Seth Stohs

Do they really need a 1B/Corner Outfielder though? Might as well call up Vargas then (though I don't want to see him in the outfield!).

The problem there is that to get Polanco up now, it would have to be a position player going on the DL, which wouldn't solve the numbers issue.

I wouldn't worry about 3 weeks of playing time, and yes, when talking about a utility infielder called up for depth, it means less. He's been playing well of late, and he can play solid defense at 3 places. Also, it can be about the entirety of his work, and what he did in 2015 and in spring and other intangibles. Also, compared to the other options, he's earned it just as much, if not more.

In Monday night’s Twins game, the team had 14 pitchers on their 25-man roster. That means - do the math with me - they had just 11 position players. That meant a bench of just two players. While in most games, that will be just fine, it’s certainly not an ideal situation over the course of the season. Very soon, the Twins will likely make a move to get down to 13 pitchers which is still more than they would like to have, or than they started the season with. So, which hitters could be on the verge of a promotion to the Twins. How They Got To 14 As Nick wrote on Monday afternoon, the Twins got into this situation with a series of transactions. They activated Danny Santana, recalled Alex Meyer and optioned both Byron Buxton and Max Kepler to Rochester. The other issue right now is the physical status of pitchers Ervin Santana and Tyler Duffey. Duffey was promoted to the Twins to make the start on Sunday in place of Santana who was experiencing a stiff back. If the Twins knew that Santana would be able to make his next start, Duffey could be sent back to Rochester. However, the fact that Duffey took the line drive off of his shoulder means that the Twins couldn’t just send him back to Rochester without making sure he was OK. As much as there are other pitchers in Rochester who could (maybe even ‘should’) come up to the Twins, right now is not the time. Current Situation - Hitters Here are the hitters currently on the Twins 25-man roster: Kurt Suzuki - Catcher John Ryan Murphy - Catcher Joe Mauer - First Base Byung Ho Park - First Base Brian Dozier - Second Base Eduardo Escobar - Shortstop (Third Base, Second Base) Eduardo Nunez - Third Base (Shortstop, Corner Outfield) Oswaldo Arcia - Left Field (Right Field) Eddie Rosario - Left Field (Center Field, Right Field) Danny Santana - Center Field (Right Field, Third Base, Shortstop) Miguel Sano - Right Field (Third Base) (Secondary positions listed in parentheses) No need for a catcher right now.No need for a first base/DH/Corner outfield guy right now.Santana and Rosario can play center field.There isn’t one single position where they don’t have at least 2-3 options, so it’s really just about adding depth, allowing for managerial decisions, feeling more comfortable with substitutions, etc. PROMOTION OPTIONS Darin Mastroianni - 55% - I would say the most likely to be added to the 25- and 40-man rosters would be Mastroianni. He had a tremendous spring training. While he is hitting just .200 (in 71 plate appearances), he’s been on base 35.7% of the time. And, as it relates to the Twins, he would immediately come in and be their second best outfielder, behind only Eddie Rosario. James Beresford - 35% - This is where a blogger can admit his bias. I would really like to see James Beresford get an opportunity with the Twins. Consider, he signed with the Twins in August of 2005. He’s gradually worked his way up the system. Last year in Rochester, he was a midseason and postseason All-Star. He returned to the organization this offseason for the third time when he could have left as a free agent. He has primarily played second base in the last couple of years, but the Twins played him mostly at third base and first base in spring training. He, along with Mastroianni and Juan Centeno, spent the entire spring training with the big league club. Despite a slow start, he is now hitting .288/.333/.385 (.718) with three doubles and a triple. In other words, if the Twins chose to call up the 27-year-old, it would NOT just be a courtesy call-up. He’s earned it. Wilfredo Tovar - 10% - The Twins signed Tovar as a 6-year minor league free agent in the offseason. He is known for his glove at shortstop, but he’s played all three infield spots in his career. In 54 plate appearances this year, he is hitting .292/.358/.333 (.692) with two doubles. He’s also just 24 years old. Also note, Byron Buxton, Max Kepler and Jorge Polanco can’t be recalled to the big leagues for ten days (from when they were sent down) unless a position player were to be added to the disabled list. The Twins may have been surprised when David Murphy decided to opt out of his minor league contract rather than join the Twins, but in my mind, any of the above three players would make more sense to the Twins 25-man roster than Murphy would have. So now it comes down to whether you believe the Twins need to add an outfielder or an infielder for depth. If they want to get down to 12 pitchers again, it’s possible two of these guys could come up for bench depth, but then there would need to be another 40-man roster decision too. Click here to view the article

I'd heard it yesterday, but couldn't get final verification. Just a bit ago, Mike Berardino tweeted that David Murphy had asked for and was granted his release. He's headed back home. So, people can relax now...

I was confused since it is here: http://twinsdaily.com/_/minnesota-twins-news/minnesota-twins/three-bagger-duffeys-debut-struggling-starters-catching-depth-r4640

I bet it wouldn't take a whole lot to add Juan Centeno...

