Seth Stohs

The Twins and Red Sox are battling in a suddenly-close game in the late innings of the final game of what has been an immensely frustrating series for the Twins and their fans. Which is another good reason to follow the Twins minor league games. There’s always plenty of positive to be taken from the games, even if three of the four Twins affiliates lost. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Wednesday: ROCHESTER 5, SYRACUSE 10 The Red Wings hadn’t played for two days due to a scheduled day off and a rain-out, and it showed somewhat on Wednesday against the Nationals’ AAA affiliate. Daryl Thompson started and gave up four runs on five hits and four walks in five innings. He struck out four. Anthony Slama came in and struck out the side in the 6th and another in a scoreless 7th. Tyler Robertson had a rough one. He didn’t get anyone out and gave up four runs on three hits and a walk. Brendan Wise got out of the 7th and also pitched the eighth. He gave up two unearned runs on three hits in those two innings. Darin Mastroianni led the offense. He went 3-4 with a walk and stole two bases. Ray Chang was 2-4. Matt Carson went 1-3 with two walks. Aaron Bats got on three times via the walk. The Red Wings were especially hurt by the long ball. In this game, former big leaguers Mark Teahen and Jason Michaels each hit a grand slam. Bryce Harper was 1-3 with a walk and a, ahem… sacrifice bunt. NEW BRITAIN 3, PORTLAND 7 Luke French was back on the mound for the Rock Cats in a Wednesday morning game. The lefty went 6.1 innings and gave up two runs on seven hits. He walked none and struck out four. Daniel Turpen pitched well until the ninth. In all, he gave up four runs on six hits in 2.1 innings. He walked none and struck out three. Bobby Lanigan gave up an unearned run on one hit and got the final out. James Beresford went 2-3. Estarlin de Los Santos and Chris Colabello each hit a double. Nate Hanson walked twice. FT. MYERS MIRACLE 2, PALM BEACH 6 It’s been a struggle for the talented Adrian Salcedo this early season and his Wednesday start was very rough. In just 2.2 innings, he gave up six earned runs on five hits. Most concerning, he walked five batters which is alarming because he has always displayed very good control. Jose Gonzalez struck out two in 2.1 scoreless innings. Bruce Pugh struck out two in three scoreless, hitless innings. Caleb Thielbar pitched another scoreless inning. The Miracle managed just four hits in the game. Jairo Perez hit his second home run of the season. BELOIT 9, BOWLING GREEN 3 The Snappers returned home from West Michigan to take on Bowling Green on Wednesday night. The offense certainly showed up and scored nine runs. What is most impressive is that the offense scored nine runs despite the 3-4-5 hitters (Sano-Rosario-Ortiz) combining to go 1-11 in the game. Eight-hitter Jairo Rodriguez led the way. He went 3-4 with his third double and three RBI. Ninth hitter, AJ Pettersen, was 2-3 with his second double and two RBI. Lead-off man, Wang-Wei Lin, was 2-5 with his third double and two RBI. Adam Bryant (2nd hitter) drove in the other two runs. Tyler Grimes added a triple. Jason Wheeler improved to 2-0 with a Quality Start. He gave up three runs on 10 hits in six innings. He walked none and struck out two. Michael Tonkin was perfect for two innings. Corey Williams struck out two (and walked one) in a scoreless ninth. --- Players of the Day for Wednesday, April 25, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Jairo Rodriguez [ATTACH=CONFIG]750[/ATTACH] Pitcher of the Day – Bruce Pugh [ATTACH=CONFIG]751[/ATTACH] --- A Look Ahead – Thursday, April 26, 2012 Schedule Rochester vs Syracuse (DH) – RHP Cole DeVries, RHP Sam Deduno New Britain – No Game Scheduled, Travel Day Ft. Myers vs Palm Beach – RHP Marty Popham Beloit vs Bowling Green – RHP Matt Summers --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them!

