Seth Stohs

It's too early in the season to make any grand statements about statistics at this time, but here is our first edition of the Twins Minor League Leaderboard. We are here to recognize these minor league performers, and acknowledge that the guys listed below are off to a strong start.Most weeks, we plan to post a leaderboard of statistical leaders in the Twins farm system. Either Saturday or Sunday morning, we will post the hitting and pitching leaders throughout the system. For rate numbers, my hope is to try to be consistent and fair. My goal is to highlight players who have done well, so this is subject to change. I will look for a representative number of plate appearances or innings pitched. For this first report, three of the affiliates have played ten games while one has played nine games. For hitters, I will set the minimum at 24 plate appearances. For starting pitchers, I will put the minimum at 8.1 innings (just over 4 innings per start). For relievers, I’ll put the number at three innings to start with. Of course, as we get through more weeks, the sample sizes will increase and become more meaningful. However, there’s nothing wrong with noticing which minor leaguers have started out their 2016 seasons strong. THE HITTERS (Rate numbers- minimum 24 plate appearances) Plate Appearances - Leonardo Reginnato/LaMonte Wade (45), Chris Paul (43), Tanner English/Zach Granite (41), Nick Gordon/TJ White/Zander Wiel (40) Batting Average - LaMonte Wade (.417), Luis Arraez (.409), Nick Gordon (.385), Stuart Turner (.364), TJ White/Wilfredo Tovar (.333) On-Base Percentage - LaMonte Wade (.489), Stuart Turner (.481), Luis Arraez (.458), TJ White (.450), Nick Gordon (.400), Wilfredo Tovar (.385) Slugging Percentage - Luis Arraez (.727), LaMonte Wade (.694), Nick Gordon (.590), Jorge Polanco (.563), Dalton Hicks (.529), Stuart Turner/AJ Murray (.520) OPS - Luis Arraez (1.186), LaMonte Wade (1.183), Nick Gordon (.990), Stuart Turner (.981), Jorge Polanco (.877) Hits - LaMonte Wade/Nick Gordon (15), Chris Paul (12), TJ White (!1), Daniel Palka/Trey Vavra (10), 5 with 9. Doubles - LaMonte Wade (6), Nick Gordon (5), Daniel Palka/Stuart Turner/Joe Maloney (3), 5 with 2. Triples - Rafael Valera/Jorge Polanco (3) LaMonte Wade (2), 5 with 1. Home Runs - Dalton Hicks (3), Luis Arraez/AJ Murray (2), 10 with 1. Runs Scored - Rafael Valera (9), Chris Paul/Luis Arraez/Dalton Hicks (8), Tanner English (7), Nick Gordon/TJ White (6). RBI - Dalton Hicks/LaMonte Wade (8), Chris Paul/AJ Murray/Daniel Palka/Buck Britton (6), 3 with 5. THE STARTING PITCHERS (Rate number - minimum 8.1 innings) Innings Pitched: Pat Dean (13.0), Stephen Gonsalves/Kohl Stewart (12.0), DJ Baxendale/Sam Clay/Andro Cutura/RandyLeBlanc/Jason Wheeler (11.0) ERA: Sam Clay/Alex Meyer (0.00), Kohl Stewart (1.50), Jose Berrios (1.80), Tyler Duffey/Pat Dean (2.08), Stephen Gonsalves (2.25) WHIP: Kohl Stewart (0.58), Alex Meyer (0.77), Pat Dean (0.85), Stephen Gonsalves (0.92), Tyler Jay/Andro Cutura/Randy LeBlanc (1.00) K/9: Jose Berrios (11.7), Andro Cutura (11.5), Sam Clay (10.6), Alex Meyer (10.5), Tyler Jay (9.9), Kohl Stewart (9.8) BB/9: DJ Baxendale/Jason Wheeler (0.8), Pat Dean (1.4), Kohl Stewart (1.5), Alex Meyer (1.7), Stephen Gonsalves (2.2) K: Andro Cutura (14), Kohl Stewart/Sam Clay/Jose Berrios (13), Alex Meyer (12), Tyler Jay (11), Stephen Gonsalves (10) THE RELIEF PITCHERS (Rate numbers - minimum 3 innings zero starts) Innings Pitched: Marcus Walden (6.2), Jake Reed/Brandon Kintzler/CK Irby/Logan Lombana (6.0), Trevor Hildenberger/Brian Gilbert (5.2) ERA: CK Irby/Luke Westphal/Corey Williams/John Curtiss/Todd Van Steensel/JT Chargois/JR Graham (0.00), Trevor Hildenberger (1.69) WHIP: JT Chargois (0.00), John Curtiss (0.25), Luke Westphal (0.43), Marcus Walden (0.60), JR Graham (0.67), Cody Stashak (0.75) K/9: JT Chargois/John Curtiss (18.0), Luke Westphal (15.4), Mike Theofanopoulos (12.3), Mason Melotakis (12.0), Yorman Landa (10.8) BB/9: Alex Wimmers/Trevor Hildenberger/JT Chargois (0.0), Nick Anderson (1.8), Luke Westphal (1.9), Cody Stashak/John Curtiss (2.2) K: Luke Westphal/John Curtiss (8), CK Irby/Brandon Kintzler (7), Trevor Hildenberger/JT Chargois/Jake Reed (6) Saves: Trevor Hildenberger (3), JR Graham (2), 6 with 1. Click here to view the article

