Seth Stohs

A fan/writer in the stands at Veteran’s Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids was watching a group of six or seven Kernels players working in the batting cage on bunting for hits. It was five hours before game time. Manager Jake Mauer was observing. Twins minor league hitting coordinator Bill Springman was feeding the pitching machine. Hitting coach Tommy Watkins was joyfully encouraging the players, but the 34-year-old former Twins infielder put his money where his mouth was. He took a regular spot in the group and managed to bunt the ball three feet in from the third base foul line every time. Only twice did he bunt the ball elsewhere, and those were the two times he pushed a bunt to within two feet of the first base line. all Tommy Watkins photos by Steve Buhr All the while, Watkins exuding passion for the game, encouraging the players to work but be sure to have fun as they’re doing it. As his friend and Kernels manager Jake Mauer said, “I wish these guys would have had a chance to see him play, the energy and how he went about his business, and just his overall attitude to the game. It’s the reason he got there, without a doubt.” Watkins’ career path has been rather non-traditional. That he became a big leaguers, even if just for two weeks, is remarkable. He grew up in Ft. Myers where baseball can be played all year long. However, it wasn't his lone priority growing up. Watkins said, "There is a lot of baseball in Florida, but I played football in high school, so I never got a chance to play year round like a lot of people do. I played football and I had a job. I worked in the summer. So I never played in the fall or the summer. I just played during the (high school) baseball season. I actually got a chance my senior year to play in a couple of tournament games, maybe a weekend or two. Now they go every weekend and play all the time. Definitely I think the people in Florida take advantage of being able to play baseball year round." On the gridiron, Watkins said he played wide receiver and linebacker, "two positions that don't go together." The Twins used their 38th round pick in June of 1998 on the infielder. He recalled, "I didn't hear much about it. I really didn't have any offers to go to college. I ended up getting a call the day of the draft in school. I had in my mind that I wanted to sign. I thought that's what I wanted to do." He signed just a couple of days later. "I didn't know much about minor league baseball when I signed. I thought I was going to Minnesota. Little did I know... " Little did he know the journey he was about to embark on. It began with two seasons in the Gulf Coast League. In 2000, he moved up to Elizabethton, Tennessee. In 2001, he was a 21 year old playing for Quad Cities in the Midwest League. He spent two full seasons with the Ft. Myers Miracle. He spent 2004 and 2005 with the New Britain Rock Cats. He began 2006 back in New Britain before getting a callup to Rochester in mid-June. He became a very popular personality wherever he played. Morrie Silver, who is in the Red Wings front office was happy to talk about Tommy Watkins, "Tommy was known as The Mayor in Rochester. His efforts in the community were truly unbelievable. Besides his countless Little League visits, I remember Tommy coming into our front offices here in Rochester and getting on the phone to sell tickets after bringing our staff Dunkin' Donuts. Tommy cared for everyone in Rochester. It didn't matter who you were. He treated everyone like he was the most important person there. Tommy comes to Thanksgiving at my house and he just brings a different vibe to Rochester. It's truly amazing. When he had his shoulder surgery, he stayed at our house and still did everything he could in the community. Tommy Watkins is a one of a kind. He's the kind of person that doesn't come around." Similar stories about Watkins are told everywhere he has played or coached. He spent 2007 with the Red Wings. In early August, he made a phone call to his dad. He recalled, "I wasn't struggling, but I wasn't feeling right at the plate. 'I'm never going to get a chance.' He said 'Just keep playing and having fun.'" The Red Wings were in Syracuse, and GM Terry Ryan happened to be in town. Watkins and most of his teammates were at the batting cage taking some cuts before the game. The team's trainer came to the cage with a message for the players. They had a team meeting right away. As Watkins tells it, "We used to try to have one once a month. We had a meeting a couple of days before." They picked up the baseballs and headed to the clubhouse where the manager spoke. As Watkins continued, "Stan (Cliburn), our manager, was talking to everybody about baseball and how time flies. He remembered Barry Bonds in winter ball or something and he had just hit his 650th home run the night before. Terry Ryan's in town, and he's got something he'd like to say to you guys." Watkins continued to recount the story, "So Terry started talking to us about the Twins organization and how they like to promote from within. He said that Brian Buscher was going going on the DL, and one of you guys is going to the big leagues. It felt like an hour before he said it. So when he said it, my heart just kind of sank. He said, 'Tommy Watkins, you're going to the big leagues.' Everybody in the clubhouse started screaming and yelling and clapping. They all came over and I was just bawling, crying." Players started yelling, "Speech!" Watkins acknowledged, "I can't! I couldn't say anything." Terry Ryan came over to Watkins to congratulate him but also to tell him he wasn't getting called up just to be a big story. "Terry came over and said 'Congratulations, and it'll probably be a big story, you've been in the minor leagues forever. You're going up there to help the team, not to be a story. Don't worry about BP. Get out of here. Go call your dad, your mom and tell them.' So, I called my dad and my mom. I called them both." This conversation with his father was a little different than the one several days earlier. His father said, "WHAT? You're doing what?" Ten years in the minor leagues. All those stops. Dream fulfilled. In fact, he contributed to the team. After pinch-hitting in his debut, and going 0-3 two days later against the Angels, he made a start on August 15th in Seattle. He went 2-4. His first hit came off of Jarrod Washburn. "It was the first pitch. It was up. It was my second at-bat. Fastball up, and I hit it to centerfield." He went on to start the next six games at third base and had at least one hit in each of them. Unfortunately, an injury put him on the disabled list and ended his season. In his nine games, he went 10-28 and hit .357/.438/.357 (.795). He didn't get back to the big leagues again, but he knew what he wanted to do after his playing career. "I played two more years after that year in AAA. The playing time went down a lot. I always knew when I got done playing that I wanted to coach. So, I think it was an easy transition for me to go from player to coach. I knew if I ever got the chance to coach third base, I would. I ended up going down to Florida in August and helped Jake out with the GCL. At night, I would go over to the Florida State League games. So I was doing both of those things for a month. I really got to see another part of the baseball. I still enjoyed it. It was still fun to go to the park." So his learning continued. "I did the Instructional League that year. I left Florida and went to Arizona for scout school (where I) learned how to scout and write reports. I went back and finished Instructional League and then they offered me the job, hitting coach in Beloit." Tommy Watkins is now in his fifth season as the Twins Low-A Midwest League hitting coach. The first three years were in Beloit, and the last two have been in Cedar Rapids. The last two years, he has coached with Jake Mauer. Mauer said, "Tommy keeps it simple. He doesn't try to overload guys with complex terms and really complicate things. He really keeps things simple. He works more on approach. A lot of these guys have ability, no doubt. It's how you approach it, and how you're going to be able to use that ability that is going to make the difference." There are many difficulties in being a minor league hitting coach. The job has many roles, starting with hitting. Here are some of his thoughts on his role. Batting Stance: "Everybody is different. We try to stick to some basic things like getting your foot down on time, reading a pitch and reacting to it. Try to keep it simple. I think the main thing is making sure they're on time. Everybody has a different batting stance. Everybody's hands are different, but when the hands are ready to fire, they should be in a similar position. Just making sure they get to that position, being on time and they recognize the pitch." Approach: "I like to talk a lot about approach too. How do you approach different guys. Lefties down and away, you don't want to pull the ball, that kind of stuff. We get into mechanics a little, but it's the mental side too." When it comes to scouting, Watkins says things are getting better: "We'll get a lot of what they throw in different counts and stuff like that. What they throw for strikes and balls. We play a lot of these guys a lot. If a guy gets up in the bullpen, we'll say, he's got this and this, tries to do this to me." Motivational: "I try to be motivational. That's the way I played. I had to play like that, with a lot of energy. You try to get the guys to have a little of energy. It's fun to win. When you win, there should be a lot of energy, and I think we're getting to that point." Watkins and Mauer have been long-time friends. As Watkins said, "We played together for five years. We used to room together a lot. He used to boss me around then, and he's still doing it again. We've become good friends over the years. I was actually in his wedding in 2008. I was still playing. He had started coaching. We've been good friends for a long time." He also has a lot of respect for the Kernels' manager. "He does a good job of trusting his coaching staff and letting his staff work. Same thing with Ivan (Arteaga) and Gary Lucas last year. He'd tell them, you're the pitching coach. You spend the most time with them. They're your guys. He does the same with me. If he wants to work with somebody, I never have a problem with that. I trust him to do whatever. He's the boss anyway. I trust him to do whatever he's got to do." The respect is mutual as Mauer described Watkins as a coach. "Tommy's a baseball guy. He's been around it a long time. He's very prepared for what he does. In the offseason, they'll send him down to the Dominican where they'll have him work with the kids. Tommy has been very valuable hitting guy, and he's going to be a really good manager someday too." When asked how he evaluates himself at the end of the year, he noted that it had to be more than simply about the statistics. "It's not stats-based. I'll look at the stats a little bit. I saw we were in the top six in hitting. It's knowing that I did my job in trying to get every guy better, which is good for me. We may not be in the top of hitting, or the top of fielding, but maybe our record's not as good. If you know you left everything out there and you gave it your all, just like a player, when the season's over, when you're career's over, you don't want to be like, I wish I would have done this. I wish I would have done that." In doing so, Watkins has become more prepared each season. He wants to continue to improve. As you would expect, he has big goals. "I'd love to coach in the big leagues. Manage. Coach first base, coach third base. Whatever it may be. It's something that I've always wanted to do, whether it's as a player or a coach." It is a realistic goal. He has earned everyone's respect over time. He's certainly a guy to continue to root for. The Twins hung on to beat Cleveland on Monday so today you can get a half-price large or extra-large pizza at PapaJohns.com by using the code 'TWINSWIN'.

