Eric R Pleiss

The Twins used an off-day on Thursday to make a couple of roster moves. Tim Stauffer was designated for assignment and Michael Tonkin was recalled to take his place. Eddie Rosario returned from the paternity list and Jorge Polanco was optioned back to Chattanooga to make room. The Twins start a series against the Texas Rangers on Friday evening.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester @ Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders Box Score Danny Santana was 1-3 with a walk on Thursday. In three games at AAA Danny Santana has as many walks (1) as strike outs (1). Improvement! Unfortunately, even a productive Danny Santana at the top of the order did not do much to help the Red Wings. Danny Ortiz was 2-4 with a double, and old friend James Beresford led the way for Rochester on Thursday night. He was 3-4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored. Beresford is having what could be the best season of his career, hitting .330 with an OBP over .370. He's riding an unsustainably high BABIP to get there, and he isn't showing any power (and never has), but he is playing well this year. If Brian Dozier hadn't turned into the current version of Brian Dozier over the past couple of seasons, you would probably have seen Beresford in Minneapolis by now. Starting pitcher Tyler Duffey's record dropped to 0-4 with the loss on Thursday. He was tagged for seven runs, all earned, over five and a third. He gave up nine hits, walked one, and struck out one. His 5.64 ERA looks ugly, but he's made just four starts in AAA this year and this clunker moved his ERA up almost two full runs. After Duffey, Logan Darnell pitched one and two third scoreless before yielding to Ryan O'Rourke for the eighth inning. O'Rourke gave up a pair of runs, one earned, on three hits, but the game was already well out of hand. Final: Red Wings 2, Railriders 9 LOOKOUTS LOOK-IN Chattanooga @ Birmingham Barons Box Score Byron Buxon remained hot, going 2-3 with a pair of walks and another triple, his twelfth of the year. The recently returned Jorge Polanco was back in the lineup and was 1-4 with a walk. Miguel Sano bopped a home run, his eleventh, and Max Kepler was 2-4 with a double. With all of those studs doing their job, it is surprising that the Lookouts only managed to score one run. The bottom of the lineup really hurt them on Thursday. The six through nine hitters were a combined 0-14 with four strikeouts on Thursday night. Brett Lee was cruising through six scoreless innings until he ran into a seventh inning buzzsaw. In the seventh, Lee walked the leadoff hitter, who was then sacrificed over. After that, with one out, Lee gave up back-to-back-to-back singles and was replaced by Cole Johnson with runners on second and third, but only two runs in. Johnson gave up a single and a double to the next two hitters, allowing both inherited runners, plus one of his own, to score. Johnson then pitched a scoreless eighth, but the damage was done. Final: Lookouts 1, Barons 5 MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers @ Lakeland Flying Tigers - Game 1 (13 innings) Box Score Anytime you're playing a double-header, even with shortened 7-inning double- headers in minor league baseball, you hope to get a strong performance from your starting pitcher so you can save your bullpen for the second game. The Miracle received a great start from Ryan Eades. Seven innings, six hits, one run, one walk and seven strike outs for the starting pitcher. Eades' best start since the Twins drafted him out of LSU was not enough, as the Miracle scored only one run of their own. So into the eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth innings the bullpen carried the Miracle. Brian Gilbert pitched 1.2 scoreless. Matt Summers did excellent work with 2.1 scoreless. Corey Williams pitched the twelfth and picked up the win when the Miracle scored in the top of the thirteenth, and Brandon Peterson picked up his third save of the year, striking out a pair of Flying Tigers to close out the game. The Fort Myers hitters were stymied by the Lakeland pitchers, picking up just eight hits in 47 at-bats to go along with 15 strikeouts. Ryan Walker was the only Miracle hitter with multiple hits, 2-6 with a run scored. Marcus Knecht was 0-4 with a walk and a strikeout heading into the thirteenth when he roped a double to score Ryan Walker from first, giving the Miracle the decisive run. Final: Miracle 2, Flying Tigers 1 Fort Myers @ Lakeland Flying Tigers - Game 2 Box Score The Miracle had five more hits in six fewer innings of baseball in the bottom-half of the double header. Marcus Knecht rode his game-winning hit in the first game to a 2-4 game. Ryan Walker, who scored the winning run in the first game, also had a nice evening going 3-3 with an RBI and a pair of runs scored. Logan Wade, not to be outdone, was also 3-3 with a pair of runs scored, but he also had a double and three RBIs. Kohl Stewart had a nice outing, despite a couple of defensive miscues that led to some unearned runs. Stewart pitched six innings, gave up only one earned run, walked three and struck out one. He picked up his second victory of the year for the Miracle to move to 2-4. Luke Westphal pitched the seventh, giving up a couple of hits, but preserving a four-run lead to give the Miracle a double-header sweep! Miracle play-by-play man Brice Zummerman had this note on Twitter, "Tonight's total broadcast length was 7:17. Many people were still at work when the pregame started (4:40) and asleep when it ended (11:57). The Miracle have now won five straight games and are 30-30. Final: Miracle 7, Flying Tigers 3 KERNELS KORNER Great Lakes Loons @ Cedar Rapids Kernels - Postponed Sorry beer drinkers, rain will keep you from $2 beers on Thirsty Thursday at Veterans Memorial Stadium. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day - Byron Buxton - Chattanooga Lookouts Pitcher of the Day - Ryan Eades - Fort Myers Miracle FRIDAY'S PROBABLES Rochester @ Scranton/Wilkes-Barre - Lester Oliveros (2-1, 2.67) vs. Jose De Paula Chattanooga @ Birmingham - Alex Wimmers (3-1, 5.58) vs. Tyler Danish Fort Myers @ Bradenton - TBD vs. TBD Great Lakes @ Cedar Rapids (Game 1) - Grant Holmes vs. Dereck Rodriguez (0-1, 12.00) Great Lakes @ Cedar Rapids (Game 2) - Joe Broussard vs. Keaton Steele (2-1, 4.79) Click here to view the article