Prosecuted... Terry Ryan should go to jail for it? The move makes little sense to me. I do believe that they thought they would be able to get him through waivers because he was really bad early (and wasn't a prospect in the first place)... but with Murphy struggling so badly, the timing is really unfortunate. Losing Hicks isn't a big deal. And, that "TwinsCentric" thing, is that from Nick's article or where?

TRANSACTIONS: There were a bunch of transactions on Saturday, but a couple more on Sunday. Marcus Walden was promoted to Rochester. Miles Nordgren was promoted to Cedar Rapids with Kuo Hua Lo sent to Extended Spring Training. Catcher Kevin Garcia moved from Extended Spring Training to Ft. Myers. I'd expect we'll hear some more today.

As their parent club was playing nearly two games in one day, all four affiliates of the Minnesota Twins were in action on Sunday afternoon. Three of those teams got strong starting pitching performances in wins, including a couple of shutouts, while another put up nearly as much offense as the other three combined, but came out on the losing end of a back and forth slugfest.To find out where and how it all went down in Sunday’s games, keep reading! RED WINGS REPORT Buffalo 3, Rochester 6 Box Score Left-hander Pat Dean squared off against fellow lefty and old friend Scott Diamond at Frontier Field in Rochester, New York Sunday afternoon, and both were fantastic for most of the game. Diamond shut out the Red Wings for six innings, while Dean held the Bisons to just one run on four hits in seven innings. He struck out two. Rochester tied the game in the seventh after Diamond’s night was done, as Adam Brett Walker led off the inning with a single and promptly stole second base for his first steal of the 2016 season. He was moved to third on a Darin Mastroianni ground- out, and then scored on a Wilfredo Tovar single to knot the game. Brandon Kintzler was brought in to relieve Dean for the top of the eighth and retired the side 1-2-3, bringing Rochester up to bat. They broke the game open by sending nine men to the plate. Jorge Polanco and Reynaldo Rodriguez started the inning with consecutive singles, but a bunt attempt by Juan Centeno erased Polanco at third. David Murphy picked up the slack by delivering an RBI single to put Rochester up. Later in the inning with two outs and the bases loaded, Tovar delivered a ground ball single to third base, and Centeno and Murphy scampered home after the throw was air-mailed to first for an error. A James Beresford triple to left field finished the scoring at five for the inning, and a comfortable 6-1 lead for Rochester. J.R Graham was summoned for the ninth inning and made it somewhat interesting by allowing two runs on two hits and two walks, but he did finish out the game to improve the Red Wings to 7-10 on the season. As a team Rochester pounded out thirteen hits on the day and were 4-12 with runners in scoring position. Beresford (3-5, 3B, 2 RBI), Polanco (2-3, BB), Rodriguez (2-4, R), Murphy (2-4, R, 2B, RBI), and Tovar (2-4, R, 2 RBI) led the offense with multiple hits on the day. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Birmingham 14, Chattanooga 13 Box Score In Chattanooga Sunday afternoon, it was an absolute slugfest as the teams combined for twenty-seven runs on thirty-two hits in a nine-inning game. Both starters failed to pitch more than four innings, and for the Twins that starter was lefty David Hurlburt. The first three innings were not bad, as he allowed two hits including a run-scoring triple in the first, but he did strike out the side; faced the minimum in the second aided by a caught stealing attempt with Stuart Turner behind the plate; and just a single in the third. In the bottom half of those innings, the Lookouts offense put up three, one, and one respectively to put them out front early 5-1. The fourth is where Hurlburt ran into his trouble. A lead-off home run was followed by a walk, three singles and a triple to put the Barons out front 6-5 before Hurlburt was able to finish the inning. On the game Hurlburt threw four innings, allowing the six runs on eight hits and a walk, with six strikeouts. Chattanooga was quick to take back another big lead in the bottom half however, as they sent ten men up to bat before Engelb Vielma was erased at second-base on a steal attempt for the third out. Daniel Palka started the scoring with a single to plate D.J. Hicks, who had doubled earlier. A bases-loaded two-run double from Stuart Turner was followed by a two-run double from Joe Maloney and Vielma’s single before the caught stealing attempt brought in Maloney for six runs on the board in the frame and an 11-6 lead. Brett Lee came on in relief of Hurlburt for the fifth and gave three of those runs back on a single, an RBI double, a walk and a wild pitch; the rally was also aided by a throwing error from third-baseman T.J. White. Only one of those runs was earned. A bases-loaded groundout from White made the score 12-9 heading into the sixth, which was the only clean inning (no runs) of the game. Birmingham tied it the seventh against Corey Williams out for his second inning of work. A single, hit-by-pitch, and walk around a strikeout loaded the bases and brought in Brandon Peterson. He got two strikeouts to finish the three outs, but they were around a bases clearing double for the tying three runs and the runs were charged to Williams. A solo-home run against Peterson put the Barons out front for good in the eighth, and they added a needed insurance run in the ninth against J.T. Chargois, who had come in to the day having pitched five perfect innings to