The Twins lost on Saturday to David Price and the Rays by a score of 5-1. The positive for the Twins was that they were able to turn five double plays in the game. In other words, it could have been worse. They will try today to avoid the sweep. Trevor May returned to the mound for the Red Wings after missing almost a month. JO Berrios made his second start for New Britain and was tremendous. A couple streaks came to their ends. Continue reading to see what happened in the Twins minor leagues on Saturday: RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 2, Norfolk 4 Box Score Trevor May returned to the mound for the first time in almost a month. The right-hander gave up one run on three hits and a walk in three innings. Mark Hamburger came on and threw two shutout innings, walking one. Edgar Ibarra pitched a scoreless sixth inning. However, in the 7th frame, he gave up a single and a walk before being replaced by AJ Achter. Achter issued a walk to load the bases. He got a pop up for the first out, but then he walked another batter to force in a run. The next batter hit a two-run single to make the score 4-0. Achter got the next two outs. In that inning, Chris Herrmann had to leave the game after being hit by a foul tip on his right hand. Deolis Guerra struck out two in a perfect eighth inning. James Beresford went 2-4 with his 17th double. He drove in both the team's runs. He now has a seven-game hitting streak and he has two hits in each of his last four games. Chris Rahl also had two hits. It was the team's seventh straight road loss. They are now 20-29 on the road (and 34-18 at home). 18 of their next 24 games will be on the road. ROCK CATS REVIEW Game 1 - New Britain 0, Reading 1 Box Score JO Berrios made his second AA start for the Rock Cats on Saturday. He had given up five runs in five innings in his debut. His previous appearance was his one-inning start for the World Team in the Futures Game on Sunday. On this day, he was at his finest. He gave up just one run on four hits in six innings (in the sixth inning). He didn't walk any, though he hit one, and he struck out five. However, due to lack of offensive support, he falls to 0-2. The Rock Cats had just three hits. Eddie Rosario went 1-2 with a walk. Game 2 - New Britain 2, Reading 3 Box Score Taylor Rogers made his first start since pitching an inning in the Eastern League All-Star game. He went just four innings and gave up one run on five hits. He didn't walk any and struck out one. Dan Turpen came in and was charged with an unearned run. He walked two and struck out three. Cole Johnson falls to 1-6 after giving up one run on three hits and a walk in 0.2 innings. Brandon Waring went 2-2 with his ninth home run. He was also hit by a pitch. Kennys Vargas went 2-3 with his 14th double. Eddie Rosario went 2-4. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 5, Daytona 3 Box Score DJ Baxendale pitched well and improved to 4-1. In seven innings he gave up three runs on five hits. He walked three and struck out seven. Madison Boer walked two and struck out three in 1.2 innings. Steven Gruver came on and struck out the one batter he faced to record his second save of the season. Travis Harrison went 3-5. Mike Gonzales was 2-5 with three RBI. Adam Walker and Aderlin Mejia each doubled for the tenth time this season. Max Kepler went 1-1 with three walks. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 4, Lake County 3 Box Score With Jeremy Nygaard in attendance, the hitting streaks of Alex Swim (14) and Jason Kanzler (7) came to an end. I'm certain there is no correlation. However, the Kernels won for the fourth straight time and for the ninth time in their last ten games. Lewis Thorpe started and gave up two runs on three hits and a walk in 4.1 innings. He struck out six. Chris Mazza came in and gave up one run on four hits over 2.1 innings. He struck out two. Hudson Boyd gave up a single in 1.1 scoreless innings. Nick Burdi came in for the ninth inning to protect a 4-3 lead. He struck out two in a 1-2-3 inning for his second save. Engelb Vielma went 2-4. Chad Christensen hit his sixth triple. Mitch Garver drove in two runs. Tanner Vavra reached all three times, twice on walks and was also hit by a pitch. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton, Burlington Box Score The game was rained out. The teams will play two games on Sunday. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 1, GCL Red Sox 10 Box Score The Twins were held to just three hits. Amaurys Minier, Ariel Montesino and Jack Barrie each had a single. Levi Michael went 0-2 with a walk while playing shortstop again. Onesimo Hernandez gave up three runs (two earned) on four hits in four innings. He walked two and struck out five. In 1.1 innings, Callan Pearce was charged with four runs on two hits, three walks and a hit batter. He struck out three. Eduardo Del Rosario was charged with two unearned runs on two hits and a walk in 1.2 innings. He struck out two. Zach Hayden gave up an unearned run in his inning. He struck out two. Seth Wagner pitched a scoreless, perfect inning. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – DJ Baxendale, Ft. Myers Miracle Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Brandon Waring, New Britain Rock Cats SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Norfolk (5:05 CST) – Logan Darnell New Britain @ Reading (12:35 CST) – Jason Wheeler Brevard County @ Ft. Myers (3:05 CST) – Tim Shibuya Ft. Wayne @ Cedar Rapids (2:05 CST) - Ryan Eades Burlington @ Elizabethton (DH @ 4:00 CST) – Derrick Penilla, Michael Cederoth GCL Twins – No Game Scheduled Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Saturday games.

The Twins lost their first game after the All-Star game to the Tampa Bay Rays. On Saturday, Phil Hughes will take on David Price in the second game of the series. There were some interesting games throughout the Twins farm system. Two games went into extra innings, and one of them involved the Ft. Myers Miracle who played almost two-full games worth of innings. However, two of the Twins top prospects each had big days at the plate for the Miracle, who had 23 hits. Alex Meyer was on the mound for the Red Wings on this night. Trevor May will finally make his return to the mound on Saturday. Friday was the deadline for signing 2014 draft picks. Reportedly, the Twins did not sign any more of their draft picks. They were able to sign their first 17 draft picks and 29 of their 40 selections. Without further ado, here is the Minor League Report for Friday night: RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 2, Norfolk 3 Box Score The Red Wings held a 2-1 lead going into the ninth, but they were unable to hold it and lost in the final inning. There was pretty solid pitching in the game though. Alex Meyer made his first start of the second half. He went six innings and gave up one run on three hits. He walked four and struck out four. Ryan Pressly came in and tossed scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth frames. However, he also came out for the ninth. He gave up two hits to start the inning and then issued an intentional walk to load the bases. Lefty Aaron Thompson came in and immediately gave up a two-run single that ended the game. James Beresford went 2-4. Deibinson Romero was 1-3 with a walk. Josmil Pinto was also 1-3 with a walk. His hit was his fourth double. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 6, Reading 3 Box Score Pat Dean was on the mound for the Rock Cats in this game and earned his seventh win. In six innings, the lefty gave up three runs on seven hits. He walked none and struck out three. Adrian Salcedo gave up a hit and a walk and recorded four outs. Ryan O'Rourke came on to get the next two outs, one of them coming via a strikeout. Mason Melotakis came in for the ninth. He struck out two and was credited with his first save. Tony Thomas led the offense. The Eastern League all-star went 2-4 with his 20th double and his sixth home run. Aaron Hicks went 2-5 with his sixth double. Mike Kvasnicka remained warm, launching his ninth homer of the year. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 7, Daytona 11 (17 innings) Box Score This was a long game... a really long game! And both teams used a lot of pitchers. The Miracle used a lineup's worth of pitchers as nine guys took the mound in this one. Brett Lee started and went the first five innings. He was a little wild. He gave up just one run on four hits, but he walked six batters. BJ Hermsen came on and gave up one run on three hits in an inning. He struck out two. Todd Van Steensel started the seventh inning and got just two outs. He gave up three runs on two hits and two walks. Madison Boer got the final out of the seventh and also pitched the eighth. He gave up one run on two hits. Tyler Jones gave up one run in the ninth, though he struck out three. Alex Wimmers came on and struck out three in two perfect innings. Brandon Peterson then struck out six (and walked two) over three scoreless innings. Steven Gruver then worked out of a jam in the 15th with a double play ball. Brian Gilbert pitched a scoreless 16th inning despite giving up two hits. Gilbert came back for the bottom of the 17th inning. He gave up two hits and intentionally walked the next batter to set up a force at each position. However, Rock Shoulders (!) of the Cubs launched a long grand slam to end the game. The Miracle had 23 hits in the game, but there were several times where one more hit would have ended the game much earlier. Byron Buxton led off and went 4-6 with two walks and was hit by a pitch. He hit his third homer. Batting second was Jorge Polanco. He went 5-8 with a walk and his sixth homer. Nate Roberts played for the first time in over a week. He went 2-3, both doubles, before being taken out of the game. Aderlin Mejia was 3-7. Niko Goodrum, Max Kepler and Tyler Grimes each added two hits. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 6, Lake County 5 (11 innings) Box Score It took a couple of extra frames, but the Kernels came away with a victory in the bottom of the 11th. With one out, Logan Wade doubled. He moved to third on an infield single by Chad Christensen. The third baseman made a great play to keep it in the infield. Mitch Garver ended the game 0-6, but his ground ball was enough to score Wade from third on a close play at the plate. According to Steve Buhr, who was in attendance, a brief rhubarb broke out. Chad Christensen led the way with a 4-5 night. He hit his 16th double. Logan Wade went 3-5 with a walk and his 10th double. Jason Kanzler has now hit in seven straight games after this 2-5 night (with his 14th steal). Kanzler has had multiple hits in six of those seven games. Alex Swim extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a single, an he also reached on a three base error. Aaron Slegers got the start on the mound. In 6.2 innings, he gave up four runs, but just one of them was earned. He gave up six hits, walked two and struck out five. Brandon Bixler gave up one run on one hit in 1.1 innings. He struck out two. Dallas Gallant threw two scoreless innings and he struck out five batters. Jake Reed came in for the 11th and didn't allow a run. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 4, Princeton 2 Box Score Felix Jorge made the start in this game. He gave up two runs on eight hits in 4.2 innings. He walked two and struck out seven. CK Irby gave up just two hits over 2.1 scoreless innings. He struck out two. Dereck Rodriguez came on and earned the save with two scoreless innings. He gave up one hit, hit a batter and struck out two. Jeremias Pineda went 2-3 with his first home run. Max Murphy continued to rake. He went 2-3 with a walk and his seventh home run. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 4, GCL Red Sox 2 Box Score Wins have been infrequent for the Twins GCL squad this season, but they got some solid performances. Josh Guyer started. He gave up two runs on three hits and three walks in three innings. He struck out four. Alexis Tapia went the next three innings. He didn't allow a run. He gave up one hit and walked a batter. He struck out five. Seth Wagner recorded the next five batters. Trevor Hildenberger got the final four outs, two of them on strikeouts. Manuel Guzman went 2-5 with his fourth stolen base. Dubal Baez went 2-5. Joel Ramirez went 1-2 with two walks and his fourth stolen base. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Brandon Peterson, Ft. Myers Miracle Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Jorge Polanco, Ft. Myers Miracle SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Norfolk (6:05 CST) – Trevor May New Britain @ Reading (DH at 4:35 CST) – Taylor Rogers, JO Berrios Ft. Myers @ Daytona (6:05 CST) – DJ Baxendale Ft. Wayne @ Cedar Rapids (5:05 CST) - Lewis Thorpe Burlington @ Elizabethton (5:00 CST) – Derrick Penilla GCL Red Sox @ GCL Twins (10:00am CST) – TBD Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Friday games.