The Twins used an off-day on Thursday to make a couple of roster moves. Time Stauffer was designated for assignment and Michael Tonkin was recalled to take his place. Eddie Rosario returned from the paternity list and Jorge Polanco was optioned back to Chattanooga to make room. The Twins start a series against the Texas Rangers on Friday evening. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester @ Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders Box Score Danny Santana was 1-3 with a walk on Thursday. In three games Danny Santana has as many walks (1) as strike outs (1). Improvement! Unfortunately, even a productive Danny Santana at the top of the order did not do much to help the Red Wings. Danny Ortiz was 2-4 with a double, and old friend James Beresford led the way for Rochester on Thursday night, he was 3-4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored. Beresford is having what could be the best season of his career, hitting .330 with an OBP over .370. He's riding an unsustainably high BABIP to get there, and he isn't showing any power (and never has), but he is playing well this year. If Brian Dozier hadn't turned into the current version of Brian Dozier over the past couple of seasons, you would probably have seen Beresford in Minneapolis by now. Starting pitcher Tyler Duffey's record dropped to 0-4 with the loss on Thursday. He was tagged for seven runs, all earned, over five and a third. He gave up nine hits, walked one, and struck out one. His 5.64 ERA looks ugly, but he's made just four starts in AAA this year and this clunker moved his ERA up almost two full runs. After Duffey, Logan Darnell pitched one and two third scoreless before yeilding to Ryan O'Rourke for the eighth inning O'Rourke gave up a pair of runs, one earned, on three hits, but the game was already well out of hand. Final: Red Wings 2, Railriders 9 LOOKOUTS LOOK-IN Chattanooga @ Birmingham Barons Box Score Byron Buxon remained hot, he was 2-3 with a pair of walks and another triple, his twelfth of the year. The recently returned Jorge Polanco was back in the lineup and was 1-4 with a walk. Miguel Sano bopped a home run, his eleventh, and Max Kepler was 2-4 with a double. With all of those studs doing their job, it is surprising that the Lookouts only managed to score one run. But the bottom of the lineup really hurt them on Thursday. The six through nine hitters were a combined 0-14 with four strikeouts on Thursday night. Brett Lee was cruising through six scoreless innings until he ran into a seventh inning buzzsaw. In the seventh, Lee walked the leadoff hitter, who was then sacrificed over. After that, with one out, Lee gave up back-to-back-to-back singles and was replaced by Cole Johnson with runners on second and third, but only two runs in. Johnson gave up a single and a double to the next two hitters, allowing both inherited runners, plus one of his own, to score. Johnson then pitched a scoreless eighth, but the damage was done. Final: Lookouts 1, Barons 5 MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers @ Lakeland Flying Tigers - Game 1 (13 innings) Box Score Anytime you're playing a double header, even with shortened 7-inning double headers in Minor League Baseball, you hope to get a strong performance from your starting pitcher so you can save your bullpen for the second game. And the Miracle received a great start from Ryan Eades. Seven innings, six hits, one run, one walk and seven strike outs. Eades' best start since the Twins drafted him out of LSU was not enough, as the Miracle scored only one run of their own. So into the eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth innings the bullpen carried the Miracle. Brian Gilbert pitched one and two thirds scoreless. Matt Summers did excellent work with two and a third scoreless. Corey Williams pitched the twelfth and picked up the win when the Miracle scored in the top of the thirteenth, and Brandon Peterson picked up his third save of the year, striking out a pair of Flying Tigers to close out the game. The Fort Myers hitters were stymied by the Lakeland pitchers, picking up just eight hits in 47 at bats to go along with 15 strike outs. Ryan Walker was the only Miracle hitter with multiple hits, 2-6 with a run scored. Marcus Knecht, was 0-4 with a walk and a strike out heading into the thirteenth when he roped a double to score Ryan Walker from first, giving the Miracle the decisive run. Final: Miracle 2, Flying Tigers 1 Fort Myers @ Lakeland Flying Tigers - Game 2 Box Score The Miracle had five more hits in six fewer innings of baseball in the bottom-half of the double header. Marcus Knecht rode his game winning hit in the first game to a 2-4 game. Ryan Walker, who scored the winning run in the first game, also had a nice evening going 3-3 with an RBI and a pair of runs scored. Logan Wade, not to be outdone, was also 3-3 with a pair of runs scored, but he also had a double and three RBIs. Kohl Stewart had a nice outing, despite a couple of defensive miscues that led to some unearned runs. Stewart pitched six innings, gave up only one earned run, walked three and struck out one. He picked up his second victory of the year for the Miracle to move to 2-4. Luke Westphal pitched the seventh, giving up a couple of hits, but preserving a four run lead to give the Miracle a double-header sweep! Miracle play-by-play man Brice Zummerman had this note on Twitter, "Tonight's total broadcast length was 7:17. Many people were still at work when the pregame started (4:40) and asleep when it ended (11:57). The Miracle have now won five straight games and are 30-30. Final: Miracle 7, Flying Tigers 3 KERNELS KORNER Great Lakes Loons @ Cedar Rapids Kernels - Postponed Sorry beer drinkers, rain will keep you from $2 beers on Thirsty Thursday at Veterans Memorial Stadium. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day - Byron Buxton - Chattanooga Lookouts Pitcher of the Day - Ryan Eades - Fort Myers Miracle FRIDAY'S PROBABLES Rochester @ Scranton/Wilkes-Barre - Lester Oliveros (2-1, 2.67) vs. Jose De Paula Chattanooga @ Birmingham - Alex Wimmers (3-1, 5.58) vs. Tyler Danish Fort Myers @ Bradenton - TBD vs. TBD Great Lakes @ Cedar Rapids (Game 1) - Grant Holmes vs. Dereck Rodriguez (0-1, 12.00) Great Lakes @ Cedar Rapids (Game 2) - Joe Broussard vs. Keaton Steele (2-1, 4.79)

Ricky Nolasco could not throw 100% in his pre-game bullpen and was placed on the disabled list, clearing the way for Tommy Milone to start Thursday's game against the Red Sox. The Twins won the game late, thanks in part to a Joe Mauer bunt (of course), and managed to escape Boston with a split. Here is a look at what happened throughout the Minnesota Twins minor league system on Thursday, June 4.RED WINGS REPORT Pawtucket Paw Sox @ Rochester Box Score Taylor Rogers pitched an eight-inning gem on Thursday night in front of a crowd of 4,196 at Frontier Field. Rogers earned his fifth win of the year with eight innings of six hit baseball. He walked one, struck out three, and gave up just a single run. His season ERA now sits just above three at 3.09. Michael Tonkin, fresh from an MLB stint early in the week, picked up his sixth save with a perfect ninth, including a strike out. The Red Wings struck out twelve times against Paw Sox pitching, led by a miserable 0-3 performance from Kennys Vargas that included three strikeouts. Recently demoted Oswaldo Arcia chipped in a pair of strikeouts as well en route to his 0-4 night. Josmil Pinto, the other bat Twins fans have been clamoring for, was 0-4 with two strikeouts of his own as well. What a night! IT wasn't all bad, James Beresford and Eric Fryer (hitting eighth and ninth respectively) were both 2-3 with a run scored. I have no idea how the Red Wings scored any runs, but they clustered their hits together when it mattered to pull out a victory. Final: Pawtucket 1, Red Wings 4 LOOKOUTS LOOK-IN Chattanooga @ Tennessee Smokies Box Score The Lookouts committed more errors (2) than runs scored (1) on Thursday night. They also managed to strike out nine times and walked just once, and earned just four walks. No Lookouts hitter had multiple hits. Byron Buxton continued to slide with an 0-4 night with a pair of strikeouts. Adam Brett Walker was 0-4 with two strikeouts of his own as well. Max Kepler was also 0-4, but managed just one strike- out. The lone bright spot in the Lookouts lineup came from Mike Gonzales who was 1-3 with a solo home run. On the bump, Chattanooga pitchers struck out only one Tennessee hitter over eight innings. Lookouts starter Greg Peavey pitched into the seventh, but was pulled with one out. He was charged with three runs (two earned), he did not walk a batter, and had the Lookouts' lone strikeout. Zack Jones finished the seventh for Chattanooga, but gave up a pair of runs. Time Shibuya pitched the eighth and gave up a run as well. Not much doing in a pretty quick game at Smokies Park, finished in 2:13. Final Score: Chattanooga 1, Tennessee 6 MIRACLE MATTERS Bradenton Marauders @ Fort Myers Box Score Three Miracle hitters had a multi-hit night, and the Miracle picked up ten hits as a team, but couldn't put the bat on the ball when it mattered, going just 3-13 with runners in scoring position. Bradenton, on the other hand, was 8-20 with runners in scoring position and seemed like they were able to score at will, picking up runs in six different innings. Engelb Vielma, hitting leadoff, was 2-5 with a double. Mitch Garver was 2-3 with a walk and a run scored, and Marcus Knecht was 2-4 with a double, a run scored and two RBIs to pace with Miracle. Kohl Stewart dropped to 1-4 with a five inning, ten hit, five run (four earned) performance. He walked two and struck out three. His ERA this year is 3.92. Stewart gave way to Brian Gilbert, who pitched two effective innings before turning the ball over to Corey Williams in the eighth, who gave up a run, and Luke Westphal in the ninth, who gave up another. Final score: Bradenton 7, Fort Myers 3 KERNELS KORNER Cedar Rapids @ South Bend Cubs Box Score The Kernels fell short of a come from behind victory on Thursday night in South Bend, Indiana. Starting pitcher Dereck Rodriguez, making his Midwest League debut, was tagged for four runs in the first inning, but the Kernels rallied and were within striking distance most of the evening. Rodriguez lasted just three innings, he struck out one, walked four, and gave up those four early runs. Michael Theofanopoulos also threw three innings. He fared slightly better than Rodriguez, striking out four, but giving up a pair of earned runs on four hits. Michael Caderoth pitched a clean seventh and Cameron Booser gave up a hit and recorded a strike out in the eighth. Booser's ERA is down to 0.74 after Thursday's game. The Kernels had just seven hits, but three of them went for extra bases, including a pair of doubles from Kernels' cleanup hitter Jorge Fernandez. Fernandez was 2-4 with two doubles, a run scored and a strike out. Nick Gordon had a pair of hits as well, going 2-3 with a run scored and a stolen base (his 13th of the year). The Kernels squandered a few opportunities to score runs, going just 1-8 with runners in scoring position, Final Score: Cedar Rapids 4, South Bend 6 TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day - Jorge Fernandez, Cedar Rapids Kernels Pitcher of the Day - Taylor Rogers, Rochester Red Wings FRIDAY'S PROBABLES Pawtucket @ Rochester - Zeke Spurill vs. Pat Dean (5-3, 2.36) Chattanooga @ Tennessee - Brett Lee (AA Debut) vs. Ivan Pineyro Fort Myers @ Bradenton - Chih-Wei Hu (2-0, 2.29) vs. Jayson Aquino Cedar Rapids @ South Bend - Keaton Steele (2-0, 2.70) vs. Jake Stinnett Click here to view the article