start his season. He was greeted by a lead-off double, his first base runner of the year, and a sacrifice bunt and groundout led to his first run allowed. A single and groundout later marked his first appearance without a strikeout, and Chattanooga was down 14-12 heading into the bottom of the ninth. As could be expected, the Lokouts did all they could to keep the game going, or to end it with one swing. A two-out double from Palka scored Hicks who had singled earlier, and brought in Mitch Garver as a pinch-hitter with the tying run in scoring position. On a 2-2 pitch he struck out swinging to end the game with a loss for the home team, but it was an exciting game all the way through for the three-thousand-plus fans in attendance at AT&T Field. Palka and Harrison each hit their second home runs of the season for the Lookouts and were 4-4 and 3-5 respectively, driving in six runs between them. Palka added two doubles and two walks, reaching base in all six of his plate appearances. Vielma (2-6, R, 3B, RBI), Levi Michael (2-5, 2 R’s, 2BB), and Hicks (2-6, 2 R’s, 2B) each had multiple hits at the top of the order, and Turner and Maloney each had 2 RBIs in the offensive explosion for the Lookouts. MIRACLE MATTERS Charlotte 0, Fort Myers 2 Box Score While there was a ton of offense in Chattanooga, Fort Myers saw another dominating pitching performance from one of their starters. On this day, it was left-hander Randy Rosario dominating an opposing lineup for the Miracle. Rosario allowed base-runners in each of his six-plus innings except the fifth, but stranded all of them as Charlotte was 0-6 with runners in scoring position against him, leaving seven men on base for the game in the process. Luke Bard came on to finish the seventh and added a scoreless eighth. Todd Van Steensel was summoned for the ninth inning and his second save opportunity on the year. He retired the Stone Crabs in order for his second save, and helped improve Rosario to 2-1 on the season along with a 1.02 ERA that is good for second on the team behind Felix Jorge at 0.92. The Miracle’s two runs came on a home run from the rehabbing Danny Santana, and he also scored the other on a single from Alex Real. Santana was 2-4 on the game for his first two hits of his rehab assignment. The only other hit was a single from Chad Christensen, who also drew the only walk on the day for the Miracle. It was more than enough to support the Miracle pitchers who have been outstanding to begin the year and the team improved to 10-8. In total, each of the Miracle’s six starters have now stared three games. This includes Stephen Gonsalves (1-1, 1.89 ERA), Kohl Stewart (1-0, 2.60 ERA), Tyler Jay (1-1, 3.60 ERA), Jorge (1-1, 0.92 ERA), Keaton Steele (0-2, 3.24 ERA), and Rosario (2-1, 1.02 ERA). Collectively they’ve thrown 105.1 innings, allowing just 25 earned runs on 72 hits and 26 walks with 98 K’s; that’s good for a spectacular 2.14 ERA. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 9, Clinton 0 Box Score The Cedar Rapids Kernels imitated the good parts of each of the Chattanooga and Fort Myers games, as they also exploded for sixteen hits on offense and shut out their opponent on pitching and defense. The Kernels put crooked numbers on the scoreboard in each of the second, third, and eighth innings; that included seven singles, a double, and triple for eight of their nine runs. They added a single run in the fifth on an RBI knock from Rafael Valera. Three wild pitches in the eighth inning aided in putting the Kernels final numbers on the board. Cedar Rapids got production throughout the lineup as seven of the nine hitters collected multiple hits, with A.J. Murray and Max Murphy in the three and four spots as the only ones without hits, but Murray did have an RBI and Murphy scored two runs. Valera led the team with two RBIs and the two extra-base hits came from Zander Wiel who was 4-5 with double, triple, one RBI, and two runs scored. Taking the mound for the away team was Cody Stashak; he scattered four hits and two walks in his six innings, striking out four along the way. Michael Theofanopoulos pitched a scoreless seventh, walking one and striking out one. Miles Nordgren finished the final two innings, allowing just one hit with one strikeout. The LumberKings lineup was a combined 5-30 on the game, were 0-5 with runners in scoring position and stranded six. In comparison, Cedar Rapids was 7-19 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine. Stashak improved to 2-0, winning both of his starts so far, and he sports a 1.13 ERA and 0.75 WHIP in his sixteen innings for the Kernels. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – 3-way tie: Cody Stashak, Cedar Rapids Kernels (6.0 IP, 0 R’s, 4 H’s, 2 BB, 4 K’s)Randy Rosario, Fort Myers Miracle (6.1 IP, 0 R’s, 6 H’s, 2 K’s)Pat Dean, Rochester Red Wings (7.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 H’s, 2 K’s)Hitter of the Day – Danial Palka, Chattanooga Lookouts (4-4, 2 R’s, 2 2B’s, HR, 4 RBI, 2 BB’s) MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester – Scheduled day off. Chattanooga @ Mississippi (7:00PM CST) – RHP D.J. Baxendale (1-1, 3.27 ERA) Fort Myers – Scheduled day off. Cedar Rapids – Scheduled day off. Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Sunday’s games. Click here to view the article

He's not transitioning from starter to reliever... fairly significant difference. (That said, I'd been on record and even conversed with a Twins front-office type that I would have taken Fulmer over Jay, not that what I think matters even a little bit... and not like I saw Fulmer pitch, even on TV, more than once.)