The Minnesota Twins didn't play on Wednesday and won't play on Thursday. They will begin a ten-game homestand on Friday night with a three-game set against the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rochester Red Wings and New Britain Rock Cats both had players participating in their leagues' All-Star games on Wednesday. On Thursday, all the Twins affiliates will return to action. One to watch will be the return of Trevor May to the Rochester Red Wings rotation. Is it possible that if he pitches well enough in his return from a calf injury, he could be up with the big league club by next week? And one of the Kerenls hitters is on a very impressive streak of late. Continue reading to check out what happened on Wednesday in the Minnesota Twins minor leagues. RED WINGS REPORT On Wednesday, the AAA All Star Game was played in Durham, North Carolina. The lone representative of the Red Wings for the International League team was reliever AJ Achter. He got into the game and didn't pitch as well as he has throughout this season. He gave up a home run to Dodgers outfield prospect Joc Pederson. He also gave up a single before coming out of the game. ROCK CATS REVIEW Wednesday was also the Eastern League All-Star Game. Five members of the New Britain Rock Cats participated in the game. Taylor Rogers pitched a scoreless second inning. He gave up one hit, walked none and struck out one. Cole Johnson came in later in the game and got out both of the batters that he faced. Kennys Vargas didn't have a great game. He went 0-4 with three strikeouts. He also had an error in the field. Reynaldo Rodriguez went 1-4. Tony Thomas came on late and went 0-1 in the game. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 5, Daytona 1 Box Score Matt Tomshaw has been terrific all season for the Miracle and was in fine form on Wednesday night. The lefty gave up one run on seven hits over the first eight innings. He walked two and struck out four. Madison Boer worked a perfect ninth. Danny Santana made his second rehab appearance, batting third and playing shortstop. He went 0-4. Byron Buxton was in centerfield. He went 3-4 with a walk and a triple. Adam Walker went 3-5 with his 10th double and his league-leading 20th home run. The men in second place have twelve homers. Jorge Polanco was 2-5 with his 16th double. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 10, Lake County 4 Box Score Chih Wei-Hu made his second start and again, he was terrific. Through six innings, he had given up just one run. However, he faced three batters in the seventh inning and each of them came around to score. So, his final line was four runs allowed on six hits and a walk over six innings. He struck out four. Alex Muren came on and gave up a hit and a walk over two innings. He struck out three. Jake Reed pitched a perfect ninth inning. Alex Swim has been on fire. He extended his hitting streak to 12 games by going 3-4 with a walk. In those 12 games, he has gone 22-48 (.458). Chad Christensen went 2-4 with a walk and his 14th and 15th doubles. Mitch Garver was 2-5 with his 20th double. Jason Kanzler went 2-4 with his ninth home run. JD Williams went 2-3 with a walk. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 1, Princeton 3 Box Score Sam Gibbons started and gave up one run on six hits and two walks in 5.1 innings. He struck out six and reduced his season ERA to 2.30. Randy LeBlanc came on and gave up two runs on three hits. He recorded five outs, all of them via strikeout. John Curtiss came in and struck out two in the final inning. The E-Twins managed just six hits. Will Hurt led the way, going 2-3. Max Murphy went 1-3 with a walk. GCL TWINS TAKES Game 1 - GCL Twins 2, GCL Rays 0 Box Score In his most recent start, lefty Brandon Easton gave up no runs on one hit and two walks over five innings. On Wednesday, he went four shutout innings and gave up just one hit. This time, he walked none while striking out one. Eduardo del Rosario gave up one hit and a walk in 1.1 innings. Trevor Hildenberger got the final five outs and gave up only one hit. Zach Larson, continuing his rehab from a hamstring injury, went 1-2 with a walk. The team had just six hits in the game. Joel Polanco hit his fourth double. Game 2 - GCL Twins 4, GCL Rays 11 Box Score Miguel Gonzalez started and gave up three runs (one earned) on three hits and a walk in three innings. He struck out five. Jhon Silva came on and was charged with six runs (2 earned) on three hits. Two of the hits were homers. He struck out three. Onas Farfan pitched a scoreless fifth inning. In his two innings, he gave up two runs on three hits and two walks. Zach Hayden struck out two in a scoreless inning. Rafael Valera went 2-2 with his fourth double. Roberto Gonzalez added a double, his third of the year. Amaurys Minier his his second homer (a two-run blast) and added a third RBI. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Matt Tomshaw, Ft. Myers Miracle Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Adam Walker, Ft. Myers Miracle THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Norfolk (6:05 CST) – Trevor May New Britain @ Reading (6:05 CST) – Virgil Vasquez Ft. Myers @ Daytona (6:05 CST) – Ethan Mildren Lake County @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 CST) - Kohl Stewart Elizabethton @ Princeton (6:05 CST) – Mat Batts GCL Rays @ GCL Twins (11:00am CST) – TBD Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Wednesday games.

The All-Star Game is behind us. The Minnesota Twins and Major League Baseball put together an extraordinary event. It may have jumped up on us, but we are just two weeks away from the July 31 trade deadline. There were a couple trades made before the All-Star break, and I think that teams could start making deals quickly. The Twins come out of the All-Star break on Friday with a series at home against the Tampa Bay Rays. That will be followed by three games against Cleveland and four games against the White Sox, all at home. If things don't go exceedingly well through that ten game stretch, the Twins could decide to be sellers. If that's the case, the Twins have several trade candidates and over the next couple of weeks we will take a look at them. That said, today we will begin our Trade Candidate Series by looking at arguably the Twins Most Valuable Player through the All-Star break, Kurt Suzuki. Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn Suzuki was named to his first All-Star Game this season, his first with the Minnesota Twins after spending most of his career with the Oakland A's, as well as 122 games with the Nationals. After posting OPS over .700 his first three seasons (2007-09), he has really struggled the last couple of years. The Twins took a shot on him in the offseason at a reasonable $2.75 million. The assumption from many outside the organization was that he would be a part-time player, a mentor for Josmil Pinto. Instead, he earned the starting job and has held on to it. WHY TRADE HIM If you believe in the philosophy of Buy Low and Sell High, this could be the perfect baseball example. The Twins were able to get Suzuki for a fair rate because of his struggles the last few years. It only makes sense to sell high. His value will likely never be higher, and the Twins should capitalize on that. The Twins are still a team in transition, and as strong as the minor league system is, it never hurts to add more talent. The Twins, and Terry Ryan, did a great job of this in the late-90s. In 1996, the Twins signed Dave Hollins to play third base. In 121 games for the Twins, he hit .242/.364/.396 (.760) with 26 doubles and 13 home runs. They were able to trade him in late August for a young David Ortiz. Also, before the 1996 season, the Twins signed Roberto Kelly. He played as a part-timer in 1996 and hit .287/.336/.441 with 19 doubles and five home runs before being traded to the Mariners for Joe Mays. These players were not performing to the level that Suzuki has this year, while playing a premium position, so the Twins could get a nice package. WHY KEEP HIM I don't know that anyone has given up, per se, on the idea of Josmil Pinto being an adequate catcher at some point, but the reality is that he is enough of a liability behind the plate that it's hard to envision him being the top catcher. (But yes, he can hit.) The next catcher in the minor league ladder that is potentially a starting catcher is Stuart Turner, the team's 3rd round pick in 2013 out of Ole Miss who is spending this season with the Ft. Myers Miracle. He is at least two years away from being ready for that. Though the controversial pitch framing statistics do not shine a positive light on Suzuki, the Twins pitchers have generally been incredibly complimentary of him. He is well-respected around the game and considered a strong leader. The Twins can negotiate right now and through free agency with Suzuki in an attempt to shore up their starting catching position for the next two years. Would Suzuki consider re-upping for 2 years and $12 million? WHO NEEDS HIM There are a couple teams that are in need, at least to some degree, of a catcher. The St. Louis Cardinals lost their all-star catcher, Yadier Molina, to season-ending (most likely) injury. The Baltimore Orioles catcher, Matt Wieters, had Tommy John surgery recently and will miss the remainder of the season. Suzuki is not elite, but he is a respected (and now an All-Star) player/leader at a premium position. Twins fans should not expect a team to offer up one of their Top 5 prospects. However, I would think that the Twins could get one prospect around #10 from an organization, plus a prospect who ranks in the team's 20s. SUMMARY I'm an economics major, so you know I believe in the concept of Buy Low/Sell High. Suzuki's value will likely never be higher. He is putting up career-best numbers at age 30, so to expect him to maintain this value through the rest of the 2014 season (much less for 2-3 more years) is not realistic. That said, the Twins don't really have a quality catcher who will be ready to be the team's regular catcher for at least a couple of years. There is one best-of-both-worlds scenario that would keep a lot of people happy. They can trade him and sign him. How? Well, the Twins can add a couple of prospects in the next couple of weeks when they trade Suzuki. At the end of the year, he becomes a free agent and can sign with any team, including the Minnesota Twins. How do they do this? Terry Ryan and Rob Antony should sit down with Kurt Suzuki and make it very clear to him that they want to keep him around for a couple more years. However, they are not going to the playoffs this year and are still in a position to accumulate as much talent and depth as they can. Talk through trade scenarios with Suzuki and let him know they want to put him in a position to win in 2014. However, make it clear that the Twins plan to pursue him again in November and December when he hits the market again. Obviously no formal promises can be made or details worked out, but the conversation is good to have. PROBABILITY Honestly, I would put the odds of trading Suzuki at about 60/40 (60% likelihood that he is traded). I would say that there is about a 40% chance that Suzuki stays with the Twins through the remainder of 2014. If he does stay through the end of the season, I would predict that there is a 50/50 chance that the Twins and Suzuki will agree on a multi-year extension before season's end. YOUR TURN What should the Twins do with Kurt Suzuki? Sign him? Let him play out his contract and see what happens? Trade him? Or, trade him and bring him back? What do you think?