Ricky Nolasco could not throw 100% in his pre-game bullpen and was placed on the Disabled List, clearing the way for Tommy Milone to start Thursday's game against the Red Sox. The Twins won the game late, thanks in part to a Joe Mauer bunt (of course), and managed to escape Boston with a split. RED WINGS REPORT Pawtucket Paw Sox @ Rochester Box Score Taylor Rogers pitched an eight inning gem on Thursday night in front of a crowd of 4,196 at Frontier Field. Rogers earned his fifth win of the year with eight innings of six hit baseball. He walked one, struck out three, and gave up just a single run. His season ERA now sits just above three at 3.09. Michael Tonkin, fresh from a MLB stint early in the week, picked up his sixth save with a perfect ninth, including a strike out. The Red Wings struck out twelve times against Paw Sox pitching, led by a miserable 0-3 performance from Kennys Vargas that included three strike outs. Recently demoted Oswaldo Arcia chipped in a pair of strike outs as well enroute to his 0-4 night. Josmil Pinto, the other bat Twins fans have been clamoring for, was 0-4 with two strike outs of his own as well. What a night! IT wasn't all bad, James Beresford and Eric Fryer (hitting eighth and ninth respectively) were both 2-3 with a run scored. I have no idea how the Red Wings scored any runs, but they clustered their hits together when it mattered to pull out a victory. Final: Pawtucket 1, Red Wings 4 LOOKOUTS LOOK-IN Chattanooga @ Tennessee Smokies Box Score The Lookouts committed more errors (2) than runs scored (1) on Thursday night. They also managed to strike out nine times and walked just once, and earned just four walks. No Lookouts hitter had multiple hits. Byron Buxton continued to slide with an 0-4 night with a pair of strike outs. Adam Brett Walker was 0-4 with two strike outs of his own as well. Max Leper was also 0-4, but managed just one strike out. The lone bright spot in the Lookouts lineup came from Mike Gonzales who was 1-3 with a solo home run. On the bump, Chattanooga pitchers struck out only one Tennessee hitter over eight innings. Lookouts starter Greg Peavey pitched into the seventh, but was pulled with one out. He was charged with three runs (two earned), he did not walk a batter, and had the Lookouts' lone strike out. Zack Jones finished the seventh for Chattanooga, but gave up a pair of runs. Time Shibuya pitched the eighth and gave up a run as well. Not much doing in a pretty quick game at Smokies Park, finished in 2:13. Final Score: Chattanooga 1, Tennessee 6 MIRACLE MATTERS Bradenton Marauders @ Fort Myers Box Score Three Miracle hitters had multi-hit nights, and the Miracle picked up ten hits as a team, but couldn't put the bat on the ball when it mattered, just 3-13 with runners in scoring position. Bradenton, on the other hand, was 8-20 with runners in scoring position and seemed like they were able to score at will, picking up runs in six different innings. Engelb Vielma, hitting leadoff, was 2-5 with a double. Mitch Garver was 2-3 with a walk and a run scored, and Marcus Knecht was 2-4 with a double, a run scored and two RBIs to pace with Miracle. Kohl Stewart dropped to 1-4 with a five inning, ten hit, five run (four earned) performance. He walked two and struck out three. His ERA this year is 3.92. Stewart gave way to Brian Gilbert, who pitched two effective innings before turning the ball over to Corey Williams in the eighth, who gave up a run, and Luke Westphal in the ninth, who gave up another. Final score: Bradenton 7, Fort Myers 3 KERNELS KORNER Cedar Rapids @ South Bend Cubs Box Score The Kernels fell short of a come from behind victory on Thursday night in South Bend, Indiana. Starting pitcher Dereck Rodriguez, making his Midwest League debut, was tagged for four runs in the first inning, but the Kernels rallied and were within striking distance most of the evening. Rodriguez lasted just three innings, he struck out one, walked four, and gave up those four early runs. Michael Theofanopoulos also threw three innings. He faired slightly better than Rodriguez, stricking out four, but giving up a pair of earned runs on four hits. Michael Caderoth pitched a clean seventh and Cameron Booser gave up a hit and recorded a strike out in the eighth. Booser's ERA is down to .74 after Thursday's game. The Kernels had just seven hits, but three of them went for extra bases, including a pair of doubles from Kernels' cleanup hitter Jorge Fernandez. Fernandez was 2-4 with two doubles, a run scored, and a strike out. Nick Gordon had a pair of hits as well, he was 2-3 with a run scored and a stolen base (his 13th of the year). The Kernels squandered a few opportunities to score runs, going just 1-8 with runners in scoring position, Final Score: Cedar Rapids 4, South Bend 6 TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day - Jorge Fernandez, Cedar Rapids Kernels Pitcher of the Day - Taylor Rogers, Rochester Red Wings FRIDAY'S PROBABLES Pawtucket @ Rochester - Zeke Spurill vs. Pat Dean (5-3, 2.36) Chattanooga @ Tennessee - Brett Lee (AA Debut) vs. Ivan Pineyro Fort Myers @ Bradenton - Chih-Wei Hu (2-0, 2.29) vs. Jayson Aquino Cedar Rapids @ South Bend - Keaton Steele (2-0, 2.70) vs. Jake Stinnett

Eades was right in the middle of when the Twins were thinking, "Let's just take all the college pitchers and hope they stick" draft strategy. His walk rate is still high, but going in the right direction. He has #5 upside, at best, I'd guess at this point.