It's getting him a game each at the three posiitions he is most likely to play, CF, RF and today he'll start at 3B.

They called up Miles Nordgren from EST today and sent down Kuo Hua Lo. Nordgren had been sent down just a few days ago. Makes me wonder if he had actually gone back to Ft. Myers, or if he was a guy they kept around CR for this type of situation.

Hicks DFA... I think they thought they could pass him through. I assume there are plans in the work for Murphy and possibly Berrios. Murphy's opt-out is in a week. I think it's alright. Maybe unfortunate, but not a loss. Hicks is what he is.

Just over two weeks into the season. It’s still too early to make any grand statements about the players in the 2016 season, but some names are moving to the top in a variety of categories. When it comes to pitching, there are a bunch of very impressive showings, both from starters and out of the bullpen. When it comes to offense, big results have been quite limited to this point. However, it is a long season, or it’s going to be a long season.Stephen Gonsalves was named the Twins Minor League Player of the Week. "Gonsalves made the start Tuesday night vs. Jupiter, allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits in 7.0 innings pitched, with one walk and eight strikeouts, earning the win... Gonsalves has made three starts for the Miracle this season, going 1-1, 1.89 ERA (19.0 IP, 4 ER) with four walks and 18 strikeouts" THE HITTERS (Rate numbers- minimum 42 plate appearances) Plate Appearances - LaMonte Wade (75), Chris Paul (72), Dalton Hicks (70), Nick Gordon/Leonardo Reginnato/Zander Wiel (69), Alex Swim/Zach Granite (68). Batting Average - LaMonte Wade (.344), Nick Gordon (.343), Trey Vavra (.281), Levi Michael (.275), Wilfredo Tovar (.273), Chris Paul (.270) On-Base Percentage - LaMonte Wade/AJ Murray (.400), Levi Michael (.373), Darrin Mastroianni (.364), Nick Gordon (.362), Rafael Valera (.361) Slugging Percentage - LaMonte Wade (.547), Rafael Valera (.500), Nick Gordon (.493), AJ Murray (.447), Trey Vavra (.404), Dalton Hicks (.403) OPS - LaMonte Wade (.947), Rafael Valera (.861), Nick Gordon (.855), AJ Murray (.847), Trey Vavra (.753), Chris Paul (.730) Hits - Nick Gordon (23), LaMonte Wade (22), Chris Paul (17), Trey Vavra (16), Daniel Palka (15), Three with 14. Doubles - LaMonte Wade (6), Nick Gordon/Rafael Valera (5), Chris Paul/Trey Vavra (4), Nine with 3. Triples - Rafael Valera (4), Jorge Polanco (3), LaMonte Wade/Chris Paul/Max Murphy/Edgar Corcino (2). Home Runs - Dalton Hicks (3), Luis Arraez/AJ Murray/Adam Brett Walker (2), 16 with 1. Runs Scored - Rafael Valera (11), Dalton Hicks (10) Chris Paul/Luis Arraez/Tanner English (9), Five with 8. RBI - Chris Paul/LaMonte Wade (10), Dalton Hicks/AJ Murray (9), Nick Gordon/Max Murphy (8), Daniel Palka/Buck Britton (7) SB - Zach Granite (8), Wilfredo Tovar/Tanner English (5), Darin Mastroianni (4), Nick Gordon/Max Murphy (3) THE STARTING PITCHERS (Rate number - minimum 14.0 innings) Innings Pitched: Jason Wheeler (24.0), DJ Baxendale (23.0) Felix Jorge (19.2), Stephen Gonsalves (19.0), Pat Dean/Randy LeBlanc (18.0) ERA: Sam Clay (0.53), Felix Jorge (0.92), Alex Meyer (1.04), JO Berrios (1.06), Tyler Duffey (1.72), Jason Wheeler (1.88), Stephen Gonsalves (1.89) WHIP: Stephen Gonsalves (0.74), Felix Jorge (0.76), Kohl Stewart (0.81), Randy LeBlanc (0.83), Alex Meyer (0.87), JO Berrios (0.94), Jason Wheeler (0.96) K/9: Kohl Stewart (10.9), JO Berrios (10.6), Tyler Jay (10.2), Andro Cutura/Sam Clay (10.1), Alex Meyer (9.9) BB/9: DJ Baxendale (0.4), Jason Wheeler (1.1), Felix Jorge (1.4), Kohl Stewart (1.6), Stephen Gonsalves (1.9), Pat Dean/Randy LeBlanc (2.0) K: Jason Wheeler (22), Kohl Stewart (21), DJ Baxendale/JO Berrios (20), Felix Jorge/Alex Meyer/Sam Clay (19) THE RELIEF PITCHERS (Rate numbers - minimum 5 innings, zero starts) Innings Pitched: Logan Lombana (11.0), Marcus Walden (10.1), Kuo Hua Lo (9.2), Brandon Kintzler/Trevor Hildenberger (9.1), Raul Fernandez (8.2), Brian Gilbert (8.1) ERA: CK Irby/John Curtiss/JT Chargois (0.00), Trevor Hildenberger (0.96), Raul Fernandez (1.04), Buddy Boshers (1.29), Todd Van Steensel (1.35), Corey Williams (1.42) WHIP: JT Chargois (0.00), John Curtiss (0.29), Marcus Walden (0.58), Luke Westphal (0.96), Nick Anderson (1.00), Raul Fernandez (1.04) K/9: John Curtiss (20.6), JT Chargois (16.2), Luke Westphal (12.3), Mike Theofanopoulos (12.2), Luke Bard (11.6), Nick Anderson (10.1) BB/9: JT Chargois/Trevor Hildenberger (0.0), Alex Wimmers/Buddy Boshers (1.3), Nick Anderson (2.2), CK Irby (2.3), Logan Lombana (2.5) K: John Curtiss (16), Logan Lombana/Luke Westphal (10), JT Chargois/Nick Anderson/Luke Bard/Mike Theofanopoulos (9) Saves: Trevor Hildenberger (3), JR Graham (2), 6 with 1. Click here to view the article