The Twins were pretty well dominated by the Red Sox on Tuesday night, losing 11-2. Nick Blackburn was crushed. Matt Maloney was crushed. The offense didn’t come through. There was even some bad defense. Its’ a good thing that there are plenty of positive things going on in the Twins farm system to give us positive stuff to talk about! Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Tuesday: ROCHESTER, SYRACUSE The Red Wings were rained out on Tuesday night, but they still made some news. Tsuyoshi Nishioka was put on the 7-Day Disabled List with a high ankle sprain. Also, Ben Revere will be promoted to the Twins to take Josh Willingham’s place on the roster while the power hitter is gone on paternity leave. Best wishes to Josh and his wife Ginger! NEW BRITAIN 7, PORTLAND 6 Logan Darnell had a rough start and put the Rock Cats in a bad place early in the game. It took quite the comeback, but the team got a big, walk-off win in this one. Darnell started and gave up six runs on eight hits and four walks in just three innings. Lester Oliveros gave up a hit and a walk in his two scoreless innings. Brett Jacobson walked three in two scoreless innings. He struck out two. Deolis Guerra continues his mastery of the bullpen. He went two scoreless innings and struck out five. He is now 2-0 with an ERA at 0.74 ERA. Chris Herrmann led the offense by going 2-4 with a walk, his second home run, three runs scored and two RBI. Deibinson Romero was 2-5. Danny Lehmann was 2-4. The Rock Cats scored five runs in the bottom of the 7th inning to tie the game. Then with two runners on and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Nate Hanson hit a game-winnings, walk-off double. FT. MYERS MIRACLE 7, ST. LUCIE 1 BJ Hermsen finally was credited with his first win of the season. The righty gave up just one run on seven hits in five innings. He walked one and struck out two. Matt Hauser came in and struck out three in three scoreless innings. Ricky Bowen struck out two in a perfect ninth. Danny Santana went 3-5 with his third double. Levi Michael was 3-4 with a walk and his first triple. Angel Morales was 2-5 with his third double and forth stolen base. Michael Gonzales was 2-5 with his second home run in as many games. Josmil Pinto was 1-3 with a walk and three RBI. BELOIT 8, WEST MICHIGAN 0 The Snappers grabbed an early lead, but then they added five runs in the 7th inning to break away. Danny Ortiz led the offense. He was 3-5 with his third double and four RBI. He is now hitting .304. Eddie Rosario was 2-5 with his sixth double and is now hitting .324. Wang-Wei Lin was 2-3 with two walks and his second double. AJ Pettersen was 2-3 with a walk and his first stolen base. Tim Shibuya was the recipient of the great run support. He recorded his first win of the year. He went 5.2 innings and gave up no runs on eight hits. He walked one and struck out five. AJ Achter came into the game with two outs in the 6th inning and got the final out with the bases loaded via a strikeout. Achter reduced his ERA to 0.77 by throwing a scoreless 7th inning too. Nelvin Fuentes and Clint Dempster each pitched a scoreless inning. --- Players of the Day for Tuesday, April 24, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Danny Ortiz [ATTACH=CONFIG]741[/ATTACH] Pitcher of the Day – Tim Shibuya [ATTACH=CONFIG]740[/ATTACH] --- A Look Ahead – Wednesday, April 25, 2012 Schedule Rochester vs Syracuse – RHP Daryl Thompson New Britain vs Portland – LHP Luke French Ft. Myers vs Palm Beach – RHP Adrian Salcedo Beloit vs Bowling Green – LHP Jason Wheeler --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them!

West Micigan announcer after Snappers LF Wang-Wei Lin makes great catch. "Wang-Wei Lin went a Long Way to make that sliding catch."

Gotta love Danny Ortiz, little guy with huge pop in his bat!

Over 60 Twins minor leaguers were adopted in yesterday's Twins Adopt-a-Propsect. If you are interested, you can still adopt a Twins prospect by clicking here and selecting a Twins minor leaguer. There is a huge interest in the Twins minor league system, and for good reason. Although you may read or hear that the Twins farm system is struggling and middle-of-the-pack, that certainly does not mean that there are not people worth tracking. That's what we'll do here today. In each of the four Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbooks that I have written, I put in my Top Twins Prospect rankings and those of several Twins writers and bloggers, local and national. Although we are just three weeks into the minor league season, I thought it would be good to track how the Twins top minor league prospects are performing to date. We can track this monthly, or whenever, to see how these guys are doing. ---- #1 Miguel Sano - 3B - Beloit Snappers - 18 Sano has stepped into the full-season and come out hitting like crazy. He is hitting .311/.447/.705 (1.152 OPS) in 61 at bats. He has four doubles, a triple, six home runs and 18 RBI. He has 14 walks, but he also has struck out 20 times. Not just a big man, he has good speed and has stolen two bases in three attempts. #2 Eddie Rosario - 2B - Beloit Snappers - 20 Last year's Appalachian League MVP is off to a very