Great update, Steve/Jim/Alice's Restaurant

The Twins and the Royals both had the day off on Thursday which means the Twins remain in first place! RED WINGS REPORT Scheduled off day, back at it tomorrow against the Buffalo Bisons. LOOKOUTS LOOK-IN Biloxi Shuckers @ Chattanooga Box Score The Lookouts were out-hit 9-7 and were just 1-8 with runners in scoring position, but picked up another win to move to 29-17 on the year. Jose Berrios started for Chattanooga and did his regular Jose Berrios thing. 7.1 innings, two earned runs, no walks, and seven strike outs. He gave up all nine of the Biloxi hits, but held the Shuckers to 1-7 with runners in scoring position. Berrios was cruising into the eighth inning with a shut out, but after retiring Nick Shaw to begin the eighth, the next three batters went single, single, double, scoring a run and ending Berrios' evening. Lifted with that one out in the eighth, Berrios was replaced by Zack Jones who finished the game to pick up his seventh save of the season Jones promptly walked the first batter he faced to load the bases, gave up a sacrifice fly to the next batter, and then induced a ground ball to Max Kepler to escape the game. Jones then sent the Shuckers down 1-2-3 in the ninth to preserve the Lookouts victory. Byron Buxton was 0-3 with a walk and two strike outs, the first time in more than a week Buxton failed to record a hit, ending a seven-game hitting streak. Jorge Polanco was 2-4 with an RBI and a stolen base (one of three stolen bases for the Lookouts on the evening), his tenth of the year. Adam Brett Walker was 1-4 with two strike outs but made that hit count, a two run home run, driving in what proved to be the game winning run. Final Score: Biloxi 2, Chattanooga 3 MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers @ Clearwater Threshers - Game 1 Box Score Ryan Eades is looking a lot more like a 1st round draft pick in 2015 than he did in either 2013 or 2014 and has rewarded the Twins for their patience with him. He pitched five innings of three hit ball for the Miracle on Thursday night, walked two and struck out six. Eades has given up three runs or less in seven of his eight starts so far this year. Eades was replaced by Luke Westphal who earned his first hold of the year with a perfect sixth inning and Brandon Peterson piked up his second save of the year with a scoreless ninth. Peterson put up great numbers in 2014 with the Cedar Rapids Kernels and earned an early promotion to Fort Myers where he pitched to a 1.80 ERA over 45 innings, racking up 65 strike outs while walking 17. This year, back at Fort Myers, Peterson continues to have a K/9 over 13 with 35 strike outs in just 24 innings, be he has already walked 14. Peterson may have made an adjustment in recent weeks as he has walked just two batters in his last nine innings of work while striking out 12. The Miracle managed just five hits in this low scoring affair, and leadoff man Zach Granite was the only player with two hits, 2-3 with a double and a run scored (via wild pitch in the first inning). The Miracle added the winning run in the top of the fourth, set up by two more wild pitches from Threshers starter Mark Leiter Jr. Final Score: Fort Myers 2, Clearwater 1 (seven innings) Fort Myers @ Clearwater Threshers - Game 2 Box Score Miracle starter Brett Lee was tagged for six runs in 4.2 innings, giving up four of those runs in the fifth inning alone before being lifted for Dallas Gallant. Lee gave up six hits, six runs, walked four and struck out one. Dallas Gallant pitched a scoreless inning and a third and gave up two hits. The Miracle again managed just five hits in the second game of the double header, lead be Tanner Vavra, hitting ninth, who went 2-3 with a pair of RBIs. Zach Granite doubled and scored another run as part of a 1-4 performance in the nightcap. The Miracle had just five hits, but they also worked five walks and were 3-10 with runners in scoring position, but could not come up with a big hit to put up a crooked number. Final score: Fort Myers 3, Clearwater 6 (seven innings) KERNELS KORNER Wisconsin Timber Rattlers @ Cedar Rapids Box Score A tough game on both sides of the ball for the Kernels who picked up just four hits on the evening and gave up runs in five different innings, losing 6-0 to a pretty bad Timber Rattlers squad. Jared Wilson was charged with his first loss of the season, giving up eight hits, five runs (four earned) over five innings. He walked two, struck out two, and gave up two home runs. Michael Theofanopoulos came in for an extended relief outing, pitching three innings. He gave up two hits, an earned run, walked two, and struck out two. Trevor Hildenberger finished the game and struck out a pair of Timber Rattlers in the ninth. Just those four hits I mentioned earlier for the Kernels on Thursday night, all singles, to go along with only one walk and nine strike outs. Not an exciting game for the 1,957 fans in attendance at Perfect Game Field as the Kernels only managed to push two runners into scoring position the entire evening. 2014 first round draft pick Nick Gordon was 0-3 with three strike outs, but he did reach base on a HBP in the fourth. Zack Larson picked up a pair of hits, providing half of the Kernels hits, 2-4 with a pair of singles. Final Score: Wisconsin 6, Cedar Rapids 0 TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day - Jorge Polanco, Chattanooga Lookouts Pitcher of the Day - Jose Berrios, Chattanooga Lookouts FRIDAY'S PROBABLES Rochester @ Buffalo Bisons - Game 1 - Pat Dean (4-3, 2.47) vs. Miguel Castro Rochester @ Buffalo Bisons - Game 2 (Make up of 4/10) - Tyler Duffey (0-1, 2.57) vs. Jeff Francis Biloxi Shuckers @ Chattanooga - Tyler Wager (5-1, 2.01) vs. Greg Peavey Fort Myers @ Clearwater Threshers - Kohl Stewart (1-3, 2.60) vs. Brandon Leibrandt Clinton LumberKings @ Cedar Rapids - TBD vs. Keaton Steele (1-0, 3.72)

As an 11th round draftee, you'd take back of the rotation potential. He's been working up into the low 90s, and he's just 24, so he'd still be younger than average at AA. I like him more than any of the guys you named, but even if he just matches Scott Diamond in terms of MLB success, it is a win, IMO.

The strike outs are a concern, but everything else is essentially in line with what he did all of 2014, and he's doing it at a higher level. He'll have to address contact issues as he squares up fewer balls against better pitching.

I don't even know what this means.