What a day i twas in the Twins minor leagues! A starter scheduled to pitch on Saturday instead got the call to the big leagues. A couple more pitchers continued consecutive scoreless innings streaks. One team played an extra innings game. Another team played two games, and one of them went 18 innings.Continue on to read about the pitchers and the hitter highlights from Saturday’s games. TRANSACTIONS On Saturday afternoon, not terribly long before the Red Wings and Twins afternoon starts, we learned that due to a sore back, Ervin Santana will not make his scheduled Sunday start. Instead, Tyler Duffey, who was supposed to start Saturday in Rochester, will come up and start on Sunday in our nation’s capital. Following the Twins game, the move became official. The corresponding move was Jorge Polanco returning to the Red Wings. Also on Saturday, the Detroit Tigers announced that they had claimed catcher John Hicks from the Twins. This would certainly explain the Twins decision a couple of days ago to promote Carlos Paulino to the Red Wings. The Twins 40-man roster is now at 39. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 2, Buffalo 10 Box Score With the Duffey news coming so abruptly this morning, the Red Wings had to scramble. They decided to have RHP Loek Van Mil make the start. The right-hander from The Netherlands went the first two innings and gave up five runs on three hits and three walks. He struck out two. Taylor Rogers then gave up four runs on five hits over the next two innings. He walked one and struck out two. Buddy Boshers calmed things down a bit. The left-hander worked three scoreless innings, striking out four. Dan Runzler gave up two hits and hit another batter, but he gave up just one unearned run (on his own error) over two innings. Offensively, there wasn’t much positive either. The team had just five hits. Reynaldo Rodriguez went 1-3 with a walk and a double. Carlos Paulino made his first Red Wings start of the year and went 1-3 with a double. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 0, Birmingham 6 Box Score Through six innings, this was quite the pitcher's duel between DJ Baxendale and White Sox first-round pick from 2015, Carson Fulmer. The two right-handers had matching lines. They both worked six shutout innings and gave up four hits. Neither walked a batter and they each struck out six. With a scoreless game going into the seventh, Alex Wimmers came into the game. He gave up two runs on four hits in the 7th inning which proved to be enough to take the loss. Nick Burdi made his 2016 debut with a perfect inning. He needed just 12 pitches, nine of them strikes, to get three ground balls. Jake Reed came on for the ninth inning and got the first two batters out. He then issued a walk and it was followed by a double. After that, there were a couple of Engelb Vielma errors and a triple, so Reed was charged with four runs but just one was earned. Offensively the Lookouts had seven hits but were unable to bunch many together. No one had more than one hit, and Dalton Hicks had the only extra base hit, his second double. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 1, Charlotte 0 (11 innings) Box Score Through 10 innings, the Miracle had just one hit, a 5th inning single by Nick Gordon. With one out in the 11th, Brian Navarreto singled. He advanced to second on a balk, and Austin Diemer came in to replace him. One batter later, Edgar Corcino singled him in with the winning run. Just three hits in the game, but a win is a win. The credit goes to the pitchers. Felix Jorge was terrific again. He came in to the game with a consecutive scoreless inning streak of 8.2 innings. With seven shutout innings tonight, his streak will continue in his next start at 15.2 innings. He gave up just four hits, walked one and struck out four. Unfortunately, he left without any run support. Trevor Hildenberger came in. He gave up two hits but no runs over the next two innings. Yorman Landa pitched the 10th and 11th innings and was perfect to get the win. Danny Santana played right field in this game. He led off and got three at-bats. He was 0-3 which means through two rehab games with the Miracle, he is 0-6. He is expected to play third base on Sunday. KERNELS NUGGETS Game 1 - Cedar Rapids 1, Clinton 2 (18 innings) Box Score As a manager or pitching coach preparing for a doubleheader, even knowing the games are seven innings, the worst possible thing is extra innings. It’s not good at all for the pitching staff. In game one, there was little offense and there were double-digit innings. In fact, the two teams were scheduled to play 14 innings combined in the two games, so when Game 1 went into the 14th inning, I would imagine neither manager was real happy about it. Lefty Sam Clay got the starting nod in Game 1. He had thrown six innings and five innings of shutout ball in his first two starts. However, in this game, he gave up a sacrifice fly to the third batter of the game to end that scoreless streak. However, he put in another terrific start. Clay went six innings and gave up just the one run on four hits and a walk. He struck out six. The Kernels managed to tie the game at one in the top of the seventh when Jermaine Palacios singled to score Manuel Guzman. That was it for scoring for a while. The bullpens took over. Kernels closer Nick Anderson struck out four over the next two innings. Logan Lombana came in for the next four innings. He gave up just one hit and struck out six. Kuo Hua Lo got the next four innings. He gave up two hits, walked one and struck out two. Zack Tillery pitched a scoreless 17th inning. He got the first two outs of the 18th as well, but a double was followed by a single and the game was over. The Kernels had ten hits and seven walks in the 18 innings but just couldn’t get a second run to cross home plate. Jermaine Palacios had three hits and a walk. AJ Murray hit his first three doubles and a walk. Rafael Valera went 2-8 with his fifth double. KERNELS NUGGETS Game 2 - Cedar Rapids 0, Clinton 1 Box Score After a five-hour Game 1, the second game started at about 10:45. Dereck Rodriguez started for the Kernels. He went the first five innings and gave up three runs on three hits. He walked three and struck out seven. John Curtiss came in for the sixth. He struck out the side and now has 16 strikeouts in seven innings this year. Offensively, the Kernels had just four hits. JJ Fernandez went 3-3 with his first home run of the year. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Felix Jorge, Ft. Myers Miracle Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – AJ Murray, Cedar Rapids Kernels SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Buffalo @ Rochester (12:35 CST) - LHP Pat Dean Birmingham @ Chattanooga (1:15 CST) – LHP David Hurlbut Charlotte @ Ft. Myers (5:05 CST) – LHP Randy Rosario Cedar Rapids @ Clinton (2:00 CST) – RHP Cody Stashak Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Saturday games. Click here to view the article

