, two walks and struck out three. Jermaine Palacios led the way for the Kernels with 3-4 night that left him just a home run short of the cycle. The Kernels had plenty of chances to score runs on the evening but were just 2-11 with men in scoring position. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Tyler Wells – Cedar Rapids Kernels Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Zander Wiel – Fort Myers Miracle FRIDAY'S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Charlotte (6:05pm) – Jason Wheeler (1-1, 6.30) Biloxi @ Chattanooga (6:15pm) – Paul Clemens (0-0, 2.89) Ft. Myers @ Dunedin (6:30pm) – Keaton Steele (0-2, 6.30) Kane County @ Cedar Rapids (6:35pm) – Sean Poppen (0-0, 1.23) I made it this far without making any 4/20 jokes, but in addition to asking any questions and discussing Thursday's games, feel free to leave your best pot-related alternate MiLB headline in the comments! Click here to view the article

Jose Berríos and the Red Wings kicked off a day of close ballgames for Twins affiliates on Thursday, with Rochester, Fort Myers, and Cedar Rapids all playing one-run games, while Chattanooga ended up in a two-run game. Exciting Minor League Baseball follows, below.Find out everything that happened in the Twins minor league system on Thursday. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 2, Buffalo 1 Box Score Jose Berríos was the story of the day, pitching eight innings on just 84 pitches, throwing 64 for strikes. He struck out six and never went to a three ball-count all night. Berrios had a 1-0 lead headed into the fifth inning after a Matt Hague home run, but the Bisons tied the ballgame on a sac fly after a pair of singles and a defensive miscue put a runner at third. Berríos pitched three more shutout innings afterwards, but the Wings could not put more runs on the board and he left the game without a decision. Alex Wimmers entered the game and pitched a scoreless ninth to push the game to extra innings. In the top of the 10th, the Red Wings took the lead on a bases-loaded walk to Bengie Gonzalez. Wimmers went to work and set Buffalo down 1-2-3 to pick up the win. The Wings scored two runs on just four hits, Hague’s home run was the only extra base hit, and Leonardo Reginatto collected two of the other three hits, on a 2-4 night. Bash brothers Kennys Vargas and Daniel Palka were a combined 0-7 with four strikeouts and a walk. Catcher John Ryan Murphy has yet to collect his first base hit, 0-3 with a walk. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 3, Jacksonville 5 Box Score On the road for the first time this year, Lookouts starter Matt Tracy gave up five runs (two earned) in the bottom of the first to the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (formerly the Jacksonville Suns, and a significant branding upgrade, if you ask me). Leadoff batter Yefri Perez reached on an Engelb Vielma throwing error, and then Tracy gave up back-to-back home runs. The next two runs scored on a pair of two-out singles. After the first, Tracy settled down and pitched three scoreless innings, but the damage was done. Ryan Eades came out of the pen and pitched two perfect innings, and John Curtiss pitched two more scoreless innings to finish the game. The Lookouts scored a run in the fifth when Tanner English scampered home on a passed ball, and back-to-back homers by Jonathan Rodriguez and Dan Rohlfing to start the ninth inning put Chattanooga within striking distance, but it was not enough. Other than the ninth inning home runs, the Lookouts had just three hits on the day, singles from Ryan Walker (1-4, BB), Edgar Corcino (1-4, K), and a two-bagger from Tanner English (1-3, BB, K). Of note – old friend Matt Tomshaw started and earned the win for the Jumbo Shrimp. Tomshaw pitched in the Twins org four seasons before getting poached by Miami following the 2014 season in the Triple-A portion of the Rule Five draft. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 1, Dayton 2 Box Score Starter Cody Stashak put the Miracle behind, giving up a run in the bottom of the first inning, and another in the third and the Miracle trailed the rest of the game. Stashak turned in a quality start, six innings, two runs (one earned), struck out three, walked no one, and gave up just four hits, but the Miracle gave him just one run of support and he was tagged with the loss to fall to 0-2 despite a 3.00 ERA. Jonny Drozd came on in relief, pitched two scoreless innings and struck out three. Sean Miller was 2-4 with a triple and a run scored, and Brian Navarreto drove in the only run as part of a 2-4 night. The other seven Miracle hitters combined for just three other hits, all singles. KERNELS NUGGETS Wisconsin 1, Cedar Rapids 2 Box Score Before Thursday’s game, the first in a three game series against the Timber Rattlers, the Kernels announced that 2016 21st rounder LHP Domenick Carlini joined the Kernels from extended spring training and that RHP Brady Anderson was bumped up to Fort Myers. Starting pitcher Tyler Wells gave up a couple of first inning hits, but then went to work and held Wisconsin scoreless over six innings. He struck out eight while walking just two and gave up five hits. The Kernels put a pair of runs on the board in the fifth to give Wells a lead. Caleb Hamilton hit a leadoff home run to start the fifth and Travis Blankenhorn gave the Kernels another run with an RBI triple to score Jermaine Palacios. That was all the runs the Kernels would need. Tom Hackimer came in for Wells in the seventh and pitched two innings, giving up a run in the top of the eighth. Hackimer gave up two hits, and struck out two. Max Cordy was called upon to pitch the ninth and picked up his first save of the year, sending the Timber Rattlers down in order and recording the final out on a swinging strike. The Kernels did not do a ton with the sticks outside of Hamilton’s dinger and Blankenhorn’s RBI triple. Aaron Whitefield picked up a double, the only other extra base hit of the night. As a team, the Kernels struck out seven times and walked just once. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Jose Berríos, Rochester Red Wings Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Matt Hague, Rochester Red Wings FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Syracuse @ Rochester (12:35pm) – Nick Tepesch (1-0, 3.60) Chattanooga @ Jacksonville (6:05pm) – Fernando Romero (0-1, 8.10) Ft. Myers @ Daytona (6:05pm) – David Fischer (0-0. 0.00) Wisconsin @ Cedar Rapids (6:05pm) – Sean Poppen (0-0, 2.57) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Thursday's games. Click here to view the article