The Twins survived a short start from Ricky Nolasco (four runs in five innings) and won a back and forth game against the Oakland Athletics on Thursday. The Twins scored six runs on just five hits, helped along by six walks and a pair of errors from Oakland. The victory wraps up an 8-3 homestand, including a four game sweep of the Chicago White Sox. The Twins are now 16-13 and three games over .500 for the first time since 2010.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester @ Indianapolis Indians Box Score Red Wings starter Taylor Rogers struggled and picked up his first loss of the season (2-1), and Rochester lost their second series of the year. Rogers gave up five runs, four earned, on seven hits and three walks over four innings. He struck out five and his ERA still sits at just 2.84. Rogers did not have his best stuff on Thursday, throwing three wild pitches (he had thrown just one in his first five starts). Rogers gave way to Logan Darnell who worked two scoreless innings of relief, giving up just a single hit and struck out one. Lester Oliveros continued his strong work with a scoreless two-thirds of an inning. Caleb Thielbar finished the eighth for Oliveros, but surrendered what turned out to be the winning run. Aaron Hicks continues to hit. He was 2-4 with a walk and a double on Thursday, raising his stat line to .323/.400/.542. The 25-year old seems to have figured things out over the past year and a half, bouncing between Minnesota and Rochester, and should be back in Minnesota soon if he continues to produce. James Beresford, Reynaldo Rodriguez, and Josmil Pinto each picked up two hits of their own. Argenis Diaz, the Red Wings' shortstop, was the only starter without a hit. Old friend Pedro Florimon started at second base for the Indians and was 0-4 with two strike outs. Final Score: Red Wings 5, Indians 6 LOOKOUTS LOOK-IN Jackson Generals @ Chattanooga Box Score With Terry Ryan in town to take a look at some of the premier talent in the Twins system, Lookouts starter Tyler Duffey was tagged with four unearned runs in the first inning (throwing error from Miguel Sano and a misplayed ball at first base by Max Kepler), but Duffey held on to pitch six innings. He struck out seven, walked one and gave up eight hits. After the first inning issues, the Lookouts shut out the Generals for the remainder of the game, with Jake Reed throwing two innings and picking up a pair of strikeouts, and Nick Burdi pitching a 1-2-3 ninth. Nick Burdi's ERA is now down to just 9.00, after peaking at 54.00 after a disastrous four walk, four earned run, two-thirds of an inning performance to start the year. The outing on Thursday was the first time in his last four appearances that Burdi did not give up a run, but he has now gone back-to-back outings without issuing a walk. After falling behind by four runs in the first inning the Lookouts went to work with the stick, scoring ten unanswered runs. The Lookouts tied to game in the bottom of the second inning thanks to a two-run single from Heiker Meneses and a two-run RBI triple from speedster Byron Buxton. Buxton finished the night 1-5 with a strikeout. Miguel Sano hit three singles as part of his 3-5 night, but is still hitting just .188/.314/.400 in 2015. Every Lookouts batter had a hit last night. Sano led the way with three, but Travis Harrison, Max Kepler, Stuart Turner and Meneses all had a pair of base hits. Adam Brett Walker hit his league-leading seventh home run of the year to extend the lead late, two-run shot in the seventh inning. Final Score: Generals 4, Lookouts 10 MIRACLE MATTERS Jupiter Hammerheads @ Fort Myers Box Score The Miracle fell behind 3-0 and did not score their first run until the sixth inning, but they rallied late to take the series opener against the Hammerheads. Miracle starter Ethan Mildren pitched six innings, gave up three runs (one earned), walked three and struck out three. He also picked a guy off first base. Mildren gave way to Alex Muren, who vultured a win when the Miracle bats came to life, despite recording just four outs. Muren gave up four hits, walked two, and struck out one, and Brandon Peterson relieved him in the eighth, picking up a double play to save Fort Myers from more damage. J.T. Chargois gave up two runs in the ninth despite not walking anyone and not giving up any hits thanks to a couple of Miracle errors from Chad Christensen and Bryan Haar. Leadoff hitter Zach Granite was 3-5 with a solo home run and two runs scored and was one of three Miracle hitters with three hits. His home run was the first of his professional career. Alex Swim and Bryan Haar were also 3-5. DH Mitch Garver reached safely four times on Thursday, going 2-4 with a double, an RBI and two walks. Engelb Vielma was the only Miracle starter without a base hit, going 0-5 with a strike out. Just three of Fort Myers' sixteen hits went for extra bases and the Miracle stranded ten base runners. Final score: Hammerheads 6, Miracle 9 KERNELS KORNER Cedar Rapids @ Beloit Snappers Box Score The Kernels scored at least one run in the each of the first seven innings to give Kernels starter Stephen Gonsalves plenty of run support, not that he needed it. Gonsalves has been the Kernels' ace in 2015, turning in another strong start. Gonsalves was limited to just five innings; he gave up three hits, walked four and struck out five. The four walks were very uncharacteristic for Gonsalves, who had just three walks in his first four starts of the year. Samuel Clay pitched three scoreless innings in relief, walked three and struck out four giving up just one hit. Michael Theofanopoulos pitched a scoreless ninth, striking out two of the three batters he faced. The Kernels scored eleven runs on just ten hits, going 3-20 with runners in scoring position, assisted by nine walks and two Snappers errors. The Kernels stranded 14 runners on the night. Cedar Rapids' nine-hitter, Pat Kelly, led the team with three hits, a pair of doubles and a home run. He picked up three RBIs and scored twice. Pat Kelly, if you're not familiar, was a 12th round selection a year ago out of the University Nebraska-Lincoln, but he was born and raised in Red Wing, MN. Zack Larson picked up three RBIs as well on a 2-4 night with two walks. Nick Gordon, last year's fifth overall draft selection (and still just 19 years old) was 1-4 with a walk and three runs scored. For a full update on Nick Gordon, check out the Down on the Pond segment of the newest Talk to Contact podcast. Final Score: Kernels 11, Snappers 1 TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day - Pat Kelly - Cedar Rapids Kernels Pitcher of the Day - Stephen Gonsalves - Cedar Rapids Kernels FRIDAY'S PROBABLES Rochester @ Louisville Bats - Tommy Milone (0-0, -.---) vs. Raisel Iglesias Jackson @ Chattanooga - Stephen Landazuri vs. Jose Berrios (3-1, 3.54) Jupiter @ Fort Myers - TBD vs. Ryan Eades (1-0, 2.35) Cedar Rapids @ Beloit - Michael Cederoth (0-2, 4.00) vs. Kevin Johnson Click here to view the article

The Twins survived a short start from Ricky Nolasco (four runs in five innings) and won a back and forth game against the Oakland Athletics on Thursday. The Twins scored six runs on just five hits, helped along by six walks and a pair of errors from Oakland. The victory wraps up an 8-3 homestand, including a four game sweep of the Chicago White Sox. The Twins are now 16-13 and three games over .500 for the first time since 2010. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester @ Indianapolis Indians Box Score Red Wings starter Taylor Rogers struggled and picked up his first loss of the season (2-1), and Rochester lost their second series of the year. Rogers gave up give runs, four earned, on seven hits and three walks over four innings. He struck out five and his ERA still sits at just 2.84. Rogers did not have his best stuff on Thursday, throwing three wild pitches (he had thrown just one in his first five starts). Rogers gave way to Logan Darnell who worked two scoreless innings of relief, giving up just a single hit and struck out one. Lester Oliveros continued his strong work with a scorless two-thirds of an inning. Caleb Thielbar finished the eighth for Oliveros, but surrendered what turned out to be the winning run. Aaron Hicks continues to hit, he was 2-4 with a walk and a double on Thursday, raising his statline to .323/.400/.542. The 25-year old seems to have figured things out over the past year and a half, bouncing between Minnesota and Rochester, and should be back in Minnesota soon if he continues to produce. James Beresford, Reynaldo Rodriguez, and Josmil Pinto each picked up two hits of their own. Argenis Diaz, the Red Wings' shortstop, was the only starter without a hit. Old friend Pedro Florimon started at second base for the Indians and was 0-4 with two strike outs. Final Score: Red Wings 5, Indians 6 LOOKOUTS LOOK-IN Jackson Generals @ Chattanooga Box Score With Terry Ryan in town to take a look at some of the premier talent in the Twins system, Lookouts starter Tyler Duffey was tagged with four unearned runs in the first inning (throwing error from Miguel Sano and a misplayed ball at first bace from Max Kepler), but Duffey help on to pitch six innings. He struck out seven, walked one, and gave up eight hits. After the first inning issues, the Lookouts shut out the Generals for the remainder of the game, with Jake Red throwing two innings and picking up a pair of strike outs, and Nick Burdy pitching a 1-2-3 ninth. Nick Burdi's ERA is now down to just 9.00, after peaking at 54.00 after a disastrous four walk, four earned run, two-thirds of an inning performance to start the year. The outing on Thursday was the first time in his last four appearances that Burdi did not give up a run, but he has now gone back to back outings without issuing a walk. After falling behind by four runs in the first inning the Lookouts went to work with the sticks, scoring ten unanswered runs. The Lookouts tied to game in the bottom of the second inning thanks to a two-run single from Heiker Meneses and a two-run RBI triple from speedster Byron Buxton. Buxton finished the night 1-5 with a strike out. Miguel Sano hit three singles as part of his 3-5 night, but is still hitting just .188/.314/.400 in 2015. Every single Lookouts batter had a hit last night. Sano led the way with three, but Travis Harrison, Max Kepler, Stuart Turner and Meneses all had a pair of base hits. Adam Brett Walker hit his league-leading seventh home run of the year, to extend the lead late, two-run shot in the seventh inning. Final Score: Generals 4, Lookouts 10 MIRACLE MATTERS Jupiter Hammerheads @ Fort Myers Box Score The Miracle fell behind 3-0 and did not score their first run until the sixth inning, but they rallied late to take the series opener against the Hammerheads. Miracle starter Ethan Mildren pitched six innings, gave up three runs (one earned), walked three and struck out three. He also picked a guy off a first base. Mildren gave way to Alex Muren, who vultured a win when the Miracle bats came to life, despite recording just four outs. Muren gave up four hits, walked two, and struck out one, and Brandon Peterson relieved him in the eighth, picking up a double play to save Fort Myers from more damage. J.T. Chargois gave up two runs in the ninth despite not walking anyone and not giving up any hits thanks to a couple of Miracle errors from Chad Christensen and Bryan Haar. Leadoff hitter Zach Granite was 3-5 with a solo home run and two runs scored, and was one of three Miracle hitters with three hits. Alex Swim and Bryan Haar were also 3-5. DH Mitch Garver reached safely four times on Thursday, 2-4 with a double, and RBI and two walks. Engelb Vielma was the only Miracle starter without a base hit, going 0-5 with a strike out. Just three of Fort Myers' sixteen hits went for extra bases, and the Miracle stranded ten base runners. Final score: Hammerheads 6, Miracle 9 KERNELS KORNER Cedar Rapids @ Beloit Snappers Box Score The Kernels scored at least a run in the first seven innings to give Kernels starter Stephen Gonsalves plenty of run support, not that he needs it. Gonsalves has been the Kernels' ace in 2015, turning in another strong start. Gonsalves was limited to just five innings, he gave up three hits, walked four and struck out five. The four walks were very uncharacteristic for Gonsalves, who had just three walks in his first four starts of the year. Samuel Clay pitched three scoreless innings in relief, walked three and struck out four giving up just one hit. Michael Theofanopoulos pitched a scoreless ninth, striking out two of the three batters he faced. The Kernels scored eleven runs on just ten hits and going 3-20 with runners in scoring position, assisted by nine walks and two Snappers errors. The Kernels stranded 14 runners on the night. Cedar Rapids' nine-hitter Pat Kelly led the team with three hits, a pair of doubles and a home run. He picked up three RBI and scored twice. Pat Kelly, if you're unfamiliar, was a 12th round selection a year ago out of the University Nebraska-Lincoln, but he was born and raised in Red Wing, MN. Zack Larson picked up three RBI as well on a 2-4 night with two walks. Nick Gordon, last year's fifth overall draft selection (and still just 19 years old) was 1-4 with a walk and three runs scored. For a full update on Nick Gordon, check out the Down on the Pond segment of the newest Talk to Contact podcast. Final Score: Kernels 11, Snappers 1 TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day - Pat Kelly - Cedar Rapids Kernels Pitcher of the Day - Stephen Gonsalves - Cedar Rapids Kernels FRIDAY'S PROBABLES Rochester @ Louisville Bats - Tommy Milone (0-0, -.---) vs. Raisel Iglesias Jackson @ Chattanooga - Stephen Landazuri vs. Jose Berrios (3-1, 3.54) Jupiter @ Fort Myers - TBD vs. Ryan Eades (1-0, 2.35) Cedar Rapids @ Beloit - Michael Cederoth (0-2, 4.00) vs. Kevin Johnson