And here is the Twins Almanac for the week of April 24th through April 30th. This week in Twins history Paul Molitor and Greg Myers each collected 5 RBI sas the Twins scored a team record 24 runs. Scott Erickson pitched the third no-hitter in Twins history. Camilo Pascual hit his second career grand slam. Harmon Killebrew hit both his first home run as a Twin and his 400th career home run this week in history. Mickey Hatcher tied Tony Oliva’s club record for consecutive hits. And Luke Hughes became the fifth Twin to homer in his first career at-bat. April 24, 1996 5 RBI Game for Both Molitor and Myers Paul Molitor was responsible for 10 of the record 24 runs the Twins scored in a 24-11 win at Tiger Stadium. Molitor went 2-for-5 with a walk, 5 RBIs and 5 runs scored (he reached on two fielder’s choices). Catcher Greg Myers went 5-for-6 with 5 RBIs and 3 runs scored. The Twins jumped out to a 6-1 lead after two innings, but had used three pitchers by the end of the third and trailed 10-7 at the end of four innings. But the Twins kept adding on, outscoring the Tigers 17-1 over the final five innings. They scored in every inning but the fourth, never scoring more than 5 runs in an inning, which they did in the eighth. http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/mjohnso9/20160423_080543_zpsyfgsqcho.jpg April 25, 1961 Fred Bruckbauer Has Career ERA of Infinity With the Twins already trailing 7-2 in Kansas City after three innings, Fred Bruckbauer, a 22-year-old New Ulm native and alumnus of St. Mary’s High School (Sleepy Eye, MN) and the U of M, made his major league debut, coming in to pitch to the Athletics in the bottom of the fourth. Bruckbauer gave up 3 runs on 3 hits and a walk before being pulled without recording an out. Unfortunately, this was Bruckbauer’s one and only big league appearance. Since he never recorded an out, his ERA is infinity. The Twins went on to lose the game 20-2. April 26, 1986 Dome Roof Deflates, Twins Lead Collapses The Twins led the California Angels 5-1 in the bottom of the eighth on a stormy night in Minneapolis when a tear caused the Metrodome roof to deflate. The L.A. Times described the scene, with “80-m.p.h. winds tearing holes in the fiberglass dome and whipping through the stadium, sending speakers and light standards swaying on their cables like yo-yos in a wind tunnel… Above the third base line, a geyser of water shot through a drainage hole in the roof, dousing a handful of spectators.” The roof was re-inflated and, remarkably, the game was only delayed nine minutes. The Twins went on to score once more in the eighth, with Mickey Hatcher driving in Steve Lombardozzi with a sacrifice fly. With a 6-1 lead in the ninth, starting pitcher Frank Viola gave up a leadoff double to Brian Downing and a two-run home run to George Hendrick before being relieved by closer Ron Davis with the Twins still up 6-3. Davis gave up a single and a two-run home runs to the first two men he faced. With one out he walked pinch-hitter Reggie Jackson, representing the tying run. After striking out Bobby Grich for the second out, Ron Davis gave up a go-ahead, two-run homer to Wally Joyner, who had made his major league debut less than three weeks earlier. Tom Brunansky, Roy Smalley and Gary Gaetti went down in order in the bottom of the ninth and the Twins lost 7-6. http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/mjohnso9/20160423_082732_zpsxvhqgjiz.jpg April 27, 1965 Camilo Pascual Hits Second Career Grand Slam Camilo Pascual allowed just 1 run on 2 hits in an 11-1 Twins win on the road in Cleveland. With the Twins already leading 3-0 with two out in the first inning, Pascual hit his second career grand slam, the only grand slam by a pitcher in Twins history. Pascual hit his first grand slam in the Senators’ final season in Washington, on August 14, 1960 in a 5-4 win in the first game of a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium. The