I don't see that as a negative at all. He's still well under the average age. Best thing for him. We complain about him not striking batters out and then about him not moving up fast enough. Let's let him repeat for a 1/2 season and see how that K rate is looking. Let's let him adjust at the appropriate pace.

Seems like that should be 94 PITCHES... I'll make the correction. Thanks!

I remember that Kubel Grand Slam. It was hit so high, and came down just on the other side of the tarp in right. Big comeback, and it was awesome!

I know, right? But apparently the World All Stars seem to think they can beat the Globetrotters once and take over!

He was really bad at SS last year too. He's young. I actually thought he looked alright there this spring. The errors are obviously not ideal (neither is his sub-.200 average). We're not worried about the bat yet, so let's not jump overboard on the glove either. Sounds like an excuse, but guys from Latin America and from the southern half of hte US have never experienced weather like there was. It is an excuse, but it's also a legit thing. Have to adjust to so many things. At least a couple were throws. Also, the conditions of the GCL Twins field are pristine... Etown field known for being bad. Cedar Rapids has a very good grounds crew. The best field they'll play on is Hammond Stadium though.

Yup, he's had an oblique strain for 4-5 days. Hasn't played. Murphy is also getting a few at bats before joining the big league team. He's not there to play AAA. He's there to get himself ready for MLB.