It had to be done. I'm hoping the rest of the MiLB report guys jump on board. Also going with Kernels Korner. I'm rogue.

I just do not understand how baseball works. The Twins got all over perennial Cy Young candidate Chris Sale on Thursday night en route to trouncing the Chicago White Sox 12-2. Sale was out after just three innings and he had given up nine runs, the most in his career. Trevor May gave up just a pair of runs despite scattering ten hits, but couldn't finish the sixth inning.Down in the minor leagues it was a little bit of a mixed bag on Thursday evening. Aaron Hicks, Eddie Rosario, Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano all had notable performances, as well as a great pitching performance from Chih-Wei Hu. But Nick Burdi struggled again, and Dalton Hicks and Adam Brett Walker II combined to go 0-9 with seven strikeouts. RED WINGS REPORT Columbus Clippers @ Rochester Box Score At home at Frontier Field, in front of just shy of 4,000 fans, Mark Hamburger and the Rochester Red Wings came back from an early deficit to move to 12-8 on the season. The Red Wings chased the Clippers' starter Jordan Cooper after 3.2 innings, sending him to his first defeat of the season, surrendering nine hits and four runs (three earned). Those nine hits were part of a season high outburst of 17 hits for Rochester. Hamburger gave up three early runs (two earned) but hung around to finish the sixth, throwing 110 pitches, but just 65 for strikes. Hamburger walked three and struck out six and gave up just five hits. Lester Oliveros, who many have been clamoring to have join the Twins' bullpen, worked two innings of relief, striking out four, but he walked two and gave up a run. Ryan O'Rourke pitched the ninth to finish the game for the Red Wings. It was a pretty balanced attack from the Rochester hitters with eight of nine starters picking up at least one base hit, and seven of nine picking up two or more. Aaron Hicks led off for the Red Wings and extending his hitting streak to 11 games by going 3-5, bringing his average up to .310 on the year. Eddie Rosario had three hits of his own, 3-5 with a pair of RBIs. How nice would those two look in the Twins outfield right now?! Despite the season-high 17 base hits, the Red Wings managed just two extra-base hits, a double apiece from Reynaldo Rodriguez and James Beresford. Rochester was 7-18 with men in scoring position and still managed to strand twelve runners. Final Score: Clippers 4, Red Wings 8 LOOKOUTS LOOK-IN Jacksonville Suns @ Chattanooga Box Score Former first-round draft pick Alex Wimmers had the start for Chattanooga on Thursday evening and pitched well through the first five innings, but ran into trouble in the sixth, giving up three runs and leaving with two outs in the sixth. His line for the night included eight hits, two walks, four strikeouts and four earned runs. Wimmers was replaced by D.J. Johnson who held the Suns scoreless through the seventh. Nick Burdi came on in the eighth, but struggled again, giving up two runs. He struck out one and walked one. Burdi's ERA is now 10.13, fairly disappointing for a guy who many suggested could slot right into the Twins bullpen before the end of 2015. Those two runs gave Burdi the loss on the evening, his third of this young season. Dallas Gallant pitched a perfect ninth to finish the game. Byron Buxton continues to heat up, he went 2-4 with a triple and a walk, plus two stolen bases. Miguel Sano was 1-3 with a solo home run and a walk, but he also had a pair of strikeouts. In all, the Lookouts struck out thirteen times, including four for Dalton Hicks as part of an 0-5 night and three from Adam Brett Walk as part of his 0-4 night. Final Score: Suns 6, Lookouts 4 MIRACLE MATTERS Charlotte Stone Crabs @ Fort Myers Box Score Chih-Wei Hu continues to impress every time out. On Thursday night in Fort Myers he mowed down the Stone Crabs, struck out eight, walked two, and gave up two runs (just one earned) on four hits. Hu is now 3-0 on the season and his ERA is down to 1.50. Todd Van Steensel pitched two scoreless innings of relief and struck out four to pick up his second hold of 2015. J.T. Chargois gave up a hit, a walk, an unearned run, struck out a batter and earned his second save of the year, throwing 19 pitches in the ninth. The Miracle scored five runs, all earned, on just eight hits despite being 0-9 with runners in scoring position and stranding 10 runners. In the first inning the Miracle scored a run without any hits thanks to a couple walks, a groundout and an eventual sac fly from Mitch Garver. Niko Goodrum hit his third home run of the year, a two-run round-tripper off of German Marquez in the third inning. Right fielder Chad Christensen had a perfect night for Fort Myers, going 3-3 with a double. Final score: Stone Crabs 3, Miracle 5 KERNELS KORNER Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities River Bandits Box Score The Kernels could not figure out how to attack the River Bandits pitching, picking up just four hits on the evening. The trio of Brock Dykxhoom, Jose Montero and Joshua James kept the Kernels guessing all night long. No Kernels hitter had multiple hits and only Max Murphy (1-3 with a double and a walk) reached safely twice. Shortstop of the future, Nick Gordon, was 0-3 with a strike out and a walk. Zach Granite, Cedar Rapids' leadoff hitter, was 1-4 and extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a first inning double. Kernels starter John Curtiss only made it through the fourth inning. He gave up six hits, three earned runs, struck out four and served up a pair of home runs. Samuel Clay and Zach Tillery each pitched two innings of relief and both gave up only one hit. Clay, however, also walked three hitters and was charged with an earned run. Final Score: Kernels 2, River Bandits 4 TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day - Byron Buxton - Chattanooga Lookouts Pitcher of the Day - Chih-Wei Hu - Fort Myers Miracle FRIDAY'S PROBABLES Norfolk @ Rochester - Mike Wright vs. Pat Dean (2-0, 0.90) Jacksonville @ Chattanooga- Jake Esch vs. Tyler Duffey (0-2, 3.16) Fort Myers @ Charlotte - Ethan Mildren (0-2, 5.28) vs TBD Clinton @ Cedar Rapids - Daniel Missaki vs. Stephen Gonsalves (2-0, 0.90) Click here to view the article