Senators won the second game 6-3 in 15 innings. http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/mjohnso9/20160423_081710_zpshkyemg6k.jpg April 27, 1969 Killebrew’s 400th Home Run Harmon Killebrew hit his 400th career home run with two out in the top of the first inning of an afternoon game in Chicago. Down a run in the seventh, Rod Carew hit a two-run homer and pitcher Dave Boswell and the Twins went on to win 4-3. The top of the Twins lineup that day went Tovar, Carew, Killebrew, Oliva, Alison. All told, Killebrew hit 573 home runs, fifth most in baseball history at the time he retired, and still 11th all-time in 2016. He hit 84 home runs as a member of the Washington Senators, 14 as a Kansas City Royal in 1975 and 475 in a Twins uniform. http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/mjohnso9/20160423_082301_zpsolrsofse.jpg April 27, 1994 Scott Erickson No-Hitter Scott Erickson pitched the first no-hitter at the Metrodome, the third no-hitter in Twins history, and the first since Dean Chance threw one in the second game of a doubleheader in Cleveland in 1967. Erickson, who had led the American League with 20 wins and finished second in Cy Young voting in 1991, was coming off of a ‘93 season in which he led the league with 19 losses and 266 hits allowed. The Twins scored in each of the first four innings to lead the Milwaukee Brewers 5-0. Milwaukee’s first baserunner, John Jaha, reached on a hit-by-pitch leading off the 6th. With two out in the ninth, Erickson walked two batters before getting the dangerous Greg Vaughn to fly out to Alex Cole in left. Erickson struck out five Brewers, including the DH Greg Vaughn twice and former Twins catcher, Brian Harper. Kirby Puckett went 4-for-5 with an RBI. http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/mjohnso9/20160423_081915_zpsfqfpv7mp.jpg April 28, 1985 Mickey Hatcher Ties Tony O.’s Consecutive Hit Record Mickey Hatcher went 4-for-5 in a 10-1 Twins win over Oakland at the Metrodome. Having gone 5-for-5 the previous day, Hatcher’s 4 hits tied Tony Oliva’s 1967 team record of 9 consecutive hits. Todd Walker matched the feat in 1998. http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/mjohnso9/20160423_082146_zpsd7b72pmf.jpg April 28, 2010 Hughes Homers in First MLB At-Bat Leading off the top of the third with the Twins already up 2-1 on a Thome home run, Luke Hughes lifted Max Scherzer’s 2-2 pitch to right for an opposite field home run in his first major league at-bat. Hughes originally came up to bat in the second when Delmon Young was thrown out trying to steal third for the third out of the inning. The Tigers would come back and win the game 11-6. Six Twins have homered in their first major league at-bat: Rick Renick, Dave McKay, Gary Gaetti, Andre David, Hughes and Eddie Rosario. Between August 26th and September 20th, 1981, Kent Hrbek, Tim Laudner and Gary Gaetti each homered in their first major league game. April 29, 1962 Twins Hit Six Solo Home Runs In the second game of a doubleheader in Cleveland, the Twins hit six solo home runs, one each by Lenny Green, Don Mincher, Zoilo Versalles and Bill Tuttle, and two by Johnny Goryl. The Twins scored in each inning but the third and ninth and won the game 7-3. The Twins did not hit a home run in game one, winning 8-4. http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/mjohnso9/20160423_082822_zpsjbtlx94n.jpg April 30, 1961 Killebrew’s First HR as a Twin Trailing the White Sox 5-2 in the bottom of the 11th in Bloomington, Harmon Killebrew hit his first home run in a Twins uniform after having hit 84 as a Washington Senator. The White Sox held on to win 5-3 with Bob Shaw pitching all eleven innings. For the history of the Minnesota Twins, told one day at a time, follow @TwinsAlmanac on Twitter, and like The Twins Almanac on Facebook. For the stories of the Major Leaguers who grew up in Minnesota, follow @MajorMinnesota. Click here to view the article