The Twins won for the second straight day and at 2-9, they have the same record they had in 1991 through 11 games! In the minor leagues, the Cedar Rapids Kernels continue to play well. They were the lone Twins affiliate to win their game on Saturday, but there were several prospects with strong games. Check them out!I apologize for the lateness in this report today. On Saturday morning, I picked up my daughter and she and I went to Grand Forks to watch the Harlem Globetrotters take on the World All-Stars. You may be surprised to learn that the Globetrotters were able to come back in the final minute to win the game. For what it’s worth (this isn’t minor league related, so I apologize again), it was an amazing show for a dad and his nine-year-old daughter. We had a great time, but I got home late and couldn’t keep my eyes open. TRANSACTIONS On Saturday morning, the Twins officially announced that Ryan O’Rourke had been promoted to take Fernando Abad’s roster spot while he is on bereavement. Shannon Wilkerson was removed from the disabled list and returned to action with the Lookouts. Mike Strong was placed on the disabled list to make room. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 5, Lehigh Valley 8 Box Score The Red Wings offense was solid throughout the game, but some rough middle innings on the mound was their undoing in this game. Jose Berrios was back on the mound for his second start of the season. He needed 94 pitches (58 strikes) to get through five innings. He gave up just two runs (one earned) on three hits and three walks. He struck out four. Dan Runzler came in for the fourth inning. He gave up four runs (three earned) on four hits and a walk in the sixth. He struck out two. Brandon Kintzler gave up two runs on three hits over two innings. He struck out two. Kennys Vargas and James Beresford each went 2-4 with a double. Wilfredo Tovar hit his second double (and stole his second base). Jorge Polanco added his third triple. Buck Britton hit his first home run. David Murphy went 0-4 in his second Red Wings game. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 5, Jackson 9 Box Score It was a rough evening for Ryan Eades. He pitched a scoreless inning in the first, but he allowed multiple runs in each of the next three innings. In 3.2 innings, he gave up eight runs on 11 hits and a walk. He was replaced by Brett Lee who gave up a run on a hit and two walks in 1.1 innings. He struck out one.Marcus Walden, gave up no runs and no hits over two innings. He did walk a batter, hit one and struck out two. Corey Williams pitched a scoreless inning. He gave up a hit and walked two, but he also struck out two. Jake Reed struck out two in a perfect inning. After posting three hits on Friday night, TJ White went 2-4 with his first AA double and two RBI. Stuart Turner continued to perform at the plate. He went 1-2 with two walks and drove in two. Dalton Hicks went 1-3 with a walk. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 4, Daytona 6 Box Score The Miracle allowed runs in just two innings on Saturday, and yet the team was not able to come back from it. Logan Wade went 2-4. Tanner English hit his second double. Ryan Walker added his first triple. Keaton Steele gave up three runs on six hits and three walks in five innings. He struck out seven. All three runs came in the third inning. Brian Gilbert worked the next two innings. He gave up three runs on two hits and a walk. They all came in the seventh. Luke Westphal came on and struck out two in the eighth. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 7, Clinton 0 Box Score The Kernels grabbed a single run in the bottom of the first, added three more in the third and kept piling on runs. As important, three pitchers combined for a shutout. Luis Arraez did not homer in the first inning for the first time in three games. However, he did single and later scored on a triple from LaMonte Wade. Arraez went 3-5 with his first double. Wade went 2-2 with his sixth double and second triple. He also was hit by a pitch and hit a sacrifice fly. AJ Murray led the way. He went 3-4 with his second home run. Sean MIller added his first home run of the year. Sam Clay got the start on the mound. The southpaw gave up six hits walked one and hit one, but he did not allow a run in five innings. Logan Lombana maintained the shutout despite giving up two hits, walking one and hitting two batters over two innings. John Curtiss hit one, but struck out four, in two hitless, scoreless innings. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Sam Clay, Cedar Rapids Kernels Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – TJ White, Chattanooga Lookouts SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Lehigh Valley (12:35 CST) - LHP Logan Darnell Chattanooga @ Mississippi (5:00 CST) – LHP Jason Wheeler Ft. Myers @ Daytona (4:35 CST) – RHP Felix Jorge Clinton @ Cedar Rapids (2:05 CST) – RHP Dereck Rodriguez Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Saturday games. Click here to view the article

More important, a couple of people, decision makers in the front office choose to say that they think he can get back to 2014 form. Whether that means he starts for the Twins or works out of the bullpen, letting him start in AAA is a good decision.

Pitched into the 7th.

It's from last night. And, that may be the case, but it worked last night, so we'll see if that's part of his issue or part of his answer...