I just do not understand how baseball works. The Twins got all over perennial Cy Young candidate Chris Sale on Thursday night en route to trouncing the Chicago White Sox 12-2. Sale was out after just three innings and he had giving up nine runs, the most in his career. Trevor May gave up just a pair of runs despite scattering ten hits, but couldn't finish the sixth inning. Down in the Minor Leagues it was a little bit of a mixed bag on Thursday evening. Aaron Hicks, Eddie Rosario, Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano all had notable performances, as well as a great pitching performance from Chih-Wei Hu. But Nick Burdi struggled again, and Dalton Hicks and Adam Brett Walker II combined to go 0-9 with seven strikeouts. RED WINGS REPORT Columbus Clippers @ Rochester Box Score At home at Frontier Field, in front of just shy of 4,000 fans, Mark Hamburger and the Rochester Red Wings came back from an early deficit to move to 12-8 on the season. The Red Wings chased the Clippers' starter Jordan Cooper after 3.2 innings, sending him to his first defeat of the season, surrendering nine hits and four runs (three earned). Those nine hits were part of a season high outburst of 17 hits for Rochester. Hamburger gave up three early runs (two earned) but hung around to finish the sixth, throwing 110 pitches, but just 65 for strikes. Hamburger walked three and struck out six and gave up just five hits. Lester Oliveros, who many have been clamoring to have join the Twins' bullpen, worked two innings of relief, striking out four, but he walked two and gave up a run. Ryan O'Rourke pitched the ninth to finish the game for the Red Wings. It was a pretty balanced attack from the Rochester Hitters with eight of nine starters picking up at least one base hit, and seven of nine picking up two or more. Aaron Hicks led off for the Red Wings and extending his hitting streak to 11 games by going 3-5, bringing his average up to .310 on the year. Eddie Rosario had three hits of his own, 3-5 with a pair of RBIs. How nice would those two look in the Twins outfield right now?! Despite the season-high 17 base hits, the Red Wings managed just two extra base hits, a double a piece from Reynaldo Rodriguez and James Beresford. Rochester was 7-18 with men in scoring position and still managed to strand twelve runners. Final Score: Clippers 4, Red Wings 8 LOOKOUTS LOOK-IN Jacksonville Suns @ Chattanooga Box Score Former first round draft pick Alex Wimmers had the start for Chattanooga on Thursday evening and pitched well through the first five innings, but ran into trouble in the sixth, giving up three runs and leaving with two outs in the sixth. His line for the night included 8 hits, 2 walks, 4 strike outs and 4 earned runs. Wimmers was replaced by D.J. Johnson who held the Suns scoreless through the seventh. Nick Burdi came on in the eighth, but struggled again, giving up two runs. He struck out one and walked won. Burdi's ERA is now 10.13, fairly disappointing for a guy that many suggested could slot right in to the Twins bullpen before the end of 2015. Those two runs gave Burdi the loss on the evening, his third of this young season. Dallas Gallant pitched a perfect ninth to finish the game. Byron Buxton continues to heat up, he went 2-4 with a triple and a walk, plus two stolen bases. Miguel Sano was 1-3 with a solo home run, and a walk, but he also had a pair of strike outs. In all, the Lookouts struck out thirteen times, including four for Dalton Hicks as part of an 0-5 night and three from Adam Brett Walk as part of his 0-4 night. Final Score: Suns 6, Lookouts 4 MIRACLE MATTERS Charlotte Stone Crabs @ Fort Myers Box Score Chih-Wei Hu continues to impress every time out. On Thursday night in Fort Myers he mowed down the Stone Crabs, struck out eight, walked two, and gave up two runs (just one earned) on four hits. Hu is now 3-0 on the season and his ERA is down to 1.50. Todd Van Steensel pitched two scoreless innings of relief and struck out four to pick up his second hold of 2015. J.T. Chargois gave up a hit, a walk, an unearned run, struck out a batter and earned his second save of the year, throwing 19 pitches in the ninth. The Miracle scored five runs, all earned, on just eight hits despite being 0-9 with runners in scoring position and stranding 10 runners. In the first inning the Miracle scored a run without any hits at all thanks to a couple walks, a ground out and an eventual sac fly from Mitch Garver. Niko Goodrum hit his third home run of the year, a two-run round-tripper off of German Marquez in the third inning. Right fielder Chad Christensen had a perfect night for Fort Myers, he was 3-3 with a double. Final score: Stone Crabs 3, Miracle 5 KERNELS KORNER Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities River Bandits Box Score The Kernels could not figure out how to attack the River Bandits pitching, picking up just four combined hits on the evening. The Trip of Brock Dykxhoom, Jose Montero and Joshua James kept the Kernels guessing all night long. No Kernels hitter had multiple hits and only Max Murphy (1-3 with a double and a walk) reached safely twice. Shortstop of the future, Nick Gordon, was 0-3 with a strike out and a walk. Zach Granite, Cedar Rapids' leadoff hitter, was 1-4 and extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a first inning double. Kernels starter John Curtiss only made it through the fourth inning. He gave up six hits, three earned runs, struck out four and served up a pair of home runs. Samuel Clay and Zach Tillery each pitched two innings of relief and both gave up only one hit. Clay, however, also walked three hitters and was charged with an earned run. Final Score: Kernels 2, River Bandits 4 TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day - Byron Buxton - Chattanooga Lookouts Pitcher of the Day - Chih-Wei Hu - Fort Myers Miracle FRIDAY'S PROBABLES Norfolk @ Rochester - Mike Wright vs. TBD Jacksonville @ Chattanooga- Jake Esch vs. Tyler Duffey (0-2, 3.16) Fort Myers @ Charlotte - Ethan Mildren (0-2, 5.28) vs TBD Clinton @ Cedar Rapids - Daniel Missaki vs. Stephen Gonsalves (2-0, 0.90)

I don't mind the bunting. No-hitters are half luck and good sequencing to begin with. Play defense. I like the plunking, too, seems to be a fair trade off.

Must have accidentally been left over in the formatting from when I did the report a week ago. Luckily Seth is on the ball this morning to fix it!