It was a busy, long weekend, but it was a tremendous opportunity. I traveled from the tip-top of Minnesota, down to the Twin Cities on Saturday. I then spent all day Monday driving back home. One has a lot of opportunity to think while driving more than seven hours each direction, so I thought I would put together a quick Stream of Consciousness blog for today. I encourage you to leave your thoughts on All-Star festivities below. So bear with me. I’ll cover a lot of topics, and hopefully you enjoy this potentially chaotic format. I’ll start with my thoughts on being down at the All-Star Sunday festivities and go from there. But to wake up on Sunday morning and see my name in a byline in the Pioneer Press was pretty cool! I was asked to write an article on the Three Twins Prospects in the Futures Game, so that was pretty neat! My daughter, along with my brother and sister, and I went to the Minneapolis Convention Center on Sunday morning for All-Star Fan Fest. As I mentioned on the podcast portion of the Gleeman and the Geek podcast, it reminded me a lot of going to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. There were about 400,000 square feet of baseball events and displays. It was as if you just needed to walk around and see everything, and then take a step back to think about what you wanted to do, what you wanted to look at. Sure, it would have been great to spend more time in several of the areas, but with an 8-year-old girl, being in one place for terribly long isn’t always possible. The highlight was certainly being included in the Baseball Round Table discussion with Jack Morris, Lindsay Guentzel and Rod Simon on their Sunday morning “This is Twins Territory” show. It was a bit surreal to be having a conversation with a guy with Jack Morris’ baseball history. (May be able to get audio for this up later. Will be posted here if we can.) A close second would be getting to watch Jennie Finch run a clinic on a small field at Fan Fest. That was good times! (She'll come up in this stream of consciousness a bit later as well.) I was then dropped off at Target Field around 12:30 and stood outside waiting for the gates to open at 2. Honestly, it was such a cool atmosphere outside the stadium that 90 minutes didn’t seem all that long. My Twins Hangouts co-host Jeremy Nygaard, who had run in the Color Run earlier that morning, got there with the tickets. The Futures Game itself was great. It was so much fun to watch players whose names we have heard, but it’s always a different experience to see them in person. That’s why I always talk about people trying to get down to Cedar Rapids to watch the Kernels play in person if you’re able. In my mind, it enhances your knowledge about players when you can say you’ve actually seen them play rather than just reading the box scores and stat lines. Jeremy spent more time talking about the three Twins players’ performances. For me, it was pretty encouraging to see. Consider that the Twins top two prospects, Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano, did not play because of injuries in the first half, and Trevor May was supposed to pitch but he was on the DL, the Twins were represented by three terrific prospects. Kennys Vargas made an impression in batting practice, but people also wrote about his personality. He is a jovial young man, and why not? I mean, he became a first-time father last week and got to play in a very prestigious prospect event. He struck out a couple of times, but he did short-hop the fence in right field for a double. JO Berrios got the starting nod for the World Team and was impressive in his one-inning stint. He showed a fastball that sat 94-95 with a slider at 85-86 and a changeup at 81-82. A three-pitch mix like that certainly bodes well. Add in that people rave about his maturity and make-up and we can understand why he is such a highly-touted prospect. Alex Meyer had a very short outing, but it was good. He hit 97, 98, 97, 97 and 97 with the five pitches that he threw. The first batter lined out to left. The second lined a single to left, and the third grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end his inning. You can say that he got hit hard if you want, but the fastball is legit. If you also remember that he’s got four good pitches and he didn’t even show the other three, you can be quite excited about his future. You can also understand after this why it is so important to have more than just a big fastball. Joey Gallo (3B, Rangers) put on an incredible display in batting practice, and he got hold of one in the game too that went a long way. He was impressive. Javier Baez (SS, Cubs) hit a bomb to right center field (he bats right handed) against Lucas Giolito (RHP, Nationals). Not many are able to do that! Between games, John Bonnes found Jeremy and I, and we went high up in the top deck of Target Field and podcast the second half of the Gleeman and the Geek podcast. It was fun to talk about what happened in the first half of the minor league season. I almost lost my voice because it was rather difficult talking over cheers for the pyrotechnics of the Panic! At the Disco two-song performance and the huge cheers as Adrian Peterson, Zach Parise and Jim Thome were introduced for the Celebrity Softball game. We made an assumption that the Futures Game crowd would exit after that game and that there would be fewer people there for the Celebrity Softball game. Nope! Many people came in just for that game and it was even more packed. The highlight of that game was the fast pitches that Jennie Finch threw to Adrian Peterson. It was awesome! Parise looks like he could play still. And, I’ve always been a huge Nelly fan, and he hit two home runs. There were fireworks after the game, and that was it for a long, exhausting, wonderful day! I’m glad I had the opportunity to be there that day. I wish I could have been at the Twins Daily/Fangraphs get-together at Mason’s before the Home Run Derby. It sounds like it would have been a great time! Unfortunately, I had about 370 miles to drive home on Monday instead. I was lucky too because after about 9 hours in the car, I got home just in time for the start of the Home Run Derby. It was great to see Brian Dozier hit two home runs. The last thing anyone wants is to get shutout (like Yasiel Puig was). I’d say his brother Clay did a good job too. Before the game, Jeremy Nygaard tweeted the following, “They just asked Clay Dozier when he realized little brother, Brian, was better than he was. His response, ‘He is?!’” I’m not a big fan of the new format. I like the urgency of the 7 swings. There will obviously be fewer home runs with fewer outs, but it would make the event go more quickly. In theory, the concept of winning the first round and getting the bye to the second round should be a good thing. When you don’t hit for more than 90 minutes after the first round, it definitely appeared (from the results last night) that it wasn’t much of an advantage. Also, fans, if you’re in the first row of one of the upper deck sections, quit reaching so far over the fence to try to catch home runs or foul balls. Is it worth it? Man, I have to turn my head whenever I see guys hanging that far over walls. Tonight is the All-Star game. Let’s hope we get to see Jeremy and his dad’s mugs holding the huge flag for the National Anthem before the game. Let’s hope Kurt Suzuki gets a chance to play in his first All-Star game. And, it would be really neat if Glen Perkins could come jogging in with a two-run lead for the top of the 9th inning! I know a lot of Twins fans were able to get to parts (if not all) of the All-Star festivities. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the various events. What did you like? What didn’t you like? What would you do? Obviously if you get to the parade or the All-Star game tonight, feel free to add your thoughts on that as well.