Yes, this is the Twins Minor League Report but I think today we can start with a Major League Update. The Twins Won!! That may be the most important story, but down in Rochester, there was another very good and potentially very important story for the Twins. Right-hander Alex Meyer made his first start with the Miracle in almost a year. Nick Gordon had another big game and helped the Miracle to another win. It was a good night to be a Twins fan and a good night in the Twins system.TRANSACTIONS Fernando Abad left the team to be with his family at his grandmother’s funeral in the Dominican Republic. He was put on the Bereavement List. Ryan O’Rourke will likely be summoned from Rochester before Saturday’s game, assuming he gets to the Twin Cities in time. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 2, Buffalo 1 Box Score The story of the night, without question, was the performance of right-hander Alex Meyer. It was just under a year ago that Meyer - who was one of the International League’s top starting pitcher in 2014 - was moved to the bullpen to work on control and command. 2015 was a tough year for the hard-thrower, but when he was sent down from big league spring training the decision was made to give him another shot as a starter. Then weather postponements delayed his first start of the season, but he worked on Saturday in the Red Wings home opener and recorded the save with four shutout innings following Jose Berrios. On Friday night, he made his first start and it went quite well. The right-hander threw 6.1 innings of three-hit, shutout baseball. He struck out eight. Maybe the most important thing is that he walked zero. He also hit 99 mph on the radar gun a few times. He threw 87 pitches and 57 of them were strikes. It’s about as well as anyone could have hoped, and it’s certainly something he can build on. In his next start, he’ll be building upon 10.1 scoreless innings to start the year. He left the game and Ryan O’Rourke ran in to the mound. He threw just one pitch and got the batter to fly out to left field. Loek Van Mil came on to get the final out of the seventh inning. Van Mil gave up a hit to start the eighth inning, and JR Graham came in to replace him. Graham allowed the runner to score on a double but buckled down and got out of the inning with a 2-1 lead. In the ninth, he did not allow a run and recorded his second save. Jorge Polanco was batting third. With two outs in the first inning, Jorge Polanco hit a solo home run to give the Red Wings the lead. Newcomer David Murphy struck out in his first at-bat, but he hit singles off lefty Wade LeBlanc in his next two at-bats. Following one of his singles, John Hicks crushed a double off the wall in left field to advance Murphy to third base. Wilfredo Tovar came up and hit a slow bouncer down the third base line that hit the bag for a single and allowed the second run to score. Tovar was also 2-3 in the game. The Red Wings improved to 4-4 on the season. They’ll send Jose Berrios to the mound on Saturday night in Lehigh Valley where we assume Thrylos will be in attendance and provide us with a report. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 3, Jackson 6 Box Score Aaron Slegers struggled a bit early. The Lookouts fell behind and were unable to quite get back. The lanky right-hander went the first four innings. He gave up two runs on six hits. He walked three and struck out one. Alex Wimmers came on and gave up two runs on three hits over two innings. He struck out two. Mason Melotakis worked his third game and for the third time allowed at least one run. In this game, he gave up a run on four hits. Brandon Peterson came on and gave up one run on one hit and one walk over two innings. The Lookouts scored their first run on a ground out from Zach Granite. In the sixth inning, Dalton Hicks hit his team-leading third home runs of the season. Mitch Garver added his first double. The Lookouts are now 3-6 on the season. Ryan Eades will make his second start on Saturday. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 6, Daytona 5 (10 innings) Box Score The Miracle got ahead, then gave back the lead, but they found a way to get a win. Tyler Jay made his second start of the season. He allowed a solo home run in each of the first two innings, but he settled down after that. In total, he went five innings. He gave up two runs on three hits. He walked one and struck out four. 48 of his 73 pitches were strikes. Jay was replaced by Luke Bard who has been unhittable early this season. It wasn’t his best outing. He gave up two runs on two hits and a walk while striking out one. Todd Van Steensel gave up one hit in his scoreless innings. Yorman Landa struck out three in the eighth. He also pitched the ninth inning, looking for the save. Unfortunately, after getting the first two outs, he walked two and gave up a game-tying single before Tanner English threw out a runner at third to end the inning. When the Miracle grabbed the lead again in the 10th, Trevor Hildenberger came on and recorded his third save of the young season. He gave up a single but struck out two in the inning. Nick Gordon led the offense. He went 3-5 with a couple of big hits. His two-run homer in the eighth inning gave the Miracle the lead. He also led off the 10th inning with a double and scored on a double off the bat of Trey Vavra. Earlier in the game, Vavra singled to extend his hitting streak to eight games. It was his first multi-hit game. Tanner English extended his hitting streak to five games. He went 2-5 with his first double of the season. Logan Wade had a big RBI triple. Alex Swim added a double and Edgar Corcino walked twice. The Miracle improved to 6-3 on the season. Keaton Steele goes on Saturday. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 5, Clinton 11 Box Score For the second straight game, Luis Arraez led off the bottom of the Kernels first inning with a home run. It was his second home run of the season and the second home run of the 19-year-old’s professional career. He went 2-4 with a walk in the game. Zander Wiel went 1-3 with two walks. Max Murphy and LaMonte Wade each had a walk and a double. Sam Gibbons got off to a tough start. He gave up five runs in the first inning. He stayed in though and was charged with seven runs (four earned) on 11 hits and a walk in 4.2 innings. He struck out five. Mike Theofanopoulos came on and gave up four runs (three earned) on five hits and a walk in 1.2 innings. He struck out two. Kuo Hua Lo pitched well. He threw 2.2 scoreless innings and gave up three hits. Jermaine Palacios committed two more errors and has five on the season already. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Alex Meyer, Rochester Red Wings Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Nick Gordon, Ft. Myers Miracle SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Lehigh Valley (5:35 CST) - RHP Jose Berrios Jackson @ Chattanooga (6:15 CST) – RHP Ryan Eades Ft. Myers @ Daytona (6:05 CST) – RHP Keaton Steele Clinton @ Cedar Rapids (4:05 CST) – Sam Clay Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Friday games. Click here to view the article