The Twins were off on Thursday, so a lot of people spent a lot of time trying to figure out what the heck Torii Hunter was doing when he scampered towards home plate on Wednesday night, attempting a straight steal of home. If that doesn't do it for you, you can get your baseball fix from the newest Talk to Contact podcast featuring TwinsDaily's own Jeremy Nygaard talking about the MLB draft and the Twins' payroll.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester @ Syracuse Chiefs The Red Wings and Chiefs were postponed due to inclement weather. LOOKOUTS LOOK-IN Chattanooga @ Mississippi Braves Box Score Byron Buxton had the night off, which likely ruffled the feathers of a few of the 2,735 packed into Trustman Park in Pearl, Mississippi, but the Braves came away with the victory, so the home crowd went home winners. Max Kepler replaced Buxton in center field and went 0-4 on the evening. The only real bright spot for Chattanooga was Mike Gonzales, we picked up a pair of hits, including a seventh inning solo home run to knot the game at two-two. The Lookouts had just six hits on the evening, none from their second ranked prospect, Miguel Sano, was was 0-3 with a walk and a strike out. Sano is now hitting just .163 but retains an OBP well above .300 thanks to AA pitchers giving him nearly a free pass a game. Greg Peavey, a name all but the most die-hard Twins fans might not be familiar with (2014 Rule 5 draftee from the Triple-A portion of the draft), started for the Lookouts but failed to make it through the sixth inning. Over 5.2 innings, Peavey gave up a pair of runs, walked four, struck out four, and surrendered five hits. Peavey left the game with the Lookouts trailing 2-1 but was left out of the decision after that Gonzales homer. Cole Johnson, a former 44th rounder out of Notre Dame, came on in relief to close out the sixth without issue. Johnson came back out for the seventh and ran into trouble, giving up three runs before being bulled for Dallas Gallant with two outs. Gallant quickly retired the side and pitched a perfect eight for good measure. Final Score: Lookouts 2, Braves 5 MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers @ St. Lucie Mets Box Score In front of 1,259 fans at Tradition Field in St. Lucie, Florida, Chih-Wei Hu moved his record to 2-0 with six innings of five-hit baseball against the Mets. Hu struck out four, walked none, and gave up just a single home run, a first inning home run to the St. Lucie leadoff hitter Champ Stuart Stuart owes Kernel's centerfielder Jason Kanzler a beer after the game for the assist on the home run, bouncing from Kanzler's glove over the wall as Kanzler crashed into the padding. After Hu left the game, Todd Van Steensel pitched two perfect innings that included four strike outs. Madison Boer earned earned his first save of the year, but he had to work for it. He gave up a run and three hits before sending the Mets to the showers. Losers of their last three games, the Miracle rallied from the first inning deficit to tie the game in the fourth before taking the lead for good with a pair of runs in the fifth innings. Aderlin Mejia and Engelb Vielma both had a pair of hits and an RBI but Mejia earns hitter of the game honors for me as he reached base a third time with a base on balls. Fort Myers had plenty of opportunities to score more runs, but were just 3-13 with runners in scoring position, stranding eight men on base and striking out ten times. Final score: Miracle 4, Mets 2 KERNELS KORNER Cedar Rapids @ Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Box Score Six hits and three runs was plenty of offense for the Kernels as Stephen Gonsalves shut down the Timber Rattlers for seven innings and Trevor Hildenberger slammed the door shut with two shutout innings to earn his first save of the young season. Gonsalves was absolutely brilliant, giving up just a single hit and a single walk, and he fanned eleven of the twenty-four batters he faced. At one point Gonsalves retired ten consecutive batters. Gonsalves has been nearly unhittable this season, he has fanned 30 in just 20 innings spread over three starts and his ERA is just 0.90. Hildenberger kept Wisconsin guessing as well, adding in another pair of strike outs. Cedar Rapids' number nine hitter, Jonatan Hinojosa was the only batter from either team to collect multiple hits, finishing the night two for three with a couple of singles. Brian Navarreto provided the game's only extra base hit, his first double of the year. Without much in the way of a hitting display, this game went quickly, just 2:07 in front of a mid-week day game crowd of 476 at Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton, WI. Final Score: Kernels 3, Timber Rattlers 0 TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day - Mike Gonzales, Chattanooga Lookouts Pitcher of the Day - Stephen Gonsalves, Cedar Rapids Kernels FRIDAY'S PROBABLES Syracuse @ Rochester - Scott McGregor vs. Mark Hamburger (0-1, 9.35) Chattanooga @ Mississippi - D.J. Baxendale (2-0, 0.00) vs. Ryan Weber Fort Myers @ St. Lucie - Ethan Mildren (0-2, 5.79) vs. Logan Taylor Kane County @ Cedar Rapids - Brent Jones vs. Michael Caderoth (0-1, 4.50) Click here to view the article

The Twins were off on Thursday, so a lot of people spent a lot of time trying to figure out what the heck Torii Hunter was doing when he scampered towards home plate on Wednesday night, attempting a straight steal of home. If that doesn't do it for you, you can get your baseball fix from the newest Talk to Contact podcast featuring TwinsDaily's own Jeremy Nygaard talking about the MLB draft and the Twins' payroll. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester @ Syracuse Chiefs The Red Wings and Chiefs were postponed due to inclement weather. LOOKOUTS LOOK-IN Chattanooga @ Mississippi Braves Box Score Byron Buxton had the night off, which likely ruffled the feathers of a few of the 2,735 packed into Trustman Park in Pearl, Mississippi, but the Braves came away with the victory, so the home crowd went home winners. Max Kepler replaced Buxton in center field and went 0-4 on the evening. The only real bright spot for Chattanooga was Mike Gonzales, we picked up a pair of hits, including a seventh inning solo home run to knot the game at two-two. The Lookouts had just six hits on the evening, none from their seconrd ranked prospect, Miguel Sano, was was 0-3 with a walk and a strike out. Sano is now hitting just .163 but retains an OBP well above .300 thanks to AA pitchers giving him nearly a free pass a game. Greg Peavey, a name all but the most die-hard Twins fans might not be familiar with (2014 Rule 5 draftee from the Triple-A portion of the draft), started for the Lookouts but failed to make it through the sixth inning. Over 5.2 innings, Peavey gave up a pair of runs, walked four, struck out four, and surrendered five hits. Peavey left the game with the Lookouts trailing 2-1 but was left out of the decision after that Gonzales homer. Cole Johnson, a former 44th rounder out of Notre Dame, came on in relief to close out the sixth without issue. Johnson came back out for the seventh and ran into trouble, giving up three runs before being bulled for Dallas Gallant with two outs. Gallant quickly retired the side and pitched a perfect eight for good measure. Final Score: Lookouts 2, Braves 5 MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers @ St. Lucie Mets Box Score In front of 1,259 fans at Tradition Field in St. Lucie, Florida, Chih-Wei Hu moved his record to 2-0 with six innings of five-hit baseball against the Mets. Hu struck out four, walked none, and gave up just a single home run, a first inning home run to the St. Lucie leadoff hitter Champ Stuart Stuart owes Kernel's centerfielder Jason Kanzler a beer after the game for the assist on the home run, bouncing from Kanzler's glove over the wall as Kanzler crashed into the padding. After Hu left the game, Todd Van Steensel pitched two perfect innings that included four strike outs. Madison Boer earned earned his first save of the year, but he had to work for it. He gave up a run and three hits before sending the Mets to the showers. Losers of their last three games, the Miracle rallied from the first inning deficit to tie the game in the fourth before taking the lead for good with a pair of runs in the fifth innings. Anderlin Mejia and Engelb Vielma both had a pair of hits and an RBI but Mejia earns hitter of the game honors for me as he reached base a third time with a base on balls. Fort Myers had plenty of opportunities to score more runs, but were just 3-13 with runners in scoring position, stranding eight men on base and striking out ten times. Final score: Miracle 4, Mets 2 KERNELS KORNER Cedar Rapids @ Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Box Score Six hits and three runs was plenty of offense for the Kernels as Stephen Gonsalves shut down the Timber Rattlers for seven innings and Trevor Hildenberger slammed the door shut with two shutout innings to earn his first save of the young season. Gonsalves was absolutely brilliant, giving up just a single hit and a single walk, and he fanned eleven of the twenty-four batters he faced. At one point Gonsalves retired ten consectuive batters. Gonsalves has been nearly unhittable this season, he has fanned 30 in just 20 innings spread over three starts and his ERA is just 0.90. Hildenberger kept Wisconsin guessing as well, adding in another pair of strike outs. Cedar Rapids' number nine hitter, Jonatan Hinojosa was the only batter from either team to collect multiple hits, finishing the night two for three with a couple of singles. Brian Navarreto provided the game's only extra base hit, his first double of the year. Without much in the way of a hitting display, this game went quickly, just 2:07 in front of a mid-week day game crowd of 476 at Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton, WI. Final Score: Kernels 3, Timber Rattlers 0 TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day - Mike Gonzales Pitcher of the Day - Stephen Gonsalves THURSDAY'S PROBABLES Syracuse @ Rochester - Scott McGregor vs. Mark Hamburger (0-1, 9.35) Chattanooga @ Mississippi - D.J. Baxendale (2-0, 0.00) vs. Ryan Weber Fort Myers @ St. Lucie - Ethan Mildren (0-2, 5.79) vs. Logan Taylor Kane County @ Cedar Rapids - Brent Jones vs. Michael Caderoth (0-1, 4.50)