The Twins got another strong start from Kevin Correia and got a nice, easy win in Colorado, 9-3. Correia has now given up just 11 earned runs over his last seven starts (43 innings). The Twins released Red Wings starter Scott Diamond to make room for the return of Trevor May, who will start on Sunday. Diamond was the Minnesota Twins rookie of the year and pitcher of the year in 2012. Today, three Twins prospects will be participating in MLB's Futures Game at Target Field at 4:00. Twins Hangouts co-hosts Jeremy Nygard and I will be in attendance. I was asked to write about the three players for the Pioneer Press, and here is that article. It includes comments from Twins Minor League Director Brad Steil as well as Miracle pitching coach Gary Lucas and Rock Cats hitting coach Chad Allen. The rest of the minor leaguers had games to play on Saturday, so let's take a look at how they did. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester5 , Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 2 Box score The Red Wings were down 2-1 going into the bottom of the 8th inning. Josmil Pinto led off with a walk. Pedro Florimon ran for him and stole second base. After being advanced to third on a ground out, Florimon scored on a wild pitch. Two batters later, Chris Rahl doubled home the go-ahead run. Then Dan Rohlfing hit his second home run of the season, a two-run shot, to give the Red Wings some cushion. Rahl, James Beresford and Deibinson Romero each had two hits in the game. Eric Farris had two singles and a walk. Sean Gilmartin started for the Red Wings. The lefty gave up two runs on six hits in 6.1 innings. He walked three and struck out three. Ryan Pressly made quick work of things, giving up just two hits over 2.2 scoreless innings. He struck out four. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 6, Reading 5 Box Score Aaron Hicks' hot streak continued on Saturday. He went 3-5 and now has 13 hits in his last 10 games. Mike Kvasnicka had just one hit in this game, but it was his eighth home run of the season. Kyle Knudson went 2-3 and drove in two runs. Eddie Rosario and Stephen Wickens both doubled. Lefty Taylor Rogers continued to rack up innings. He went seven innings again on Saturday. He gave up four runs on eight hits. He walked one and struck out three. Cole Johnson came on and gave up a run in the eighth inning. He left the game with the lead and two outs in the ninth, but a Matt Tolbert single and a walk made things interesting. Ryan O'Rourke came on and struck out his one batter to end the game and preserve the win. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers, Dunedin This game was rained out. It will be made up as part of a double-header on Sunday. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 5, Clinton 1 (7 innings) Box score Aaron Slegers went the distance in this rain-shortened game for the Kernels. The lanky right-hander went all seven innings and gave up one run. He allowed just two hits, walked one and struck out seven to even his season record at 6-6. Down 1-0, the Kernels scored two in the third. Then in the fourth, Jason Kanzler launched his eighth homer of the year, a two-run blast, that opened the game up. Mitch Garver went 2-3 with a walk and his 19th double. Alex Swim was 2-4 with his third double and is now hitting .349. Ryan Walker and Michael Quesada each added two hits. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 7, Danville 1 Box Score It was a much-needed performance for lefty Derrick Penilla after his most recent start was disastrous (1 out recorded, 9 runs allowed). He gave up one run on three hits and three walks in five innings. He struck out one. Josue Montanez gave up a hit and a walk over two scoreless innings. Keaton Steele gave up two hits over two scoreless innings to close it out. All nine E-Twins starters had at least one hit. The first seven in the batting order each drove in a run. Max Murphy is back over .400 with a 2-4 day. Nick Gordon was 2-5 and ended the day hitting .333. Alex Real and Tyler Mautner each had a double. Trey Vavra hit his first professional home run. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 2, GCL Red Sox 9 Box Score It was another rough day for the GCL Twins. They managed just six hits in the game. Rafael Valera went 2-3 with a walk. Roberto Gonzalez had a single, a walk and two stolen bases. Though the score looks bad, starter Alexis Tapia had a good day. He gave up one run on two hits over five innings. He struck out six batters without issuing a walk. However, it was a rough day for Josh Guyer. He was charged with eight runs on eight hits over his two innings. He gave up a three-spot and then a five-spot. Zach Hayden came on and got two outs but issued two walks. Miles Nordgren gave up a hit but got the inning's final out. Also of note, Zach Larson went 0-2 in the game, his first rehab appearance since pulling his hamstring. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher – Aaron Slegers, Cedar Rapids Kernels Hitter – Aaron Hicks, New Britain Rock Cats SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Scranton/Wilkes-Barre @ Rochester – Trevor May, 12:05PM CST Reading @ New Britain – Jason Wheeler, 12:35 CST Dunedin @ Fort Myers – D.J. Baxendale, TBD, DH @ 12:05PM CST Cedar Rapids @ Clinton – Lewis Thorpe, 2:00PM CST Elizabethton @ Danville – Michael Cederoth, 3:00PM CST GCL Twins - No Game Scheduled

Two weeks ago, Adam Walker was one of four Ft. Myers Miracle players named to the Florida State League All-Star team. It proved to be quite the weekend performance by the powerful prospect. First, Walker put on a tremendous show for the crowd with a incredible performance in the home run derby. He followed that up by going 3-4 with a double and a home run in the All-Star Game itself. He was named the MVP. While Walker may be an imperfect prospect, he has some traits that make him one of the most intriguing prospects in the Minnesota Twins minor league system. photo from news-press.com However, let's start with the All-Star performance. It meant a lot to Walker to be named an All-Star, and he enjoyed the weekend. "It was definitely an honor to be selected as an All-Star this year. I had a little bit of a rough start, so to be able to come back and still be selected was a great feeling me. Its nice to know others liked the way I played the game. Its definitely an awesome feeling." He continued, "It's a great experience to be able to play in the game. You are out there with the best players in the league. You get to know other players and make friends while you're there. After the game, being selected as the MVP is just another honor to me. I was able to get a couple hits and played right field. The whole weekend was a great time." As impressive as his performance was in the All-Star Game, he made a name for himself with his performance in the Home Run Derby. It was another experience he truly enjoyed. "For me being able to be in the home run derby was awesome. Its always fun when you get to step into the box and go hit some home runs. I love winning. So going into it, I wanted to win, of course, but I wanted to have some fun and enjoy the experience. When I was able to come out on top at the end, I was pretty pumped up. Having all my teammates and the fans cheering for me and supporting me was a great feeling." A couple of his Miracle teammates were on hand to watch Walker's power display. LHP David Hurlbut earned an All-Star Game berth. He was 3-3 with a 2.05 ERA in the season's first half. He said of the evening, "Adam's performance at the Home Run Derby was like a crescendo of power. He effortlessly hit home run after home run in the beginning, but as time ran down, he really started to show his power. The crowd reacted with gasps, increasing in volume with each swing. His last few home runs were the most impressive. One ball went over the net that stood 20 feet beyond the left field wall, another on top of the overhang for the stands in left, and finally on top of the batter's eye in center field. At the end, the entire team jokingly bowed and yelled 'We aren't worthy!' It was an impressive performance." Brett Lee, a left-handed starter with the Miracle, was also an All-Star. Before the All -Star game, he was 5-1 with a 2.36 ERA. He was also in awe of Walker's power. He said, "It was definitely something I've never seen before! Someone with that much power to hit the ball like that isn't human! I already knew what to expect playing on his team the past few years, and he started off hitting the ball hard! But when the guy said he had 15 seconds left, Walker unleashed everything! I've never seen someone swing that hard! The last five balls he hit were absolute blasts! The last ball he hit disappeared in the sky! What made it even better was that the people in the stadium were going crazy! He put on a light show for everyone!" Moving to the Florida State League has certainly been challenging for Adam Walker. On the season, he is hitting .241/.293/.434 (.727). However, his 18 homers are six more than anyone else in the league, and his 64 RBI are seven more than anyone in the league. Walker has noticed some of the differences in pitching between the Midwest League and the Florida State League. "I think the difference in the pitchers you see from the Midwest League to this league is not a huge. It's not like every pitcher is throwing a lot harder, but I think they are more consistent at throwing more pitches for strikes. I have noticed the pitchers are doing a better job of attacking the strike zone but can do it with their secondary pitches. There aren't many times when I get the generic game plan of: throw a first pitch fastball for a strike and go to your off- speed with two strikes. They have pitched backwards more and usually use the fastball as a show pitch to set up another pitch. I just need to make sure when I do get pitches to hit I don't miss them." Therein lies the area of Walker's game that needs improvement: contact. In 346 plate appearances, he has struck out 95 times (27%). His walk rate this year is right around 7% after finishing at 5.6% a year ago. Twins Director of Minor League Operations, Brad Steil, talked briefly about the contact concerns. "We understand there is a trade-off between power and strikeouts, so I’m not sure concern is the right terminology. While we’re looking for improvement in those areas, a key for him is being aggressive to the fastball. As he gains more experience, we expect that the selectivity and discipline will improve." Walker is not a guy who looks at his stats much. Coming into the season, he didn't formalize any numerical goals for himself, but he did have several things he wanted to accomplish this season. He said, "I didn't make any goals about my stats being at a certain spot. I try not to worry about my stats, but I just wanted to make sure I was improving my game. I wanted to become a better outfielder and to become a better hitter. I know I have power but I wanted to work on becoming a better overall hitter. That is something I have been working on with the coaches. Making sure I am swinging at good pitches and having more consistent quality at-bats. If I start doing that more, the power numbers will be there." Regarding Walker's defense, Steil said that he's improving, but still has room to grow. "I think it’s still a work in progress. He’s definitely a good athlete for his size, and it’s something he works at, but it’s also not something that comes easy for him." One thing that Walker has been able to do is come up with huge, clutch hits. In Elizabethton, his three-run homer in the 9th inning of the Appy League Championship final game sent it to extra innings (where Dalton Hicks' grand slam won it). Last year, Hicks led minor league baseball with 110 RBI. Walker had 109. This year, he again has performed incredibly well in clutch situations. With runners in scoring position, he has hit .276/.336/.581 (.917) with ten home runs. He has added three grand slams already this year. According to Walker, he just really enjoys being the guy who comes to the plate in this types of situations. "I love hitting with runners in scoring position because I know if I can score them it's going to help the team win. I try to make sure when I have free RBIs with runners on third with less than two outs, I put the ball in play and score the run. That is the easiest way to help your RBI total. We have done a good job of scoring runs this year and that shows our offense is doing well. You can't get RBIs if your teammates aren't getting on base in front of you. I love winning so I really take pride when I have opportunities to change the game. I've always wanted to be the guy that is up with the game on the line. I don't see many kids grow up dreaming of getting a base hit when your team is down by ten. Usually you always picture bases loaded, two outs in the bottom of the ninth, and you want to be that kid that gets the big hit to win the game. I love to have that feeling because when you can get those hits to score runs you are helping the team win and winning as always fun." According to Steil, "Some hitters have the ability to stay with their approach in RBI situations, whereas other guys might get anxious or over-aggressive and chase more. So it’s probably a combination of his mentality and the reality that pitchers don’t have as much leeway to pitch around him in those situations." Walker went to Milwaukee Lutheran High School before heading to Jacksonville University for three yeas of college ball. The Twins used their third round pick in the 2012 draft on him. He has strong family support and a strong faith that has helped him get to this point in his career. "I've grown up with a Christian background and as I've grown up, having that faith in Jesus Christ has helped me handle certain situations I've been through. I try to live a certain way and be a good person to show I'm a Christian through my actions. I am definitely not perfect but that relationship with God is important to me. My family is also very important to me. They all have been there for my whole life and made many sacrifices for me to be where I am now, and I am very grateful and blessed to have such a great family. I've been very lucky to have a family that can come watch me play a few times a year. I know there are other players that may never have their family there to watch them play. So I do appreciate my family for being so supportive of me and always believing in me. I wouldn't be where I am now if it wasn't for them. I love my family." So, what are his goals for the rest of the season? Walker said, "I think my goals for the second half are the same as the first half. I think I did a good job and have seen improvement defensively and offensively. I know there is still room for improvement so I just need to keep working on those parts of my game, and I think things will work out for me." Walker will not turn 23 until October. As you would expect from any player in the Florida State League, there are certainly areas where he needs to improve. However, Walker has all the tools to be an impact player in the big leagues. At 6-4 and 225 pounds, he's got the size and strength to be a great power hitter. He has some sneaky speed. He has a great attitude and strong makeup. Fans will need to show some patience, but there are reasons to be very excited about the future of Adam Walker. Twins beat up Seattle last night, so on Thursday you can get a half price large or extra-large pizza from PapaJohns.com by using the promo code 'TWINSWIN'.