Thought this was pretty interesting... and good... https://twitter.com/SethTweets/status/721039100292108288

http://www.captivephotons.com/Events/Miracle/Players/Kohl-Stewart/i-x2H9DtL/A Since that didn't work, click here: http://www.captivephotons.com/Events/Miracle/Players/Kohl-Stewart/i-x2H9DtL/A

Hurlbut isn't a strikeout guy. AA and AAA hitters aren't going to miss it. Hurlbut needs his control because those are good pitches in keeping the ball off of the meat of the opponent's bats, getting weak contact. He tops out at about 90-91, so he's not blowing anyone away.

Probably a 2B only. OK defense.

Just a DH day. It can be a challenge at AAA creating lineups. For instance, James Beresford has played pretty much only 2B the last few years. For him to come back, he wants a real chance with the Twins. That means playing him all over, so he has. Lots of guys like that. Pretty much the Twins don't think that Polanco can be an every day SS and more of a 2B. He could play some 3B. But, Thursday was just a DH day.

I 100% guarantee that what I bolded is NOT the issue. Buxton is s a very focused young man. He''s struggling on a number off levels right now, but focus is not one of them. Effort is none of them.

He's very interesting, especially because of his age. I admit that I was quite surprised to see him star the season in Cedar Rapids. And then he didn't start the first two games of the season, so I figured maybe he was there to learn for a couple of months until the E-Town season begins. That's still possible, but if he keeps playing well, he'll stick. Ironically, aside from TJ White, Manuel Guzman was the key during the 8 days I was in Ft. Myers who jumped out to me. Solid middle infield glove. Terrific speed. Not a big guy. Good approach at the plate. Nice line-drive swing. He often was kept around for the AAA or AA game and would get a couple of ABs, and he looked calm in the box and slapped several singles. I thought Guzman would start in CR with Arraez in EST. Now they're both there. Both are little ,and so is Jermaine Palacios, but all three know how to hit.