back... And I don't know this, but the whole goal for 2016 for Melotakis is to make sure he gets through the year healthy. Melotakis has struggled some to start the season, shaking off rust... Could just be a good break for him. Or, maybe it's a sore back.

A week before the season, we learned the right-hander Nick Burdi had been shut down for a couple of weeks due to some tightness in his forearm. He has been on a throwing program since and over the last ten days has been pitching an inning at a time in extended spring training games. On Friday, he was activated and is now on the Lookouts roster. Continue on to read about the pitchers and the hitter highlights from Friday night.TRANSACTIONS On Friday, the Lookouts put LHP Mason Melotakis on the disabled list. Nick Burdi was activated. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 8, Buffalo 3 Box Score Adam Brett Walker missed just over a week with an oblique injury. It’s taken him a couple of days to get back to form, but on Friday, he broke out with his best game for the Red Wings. Walker helped the Wings get off to a hot start. They scored four runs in the first inning including two on Walker’s second home run of the year. Walker went 3-4 and added his second double as well. James Beresford got things going with an RBI double. He went 2-4, the double was his third and he had two RBIs. Juan Centeno and Buck Britton each went 2-4. Logan Darnell put together another strong start in front of Terry Ryan. The southpaw went the first six innings. He gave up one run on four hits. He walked two and struck out four. Dan Runzler came in and faced two batters to start the seventh inning. He hit one and gave up a hit. David Martinez got the team out of that mess, but he gave up two runs of his own over the next two innings. JR Graham struck out two in a perfect ninth frame. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 4, Birmingham 0 Box Score Jason Wheeler has certainly had some ups and downs the last couple of years, but on Friday night, he put together one of his best starts. He threw seven shutout innings. He gave up just four hits, walked one and struck out nine to improve to 1-1 with a 1.88 ERA. Marcus Walden came on for the final two innings. He maintained the shutout though he gave up a hit and walked one. He struck out two. Zach Granite led the way with two doubles in three at-bats. Shannon Wilkerson was 2-3 with a double. Dalton Hicks and Engelb Vielma were each 2-3. Hicks stole a base, his second of the year. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 2, Charlotte 4 Box Score On Friday, Keaton Steele went six innings in a game for the first time this year, but he got hit a little bit. In those six innings, he gave up four runs (three earned) on seven hits. He walked one, hit one and struck out four. Luke Westphal came on and pitched a scoreless inning with two strikeouts. He walked one, hit one and gave up a hit. Brian Gilbert struck out two over the final two innings. No surprise, but it was again Nick Gordon who led the offense. The Miracle mustered just six hits and Gordon had three of them and is back up to .349 after a mini-slump. Ryan Walker went 2-3. Trey Vavra added the lone extra base hit, his fourth double of the year. Quick Note - Danny Santana played his first rehab game for the Miracle. He started in center field and led off. He went 0-3 with two strikeouts. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 1, Clinton 5 Box Score After rain won the day on Thursday, the Kernels were back in action on Friday at Clinton. Sam Gibbons had an extra day of rest, but it wasn’t helpful. The right-hander from Australia went six innings, but he gave up five runs. He allowed eight hits, walked two and hit one. He did strike out three batters. CK Irby came on and threw another scoreless inning. He’s started the year with 7.2 shutout frames. Mike Theofanopoulos pitched a scoreless ninth despite a hit and a walk. The Kernels managed just five hits in the game. Manuel Guzman went 2-2 with a walk. LaMonte Wade went 2-4 and his now hitting .368. AJ Murray was 1-2 with a walk. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Jason Wheeler, Chattanooga Lookouts Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Adam Brett Walker, Rochester Red Wings SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Buffalo @ Rochester (12:35 CST) - RHP Tyler Duffey Birmingham @ Chattanooga (6:15 CST) – RHP DJ Baxendale Charlotte @ Ft. Myers (5:05 CST) – RHP Felix Jorge Cedar Rapids @ Clinton (DH @ 5:00 CST) – LHP Sam Clay, RHP Dereck Rodriguez Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Friday games. Click here to view the article

Palka has batted third in every game in which he has started. Maloney did the first two games when Palka was out. Maloney has been batting 6-7 since, most night.

He was sitting 93-95 the whole game. It's not like 94 came out of nowhere. Being able to maintain that velocity for that many pitches is a big deal. This is a process, so as others have said, being able to do this in start 3 is big. He's got four pitches and he's working on all of them while learning this new role. I think he's doing great, especially having started slow the last two games.