Things were busy in the Twins farm system on Wednesday as all six affiliates played, and the Miracle played two games. Mike Kvasnicka has been on fire of late and continued that. But let's not kid ourselves, the story in the system on Wednesday was the AA Debut of JO Berrios. You'll have to keep reading to see how it went. For the second straight night, the Minnesota Twins got a terrific start and nice offensive output. Kyle Gibson threw six shutout innings to improve to 8-7. Brian Dozier hit two doubles and Kendrys Morales drove in three runs. On Thursday, Yohan Pino will take the mound for the Twins against a bullpen-by-committee start from the Mariners in a fourth straight late-night game in Seattle. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 2, Buffalo 6 Box Score Logan Darnell struggled early in this game, but he regained his form and was able to give his team innings. Darnell gave up five runs in the first two innings, but he recovered and went eight. He gave up six runs on 11 hits. He walked two and struck out five. Three of the hits were home runs. Aaron Thompson got three outs in the ninth. Deibinson Romero went 2-4 with his 25th double. Dan Rohlfing went 2-3 with his 15th double. Wilkin Ramirez tripled for the third time this season. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 1, New Hampshire 7 Box Score The story of this game was the Double-A debut of JO Berrios. The 20-year-old started out well. He got through the first two innings without a base runner. In the third inning, he walked the first two batters who both came in to score on a bloop single. In the fourth inning, he gave up a two-run home run, and in the fifth inning, he gave up a solo home run. So, in total, he gave up five runs on three hits in five innings. He walked three and struck out four. He was replaced by Mason Melotakis who was also making his first AA appearance. He gave up two runs on three hits and a walk in the sixth inning before throwing a scoreless seventh frame. Ryan O'Rourke struck out three in the eighth. Mike Kvasnicka has been tremendous for the last six weeks. He went 3-4 with his 15th double in this game. He has had eight hits in the Rock Cats last three games. Eddie Rosario added a triple. MIRACLE MATTERS Game 1 - Ft. Myers 2, Palm Beach3 Box Score Tim Shibuya threw a complete game for the Miracle, but unfortunately, the game ended with two outs in the seventh with a game-winning single. Shibuya gave up three runs on seven hits and a walk. He struck out two in the loss. Dalton Hicks went 2-3 with his fifth home run and two RBI. Nate Roberts added his seventh double. Byron Buxton played the whole first game. He went 0-2 and walked once. He also stole his first base. The Miracle had just four hits in this game. Game 2 - Ft. Myers 1, Palm Beach 4 Box Score The Miracle also had just four hits in the second game. Dalton Hicks had an RBI single that scored Niko Goodrum. Goodrum stole his 18th base of the season. Matt Tomshaw started. He gave up four runs on seven hits and a walk in five innings. He struck out three. Todd Van Steensel came on to make his Florida State League debut. He walked one and struck out two in a scoreless inning. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 2, Wisconsin 5 Box Score Ryan Eades walked one and struck out a season-high nine batters in five innings in this game. However, he also gave up five runs on six hits and hit two batters. Chris Mazza gave up two hits and struck out two in two scoreless innings. Jared Wilson struck out two over two scoreless innings. Chad Christensen led the offense. He went 3-5. Ryan Walker was 2-5 and Mitch Garver was 2-4. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 5, Kingsport 2 Box Score Sam Gibbons put in another solid start. In five innings, he gave up two runs on seven hits. He walked two and struck out six. CK Irby struck out three in two scoreless innings. Cameron Booser gave up a hit and a walk and struck out two over two scoreless innings. Jonatan Hinojosa went 2-3 with a double and two RBI. Tyler Kuresa hit his first home run. Jeremias Pineda, Max Murphy and Dutch Deol each doubled. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 1, GCL Orioles 0 Box Score Lefty Brandon Easton had a no-hitter going through 4.2 innings. He went five innings and gave up just one hit. He walked two and struck out four. Reyson Zoquiel threw a perfect sixth inning. Miles Nordgren threw two perfect innings to record his second save. Frank Encarnacion hit his second double. He scored on a Rafael Valera single. Joel Polanco hit his third double. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Brandon Easton, GCL Twins Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Dalton Hicks, Ft. Myers Miracle THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Scranton/Wilkes Barre (DH @ 4:35 CST) – Scott Diamond, TBD New Britain @ New Hampshire (5:35 CST) – Virgil Vasquez Ft. Myers @ Palm Beach (5:35 CST) – Ethan Mildren Wisconsin @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 CST) - Chih-Wei Hu Kingsport @ Elizabethton (6:00 CST) – Mat Batts GCL Twins @ GCL Orioles (11:00am CST) – TBD Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Wednesday games. A quick reminder: Twins beat up Seattle last night, so on Thursday you can get a half price large or extra-large pizza from PapaJohns.com by using the promo code 'TWINSWIN'.

You have now read about the June Starting Pitcher of the Month and the June Hitter of the Month. Today, I'll be posting the June Relief Pitcher of the Month. As has been the case with the previous "awards", there are a lot of good candidates this month. Relief pitchers often are taken for granted as they are not really noticed unless they have a bad game. So, it's only fair that we recognize them when they do pitch well. Let's start with the Honorable Mentions. HONORABLE MENTION Aaron Thompson - Rochester - 11 G, 10.0 IP, 6 H, 4 BB, 11 K, 0-0, 0.90 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, .171 OBA. Mason Melotakis - Ft. Myers - 8 G, 12.2 IP, 9 H, 5 BB, 14 K, 1-0, 1.42 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, .200 OBA. Brandon Peterson - Ft. Myers- 9 G, 12.2 IP, 11 H, 2 BB, 20 K, 1-1, 2.84 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, .234 OBA. Let's get to the Top 5: #5 - Todd Van Steensel - Cedar Rapids - 10 G, 11.2 IP, 7 H, 1 BB, 15 K, 0-0, 4 Saves, 1.54 ERA, 0.69 WHIP, .175 OBA. In my mind, the return of Van Steensel is one of the better stories in the organization this year. He was a starter for Elizabethton just a few seasons ago, but he was let go. He's been playing in Australia and other places, but he re-signed with the Twins before spring training this year. He has been a different pitcher. He is now a reliever. He has the funky, high leg-kick, the goggles and he throws harder. He had a terrific month in Cedar Rapids and has now been promoted to Ft. Myers. #4 - Ryan O'Rourke - New Britain - 9 G, 5.1 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 12 K, 0-0, 3.38 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, .111 OBA. I remember seeing O'Rourke starting for Beloit back in 2011. He was animated and intense, but my overriding thought was "This guy could be a LOOGY (left-handed one-out guy) in the big leagues right now!" Well, it hasn't happened in the big leagues yet for him, but it is the role he has for New Britain. Consider this... from May 24 through June 27, he pitched six innings over 11 games. He faced 19 batters. He gave up one hit and struck out 15. His slider is legit and he throws hard enough that he can pitch to lefties in the big leagues now, I'm convinced. #3 - Lester Oliveros - New Britain/Rochester - 9 G, 10.1 IP, 5 H, 1 BB, 13 K, 1-0, 5 Saves, 0.87 ERA, 0.58 WHIP, .135 OBA. Oliveros has been on this list in previous months and finally was promoted to Rochester. The hard-thrower came to the organization from Detroit in the Delmon Young trade. He missed most of 2013 with Tommy John surgery after debuting with the Twins in 2012. He's back, and he's throwing hard. He's missing bats and opponents are not hitting him hard. He's not on the 40 man roster, but if he succeeds in Rochester, he'll get another opportunity. #2 - Edgar Ibarra - Rochester - 8 G, 14.1 IP, 8 H, 4 BB, 10 K, 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.84 WHIP, .157 OBA. The left-hander was tremendous in 2013, splitting the season between New Britain and Rochester. It was an easy decision, I'd think, to add him to the Twins 40 man roster after the season. The left-hander throws hard (touching 95) with a nasty slider. He can fight control issues at times, but he has a chance to contribute to the Twins at some point yet this year. Some very good performances, but this month's Minnesota Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month, like this month's other winners, was a fairly easy choice and one you've read about before. #1 - AJ Achter - Rochester - 7 G, 14.0 IP, 4 H, 8 BB, 14 K, 1-0, 1.29 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, .091 OBA. Seriously, I am thinking that this award should just be the AJ Achter award. He was my choice for Twins minor league reliever of the year in 2012. In 2013, he was terrific in New Britain and Rochester. This year, he has been tremendous. He was recognized last week as the Red Wings lone All Star this year. He actually had back-to-back games earlier in the month in which he walked most of his hitters. Generally, he has great control, works fast, has four pitches and yet isn't hit very hard. He doesn't sit at 95. He sits 90-92 and can touch 94, but he has other pitches that have worked. He is not on the 40 man roster, but like others above, he has earned an opportunity. Hard to believe that we are more than three months into the minor league season. There are two months to go. We will continue to dive into the minor leagues here at Twins Daily. Please feel free to share your thoughts on anything.