JT Chargois is close. No question about that. I think he could come up at any time. Too early to have him jump ahead of JR Graham right now, but if Graham struggles and Chargois does well, I think he could certainly move up anytime. I like Meyer starting as well. I think that he gets stretched out, he gets to work on all three pitches and he gets to pitch in more situations. I think the rhythm comment you made is a good one too. I also think it's way too early to call Duffey a bust.

I would think you are not alone in this opinion.

Taylor Rogers, an eleventh-round pick in 2012 out of the University of Kentucky, made his MLB debut this afternoon against the Chicago White Sox. Rogers pitched 0.2 innings and gave up just one hit. Rogers spent all of 2015 with the Red Wings as a starter, compiling an 11-12 record with a 3.98 ERA. Finished off the 2015 season with 25 innings in the Arizona Fall League, going 2-2 with a 2.88 ERA but struggled with command walking 11 hitters. Rogers made just one appearance (out of the bullpen) for the Red Wings in 2016, pitching two scoreless innings. Transaction Report: As Seth wrote earlier today, the Twins signed MLB veteran outfielder David Murphy to a minor league deal, and he'll be reporting to Rochester on Friday. Rochester also activated Stephen Wickens from the DL. Chattanooga added infielder TJ White from Fort Myers to replace shortstop Engelb Vielma, who went to the DL with a hamstring strain. The TJ White promotion resulted in a chain of moves with Chris Paul being promoted to Fort Myers from Cedar Rapids, and Manuel Guzman joining Cedar Rapids from extended spring training.Continue reading to find out more detail about Thursday in the Twins farm system: RED WINGS REPORT Rochester @ Buffalo Bisons Box Score Rochester was in Buffalo on Thursday afternoon facing the Buffalo Bisons and former Minnesota Twins pitcher Scott Diamond. Scott Diamond gave the Bisons a workman like 7.0 innings of six hit, one run ball to go along with six strikeouts, really keeping the Red Wings' bats at bay. Only Buck Britton (on of my favorite names in the Twins farm system) managed more than one hit. He had two, one was the Red Wings' only extra base hit of the day, a run scoring double in the top of the 6th inning to give Rochester a short-lived lead. Britton was a one man machine for the Red Wings. Big bopper Kennys Vargas was 0-3 with a walk and no strike outs. Also a one-man show - Pat Dean. Pat Dean pitched 8.0 innings of 5 hit, 2 run ball (1 earned) and was charged with the loss to fall to 0-2 despite a shiny 2.08 ERA. Dean induced 14 ground ball outs, but did not record a single strikeout. Dean was cruising through five before a Dalton Pompey double followed by an Andy Burns RBI single knotted the game at 1-1. An inning later, Jesus Montero (yes, that Jesus Montero) reached on a throwing error by third basement Heiker Meneses and was eventually doubled in by Junior Lake, giving the Bisons the lead, and ultimately the ball game. Final: Red Wings 1, Bisons 2 Alex Meyer will make his first start of the 2016 season on Friday. Meyer has previously pitched 4.0 scoreless innings of relief on April 10th against Scranton. LOOKOUTS LOOK-IN Jackson Generals @ Chattanooga Box Score After his first game back at third base since 2014 last night, Travis Harrison was back in the outfield on Thursday night. He finished the evening 1-5 and is hitting just .214 on the year. Daniel Palka came into Thursday's game with a team-leading four-game hitting streak and extended his streak to five games with an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth. Mitch Garver was the big offensive force for the Lookouts, their only multi-hit player of the evening, going 2-3 with two walks, an RBI and a strikeout. The real story of this game isn't just these individual performances, but the way the team rallied, down six runs. The Lookouts got a big crooked number in the sixth with five runs, and four more in the seventh to come from behind and take the game 11-8. With just one hitter with multiple hits, this was a big team effort. David Hurlbut, the only Lookouts starter to record