I posted the June Starting Pitcher of the Month last week, and this week JO Berrios was promoted to the New Britain Rock Cats. Tonight, I'll be posting the June Hitter of the Month. There are a lot of very good candidates. It made for a very difficult decision. With All-Star games and some promotions, it can be a month with difficult decisions.. Some guys have fewer plate appearances, and that has to factor into the thinking as well. So, we'll start with the Honorable Mentions and then get to the Top 5. HONORABLE MENTION Chris Herrmann - Rochester - 14-50 (.280/.339/.460 (.799)) with 5-2B, 2-3B, 6 RBI. Deibinson Romero - Rochester - 29-98 (.296/.379/.490 (.869)) with 8-2B, 1-3B, 3-HR, 14 RBI. Kennys Vargas - New Britain - 27-99 (.273/.342/.475 (.817)) with 2-2B, 6-HR, 21 RBI. Jorge Polanco - Ft. Myers - 28-92 (.304/.381/.435 (.816)) with 4-2B, 1-3B, 2-HR, 10 RBI - and he made his major league debut. Stuart Turner - Ft. Myers- 17-58 (.293/.397/.534 (.932)) with 3-2B, 1-3B, 3-HR, 11 RBI. Nate Hanson - currently in Rochester- 25-79 (.316/.426/.405 (.831)) with 4-2B, 1-HR, 11-RBI Let's get to the Top 5: #5 - Mitch Garver - Cedar Rapids - 20-58 (.345/.479/.517 (.997)) with 4 doubles, two homers and 11 RBI. The Twins ninth round pick in 2013 out of the University of New Mexico has had a very solid season with the Kernels. He was the Hitter of the Month in April. He cooled off some in May, but he was very good in June. His month ended early when a foul tip gave him six stitches to the chin, and a concussion. Garver is solid behind the plate and provides good all-around offense at the plate. #4 - Chris Colabello - Rochester - 32-108 (.296/.377/.481 (.859)) with 8 doubles, 4 homers and 20 RBI. Colabello was one of the best stories in baseball in April when he set the Twins record for most RBI in April. However, he really struggled in May and was sent back to Rochester. It took him a couple of weeks to get back into the swing of things, but he eventually did, and when he did, he crushed the ball again. In doing so, he earned himself a return trip to the big leagues where he has hit well again. #3 - Mike Kvasnicka - New Britain - 29-79 (.367/.405/.519 (.924)) with 6 doubles, 2 homers and 17 RBI. The former Gopher was a former first-round pick of the Houston Astros. He came to the Twins during spring training a year ago and immediately broke his hamate bone and miss much of last season. When he returned, he showed good power for the Miracle. It took Kvasnicka a while to get going in his AA debut this year but in the last month he has really hit the ball well. #2 - Chad Christensen - Cedar Rapids - 27-89 (.303/.373/.528 (.901) with 4 doubles, 2 triples four homers and 22 RBI. The Cedar Rapids native was the Twins 25th round pick last year out of the University of Nebraska. With the Kernels this year, he has been a consistent performer through much of the season. It's more impressive when you realize that he has played almost everywhere on the diamond to this point. In June, he put together a strong month. He has a strong build, but he also leads the organization in stolen bases. Some pretty solid performances, but this month's Minnesota Twins Minor League Hitter of the Month was a fairly easy choice. #1 - Reynaldo Rodriguez - New Britain - 32-103 (.311/.339/.583 (.922)) with 8 doubles, 1 triple, 6 homers and 18 RBI. Back for his second season with the Twins, the minor league veteran returned to New Britain. After playing first base during the 2013 season, he was moved to the outfield in 2014. The shift has not altered his overall production as he has hit very well again. Teaming with Kennys Vargas, they have provided a strong, powerful punch in the middle of the Rock Cats lineup. JO Berrios was promoted after being named the June Starting Pitcher of the Month. Could Rodriguez finally get moved up to Rochester? Feel free to comment on Rodriguez and the other starting pitchers highlighted this month.

The Twins (meaning, Ricky Nolasco) gave up nine early runs. However, they attempted the comeback and got the score to 9-7 before it ended. Chris Colabello and Trevor Plouffe homered for the Twins. Glen Perkins was named to his second All-Star game, and Kurt Suzuki will play in the mid-summer classic for the first time in his career. The biggest news in the Twins farm system is that Byron Buxton returned to game action for the Ft. Myers Miracle. He led off, played centerfield and got a couple of at-bats. We also learned the Twins will soon make a decision on whether Trevor May will pitch in the Futures Game. It's a busy minor league report today, so let's get started with some transactions. TRANSACTIONS Mark Hamburger was promoted from New Britain to Rochester. JO Berrios and Lance Ray were promoted from Ft. Myers to New Britain. (per Bryce Zimmerman, Mason Melotakis was also promoted to AA.) Ethan Mildren and Todd Van Steensel were promoted from Cedar Rapids to Ft. Myers. Chih-Wei Hu and Jake Reed were promoted from Elizabethton to Cedar Rapids. RED WINGS REPORT Game 1 - Rochester 6, Lehigh Valley 1 Box Score After playing 16 innings on Saturday night, Kris Johnson gave the Red Wings just what they needed on Sunday afternoon in the first of two. The left-hander threw all seven innings to record his eighth win of the season. He gave up one run on two hits and a walk while striking out five. Brad Nelson hit his fourth and fifth home runs of the season to lead the offense. Wilkin Ramirez homered for the third time. Danny Ortiz went 2-3 with his fourth double. Game 2 - Rochester 6, Lehigh Valley 1 Box Score The Red Wings put a six on the board in the bottom of the first inning and won by the same score as they did in the first game. The big hit in that first inning was a three-run home run from Nate Hanson. Deibinson Romero added his 24th double while Dan Rohlfing doubled for the 14th time. On the mound, the recently-added Mark Hamburger got the starting nod. He gave up one run on five hits and a walk in five innings. He struck out four. Ryan Pressly went the last two innings. He gave up three hits, but no runs, while striking out two. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 1, Portland 6 Box Score Taylor Rogers was strong again on Sunday, but the Rock Cats bats couldn't muster much offense off of Red Sox top pitching prospect Henry Owens. The Rock Cats managed just five hits. Reynaldo Rodriguez went 2-3 with a walk and his 26th double. Tony Thomas hit his fifth triple. Rogers gave up just two runs on eight hits over seven innings. He walked none and struck out four. Dan Turpen came on and gave up four runs on three hits and a walk in the 8th inning. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 10, Charlotte 5 Box Score Byron Buxton led off and played centerfield. He made a tremendous catch at the warning track in center early in the game. With the bat, he went 0-2, but most important, he stayed healthy. He was replaced in the lineup in the third inning by Max Kepler who went 1-1 with two walks and a three-run double. Jorge Polanco went 3-5 with his fourteenth and fifteenth doubles. Adam Walker went 3-4 with a walk. Dalton Hicks was 2-5 with his second triple. Niko Goodrum walked three times. DJ Baxendale started and gave up four runs on eight hits in five innings. He walked two and struck out five. Steven Gruver came on and gave up a run on three hits in two innings. Tyler Jones recorded his 11th save by working two shutout innings. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 2, Beloit 3 Box Score On this day, Aaron Slegers was much better than his line score would indicate. He went seven innings and gave up three runs (two earned) on five hits. He walked none and struck out two. However, he started the eighth inning and both hitters reached base. He was replaced, but the runners still came in to score. Todd Van Steensel gave up two hits over two scoreless innings. Bryan Haar led the offense. He went 3-4 with his 16th double and his fourth triple. Jason Kanzler went 2-4. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 7, Bluefield 12 Box Score It was not a good start for the E-Twins. Literally. Derrick Penilla started and gave up nine runs (6 earned) on six hits and two walks. He recorded just one out before Sam Clay came into the game. He gave up three runs (two earned) on one hit and two walks, in 0.1 innings. Randy LeBlanc came on and gave up only an unearned run on two hits over 4.1 innings. Josue Montanez came on and gave up one run on three hits an a walk. Kuo Hua Lo gave up two runs on five hits in two innings. The E-Twins bats did show up. Tyler Kuresa went 3-4 with a walk and three doubles, to double his double total on the season. Jorge Fernandez went 3-5. Nick Gordon went 2-4 with a walk. Max Murphy went 2-5 with his fourth double and fourth home run. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins Box Score No Game Scheduled. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Kris Johnson, Rochester Red Wings Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Tyler Kuresa, Elizabethton Twins MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Buffalo @ Rochester (6:05 CST) – Sean Gilmartin New Britain @ New Hampshire (DH @ 5:05 CST) – TBD Ft. Myers - No Game Scheduled Cedar Rapids - No Game Scheduled Bluefield @ Elizabethton (6:00 CST) – Michael Cederoth GCL Orioles @ GCL Twins (11:00am CST) – TBD Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Sunday games.