a decision in every game he started last year, left Thursday's game without a decision. Hurlbut pitched 4.0 innings, surrendering five runs (just two earned), on six hits, two walks, a home run and three strikeouts. In addition to 17 starts for Chattanooga in 2015, Hurlbut also threw briefly for the Miracle after starting the season on the DL, and made a spot start for the Rochester Red Wings. Hurlbut throws a 90+ mph fastball and will mix in a cutter, change and slider. Hurlbut gave way to Mike Strong in the top of the fifth with Chattanooga down 5-2. Strong gave up a double and then walked the next two batters he faced before being lifted for Corey Williams. All three of Strong's runners would eventually come around to score before the inning was over. With the Lookouts down 8-2, the pitching staff shut down the Generals for the next four innings. Corey Williams would pitch two scoreless innings, Jake Reed earned the W with two scoreless innings of his own and J.T. Chargois picked up his first save of the year with a scoreless ninth inning. Final: Generals 8, Lookouts 11 MIRACLE MATTERS Brevard County Manatees @ Fort Myers Box Score Tanner English led off the bottom of the first inning with a solo home run to left center field. The Miracle added two more runs in the inning to go out in front 3-0 and held the lead the rest of the way. As a team, Fort Myers racked up 13 hits and 5 walks to counter seven strikeouts. Tanner English was 2-4 with that home run, a single and a walk. Logan Wade had a multi-hit night as well, 2-5 with an RBI. Chad Christensen and Austin Diemer also had a pair of hits. Diemer also added a stolen base. Defensively, the Miracle had a poor night, kicking things off with a fielding error by third basement Chris Paul on the first hitter of the night. The Miracle commited three more errors in the first six innings. Kohl Stewart, starting his second game of the year, was unfazed by the poor defense behind him, going 6.0 innings with 6 strikeouts and just one walk. Stewart allowed just one hit and moved his record to 1-0 while lowering his ERA to 1.50. Raul Fernandez replaced Stewart and covered the seventh and eighth innings without allowing an earned run, but not without some trouble, walking three batters, allowing a pair of hits and being charged with an unearned run. Brian Gilbert allowed another run in the ninth, walking one, giving up one hit, and he stuck out one. Final: Manatees 2, Miracle 7 KERNELS KORNER Clinton Lumber Kings @ Cedar Rapids Box Score The Lumber Kings put a run on the board in the top of the first inning to put the Kernels down 1-0, but they rallied in the bottom half of the inning with three runs of their own. Kernels starting pitcher Andro Cutura allowed one more run in the top of the third, but otherwise pitched a very solid 6.0 innings. Cutura gave up just two hits, walked two, struck out six and was charged with two runs (one earned). Cutura is now 2-0 for the Kernels with a 2.45 ERA. Cutura was replaced by C. K. Irby who pitched two scoreless innings of relief and Nick Anderson finished the game for Cedar Rapids to seal the victory. The Kernels leadoff man Luis Arraez put on a show with a home run and a pair of singles as part of a 3-4 night with two runs scored and two RBIs. Rafael Valera and LaMonte Wade, hitting second and third, were each 2-4, giving the Kernels seven hits from the top of their order. Sean Miller, the number eight hitter, also picked up a pair of hits, going 2-3 with two runs scored. All told the Kernels had 11 hits, four for extra bases. Final: Lumber Kings 3, Kernels 7 TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day - Luis Arraez - Cedar Rapids Kernels Pitcher of the Day - Kohl Stewart - Fort Myers Miracle FRIDAY'S PROBABLES Rochester @ Buffalo (5:05pm, MiLB.tv) - Alex Meyer (0-0, 0.00) vs. Wade LeBlanc Jackson @ Chattanooga (6:15pm) - Sam Gaviglio vs. Aaron Slegers (0-0, 3.00) Fort Myers @ Daytona (6:05pm) - Tyler Jay (1-0, 1.80) vs. TBD Clinton @ Cedar Rapids (6:35pm) - Kyle Wilcox vs. Sam Gibbons (1-0, 1.80) Please ask questions and discuss the Thursday games. -ERolf Click here to view the article