The Twins beat the Yankees by a score of 2-1 in 11 innings. The winning run scored on a throwing error by the Yanks' catcher, Francisco Cervelli, trying to complete a 1-2-3 double play. Brian Duensing picked up the win. The Red Wings offensive machine continued to rack up runs. A couple of Kernels continued hot streaks, and the E-Twins got another terrific start. There were some good games throughout the Twins minor leagues on Friday. Check out more below. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 8, Lehigh Valley 9 (16 innings) Box Score With a double-header on Sunday, the last thing the Red Wings needed was a 16-inning game on Saturday. However, that's just what they got. Six errors in the field by the Red Wings didn't help the matter. Scott Diamond started and gave up four runs (three earned) on six hits and a walk in 5.1 innings. Lester Oliveros gave up two runs (one earned) on three hits in 1.2 innings. He struck out two. AJ Achter was charged with an unearned run on one hit in one inning. Edgar Ibarra went the next 2.2 innings. He gave up one hit and walked one, but he didn't allow a run. Michael Tonkin gave up only one hit over 2.1 scoreless innings. Aaron Thompson came in and gave up two runs (1 earned) on four hits over 2.2 innings. He struck out four before being ejected, along with his manager Gene Glynn. Deolis Guerra came in and recorded the final out. All nine Red Wings had at least one hit. Seven of the nine had at least two hits. Nate Hanson led the way with three hits including his second double. Chris Herrmann had two doubles. Wilkin Ramirez hit his 16th double. Chris Rahl hit his sixth home run. ROCK CATS REVIEW Game 1 - New Britain 0, Portland 4 Box Score Virgil Vasquez started and gave up four runs on eight hits and two walks in six innings. He struck out five. The Rock Cats managed just five hits in the game. Reynaldo Rodriguez had two of them, including his 25th double. Michael Kvasnicka went 2-3. Game 2 - New Britain 2, Portland 4 Box Score Pat Dean started the second game and gave up four runs on eight hits and two walks in six innings. He struck out five (sound familiar?). The Rock Cats had just five hits in the second game as well. Eddie Rosario went 2-3 with his fifth and sixth doubles. Aaron Hicks went 2-2 with a walk. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 2, Charlotte 3 Box Score The Miracle had plenty of base runners, but they were unable to put enough runs on the scoreboard. Niko Goodrum went 3-4. Dalton Hicks went 2-4 with his 13th double. Travis Harrison went 2-4. Nate Roberts and Mike Gonzales each hit a double. Brett Lee made his first start in months and gave up two unearned runs on two hits and four walks in three innings. Alex Wimmers gave up a hit and walked two in a scoreless inning. Brian Gilbert threw two scoreless. Madison Boer gave up a run on a hit in two innings. He struck out two. Brandon Peterson walked two and struck out two in a scoreless inning. Manager Doug Mientkiewicz was ejected in the 9th inning. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 3, Beloit 6 Box Score Kohl Stewart gave up five runs (one earned) on four hits in 2.2 innings before being ejected by the home plate umpire. Jared Wilson gave up two hits and walked four in 2.1 innings but gave up just one run. Alex Muren, Chris Mazza and Hudson Boyd combined for four scoreless. The Kernels had just four hits. Jon Murphy walked three times. Engelb Vielma hit his third triple. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 1, Bluefield 0 Box Score Felix Jorge threw five shutout innings and struck out five. CK Irby and Jake Reed each threw two scoreless innings. Nick Gordon went 3-4 and is now hitting .345. Tyler Kuresa went 2-3 with his third double. Tanner English hit his second home run for the lone run of the game. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 0, GCL Red Sox 3 Box Score Wilfredy Liranzo struck out four in two scoreless innings. Mike Theofanopoulus gave up two runs on three hits and three walks in 1.1 innings. He struck out two while taking the loss. Callan Pearce then gave up a run on two hits in 2.1 innings. Seth Wagner struck out four in 2.1 scoreless innings. He walked one. Trevor Hildenberger pitched a perfect inning. The GCL Twins had just three hits. Amaurys Minier had two of them. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Felix Jorge, E-Twins Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Chris Herrmann, Rochester Red Wings

The Twins got a short start from Kyle Gibson (six runs in two innings) but came up just shy in their attempt to come back, losing 6-5 to the Yankees on the 4th of July. Sam Deduno was very good in long relief. Brian Dozier and Chris Colabello homered, but it wasn't enough. The Red Wings offensive machine continued to rack up runs. A couple Kernels continued hot streaks, and the E-Twins got another terrific start. There were some good games throughout the Twins minor leagues on Friday. Check out more below. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 12, Lehigh Valley 6 Box Score The Red Wings bats dominated in this one, their 50th win of the season. Chris Herrmann led the way. He reached base all five times with two singles and three walks. Eric Farris went 3-6 and stole his 14th base. Deibinson Romero went 2-6 with his 23rd double. Danny Ortiz went 2-5 with his second triple. Pedro Florimon was 2-5. Doug Bernier went 1-2, walked twice and was hit one other time. Logan Darnell wasn't terribly good, but he did get through five innings. He gave up six runs on seven hits and two walks. He struck out three. Deolis Guerra struck out four over the next two innings. Aaron Thompson gave up two hits in a scoreless inning. Michael Tonkin also recorded a scoreless inning. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain, Portland Box Score This game was postponed due to rain. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 6, Charlotte 1 Box Score A couple familiar faces made the biggest impacts in this game. Yesterday, JO Berrios was named the pitcher of the month for June, and the day before that he was named the Florida State League Pitcher of the Month. On Friday, he improved to 9-3 with six innings of one-run ball. He gave up six hits, walked one and struck out four. Steven Gruver recorded the three-inning save, giving up just one hit and one walk. The Miracle had just three hits in the game. Dalton Hicks doubled for the 12th time. Jorge Polanco tripled for the fifth time. Adam Walker came to the plate with the bases loaded, and he hit his 18th home run of the season. It was his third straight game with a home run and it was his third grand slam of the year. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 3, Beloit 0 Box Score He threw seven shutout innings in his previous start and on Friday Ethan Mildren did it again. In his seven shutout frames, he gave up just three hit and two walks. He struck out four. Dallas Gallant got a strikeout in his perfect inning. Todd Van Steensel came on for the ninth and recorded his eighth save. He walked one, gave up a hit, and struck out two. Bryan Haar continued to crush the ball. He went 2-3 with his 12th home run. He also stole his first base of the year. Zach Granite led off the game for the Kernels with a triple, his second. Chad Christensen hit his 13th double. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 5, Bluefield 0 Box Score The string of quality pitching for Elizabethton continued on July 4th. Chih-Wei Hu started and gave up just two hits over six shutout innings. He walked none and struck out nine. Keaton Steale, Josue Montanez and Kuo Hua Lo all threw a scoreless inning to maintain the shutout. Montanez struck out two. Lo struck out the side. Tanner English went 3-4 with his first triple. Tyler Mautner (6), Tyler Kuresa (2) and Brian Navarreto (5) all doubled in the game. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 3, GCL Red Sox 13 Box Score Young Australian Jack Barrie led the offense, going 4-4 on the day. Rainis Silva went 2-4. However, the bullpen really struggled in this one. Miguel Gonzalez started and gave up two runs on six hits in four innings. He struck out three. Onas Farfan came on and gave up three runs on three hits and a walk in one inning. Reyson Zoquiel gave up four runs (2 earned) on a hit and four walks and recorded just two outs. Miles Nordgren gave up four runs (just 1 earned) on seven hits in 2.1 innings. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Ethan Mildren, Cedar Rapids Kernels Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Chris Herrmann, Rochester Red Wings SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Lehigh Valley @ Rochester (6:05 CST) – Scott Diamond New Britain @ Portland (DH @ 3:00 CST) – Virgil Vasquez, Pat Dean Charlotte @ Ft. Myers (5:05 CST) – Brett Lee Beloit @ Cedar Rapids (5:05 CST) - Kohl Stewart Bluefield @ Elizabethton (5:00 CST) – Felix Jorge GCL Red Sox @ GCL Twins (9:00am CST) – Wilfredy Liranzo Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Friday games.