solid start in 2012. he is hitting .317/.427/.444 (.871) in 63 at bats. He had five doubles, a home run and 13 RBI. He has good speed, stealing six bases in eight attempts. He also has walked 12 times and struck out just 11 times. His transition to 2B is going as expected. He has five errors already, but reports indicate that he is doing better than that number would indicate. #3 Oswaldo Arcia - RF - Ft Myers Miracle - 20 He is somewhat off to a slow start, hitting just .267/.358/.467 (.825) in 45 at bats. A lingering leg injury cost him about a week's worth of games already this month. He had a big 4-5 game on Sunday with a triple and a home run that really boosted his early season numbers. He has two doubles, two triples, a home run and four RBI on the year. He has six walks, but the number to watch with him is his strikeouts, and he already has 17. #4 Aaron Hicks - CF - New Britain Rock Cats - 22 Many expected Hicks to struggle with the jump to AA this spring, but he has held his own to this point. He is hitting .274/.356/.516 (.872) with four doubles, a triple, three home runs and ten RBI in 62 at bats. He is also 2-3 in steal attempts. He has walked nine times and struck out 16 times. Hicks has a history of being quite streaky and we've seen that already in the early season. The goal will be to minimize the length of the bad streaks. #5 Joe Benson - CF - Rochester Red Wings - 24 Benson is off to a slow start in AAA. He is hitting .185/.318/.241 (.559) in 54 at bats. He has one double, one triple and no home runs to this point. He has walked ten times, but he has also struck out 17 times. That is the key for him, putting the ball in play because when he does, generally good things happen. He is also 3-3 on the base paths so far this season, and we all know about his range and arm on defense. #6 Liam Hendriks - RHP - Minnesota Twins - 23 Thanks to a bout with food poisoning, Hendriks missed his first start of the season, but he has been solid in his first two starts since. He is 0-0 with a 3.86 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. In 11.2 innings, he has given up 12 hits, walked just two and struck out five. In each of his games, on bad home run ball allowed really hurt him, but he has looked poised and shown good stuff on the mound. [ATTACH=CONFIG]727[/ATTACH] #7 Kyle Gibson - RHP - Rochester Red Wings - 24 As you know, Gibson is on the Disabled List after having Tommy John surgery in September. He expects to throw off of a mound in early June and could be making rehab starts in late July or early August. The goal is to have him ready to compete for a Twins job next spring training. #8 Adrian Salcedo - RHP - Ft. Myers Miracle - 21 The talented right-hander has made three starts this season without a decision. He has a 3.21 ERA that looks much better than the 1.64 WHIP he has posted. In 14 innings, he had allowed 15 hits, uncharacteristically walked eight and struck out ten. #9 Alex Wimmers - RHP - New Britain Rock Cats - 23 After a frustrating 2011 season that ended with a no-hitter in Ft. Myers, Wimmers made the jump to AA to start the 2012 season. In his first start, he gave up two runs on six hits and two walks in 4.1 innings. (4.15 ERA, 1.85 WHIP) He hasn't pitched since due to a sore back and a slightly strained flexor (elbow). He hasn't pitched in two weeks, but hopefully he can get back on a mound soon. #10 Chris Parmelee - 1B/OF - Minnesota Twins - 24 Parmelee was a big surprise in spring training, earning a spot on the big league roster thanks to the decision to use Justin Morneau primarily as a DH. He has held his own at the start of the season, hitting .273/.304/409 (.713) in 44 at bats. He has four doubles, a triple and two RBI. he has walked just twice and struck out 11 times. #11 Brian Dozier - SS/2B - Rochester Red Wings - 24 Dozier has certainly made a name for himself in the organization's mind the last two seasons. He got off to a great start in AAA this season, and despite going 4-27 (.148) in his last seven games, he is still hitting .311/.373/.459 (.832) in 61 at bats this season. He has six doubles, a home run and six RBI. He has walked six times and struck out nine times. He has just one steal in three attempts. To this point, he has hit 1st, 2nd and now 3rd in the Red Wings lineup. He has primarily played shortstop, but has a handful of starts at 2B as well. (It is important to note that we have passed the point in the season where, if the Twins called him up today, they would still have control of his services until the 2018 season. He would be a Super-2 arbitration-eligible player, but the Twins would keep him the extra season.) #12 Travis Harrison - 3B - Extended Spring Training - 19 The Twins supplemental first round pick in 2012 is playing in Extended Spring Training right now and will play in either the GCL or for Elizabethton when the short-seasons start in late-June. #13 Tom Stuifbergen - RHP - Ft. Myers Miracle - 23 He came to spring training with an injured foot and a sore shoulder. A recent MRI indicated some issues in his shoulder that hopefully can be fixed through some shoulder strengthening. It is still uncertain when he will next pitch. #14 Angel Morales - CF - Ft. Myers Miracle - 22 2011 was a lost season for Morales, for the most part, due to his elbow pain and then surgery. However, he is back in 2012 and hitting very well. He was the Florida State League's hitter of the week for the seasons for ten days. He is hitting .339/.400/.452 (.852) through 62 at bats. He has two doubles, a triple, a home run and seven RBI. he is 3-4 in stolen base attempts. He has seven walks, but a concern would be his 19 strikeouts. #15 Chris Herrmann - C - New Britain Rock Cats - 24 Herrmann broke out last year and then made another strong impression this spring as a future Twins catcher. He is off to a slow start with the Rock Cats this year. He is hitting just .226/.273/.387 (.660) in 62 at batswith seven doubles, a homer and five RBI. He has just four walks to go with 13 strikeouts. #16 Manuel Soliman - RHP - Ft. Myers Miracle - 22 The hard-throwing former 3B has moved up a level each year. He has made two starts with the Miracle this season before being put on the Disabled List this weekend with a sore shoulder. Through two starts, he had thrown just five innings. He was 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA and a 2.40 WHIP. He allowed seven hits, walked five and struck out five. #17 Levi Michael - SS - Ft. Myers Miracle - 21 Michael, the Twins top pick in 2011, is making his professional debut this spring. he is off to a slow start with the bat and the glove. In 57 at bats, he is hitting .228/.338/.281. This weekend, he smashed his first professional home run (and his first extra base hit). He has walked ten times and struck out ten times. He is 1-1 in steal attempts. #18 Max Kepler - OF - Extended Spring Training - 19 The young German OF is starting this season in EST. He could advance to Beloit if there is a need, or he could return to Elizabethton and hope to improve upon a decent first showing there. #19 Niko Goodrum - SS - Extended Spring Training - 20 The super-talented shortstop actually had a quietly very good 2011 in Elizabethton. He committed a lot of errors, but he did well with the bat. He is back at EST, and like Kepler, I would not be surprised if he moves up to Beloit before the short-season starts. #20 Hudson Boyd - RHP - Extended Spring Training - 19 The Twins second supplemental first round pick last year was the stocky right-hander from Ft. Myers. He throws hard and it will be interesting to see if he goes to the GCL or Elizabethton. #21 BJ Hermsen - RHP - Ft. Myers Miracle - 22 Everyone wants to point out that he doesn't throw real hard, but what he does do is get hitters out with a good mix of pitches and a poise on the mound. Hersen has made three starts and is yet to get a decision despite tremendous numbers. He is 0-0 with a 0.50 ERA and a 0.72 WHIP. In 18 innings, had has given up just nine hits, walked just four and struck out ten. #22 Danny Santana - SS/2B/CF - Ft. Myers Miracle - 21 Santana got off to a very fast start with the Miracle, and even now after 66 at bats, he is hitting .303/.324/.455 (.778). He has two doubles, a triple, two home runs and eight RBI. He has walked just twice and struck out nine times. Very fast, he is just 2-4 in stolen base attempts. #23 Madison Boer - RHP - Beloit Snappers - 22 The Eden Prairie native and Twins 2nd round pick last June, Boer has found that the Midwest League can be a little more difficult than the Appy League. He has made four starts and is 1-2 with a 3.74 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP. In 21.2 innings, he has given up 20 hits, walked seven and struck out 17. He is doing just fine as a starter. #24 Logan Darnell - LHP - New Britain Rock Cats - 23 The left-hander who pitched at three levels last year returns to New Britain where he ended the season. He is 2-0 with a 2.81 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. In 16 innings in three starts, he has given up 13 hits, six walks and struck out ten. #25 David Bromberg - RHP - New Britain Rock Cats - 24 Bromberg has been moved to the bullpen by the Twins and he has struggled in the transition. He did make one, three-inning spot start. The numbers don't look great. He is 0-0 with a 15.00 ERA and a 2.83 WHIP. However, it is just six innings. He has given up 13 hits, walked four and struck out just two. So, there are the updates on my Top 25 Twins prospects from my Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook. I'll be looking to update my Top 50 Twins Prospect list in late May or early June, before the draft. So, continue to look for updates. As always, if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to ask in the Comments!

As I type this, the Twins and the Red Sox are sitting at 5-5 in the 7th inning. Who knows how long that game will go. All three Twins minor league games were in the Eastern time zone, so those games are all complete. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Sunday: ROCHESTER RED WINGS Rochester residents were the recipient of three inches of snow when they woke up on Monday morning. Fortunately, the Red Wings did not have a scheduled game. Syracuse is scheduled to come to town on Tuesday. NEW BRITAIN 3, PORTLAND 5 Steve Hirschfeld started and gave up five runs on eight hits in 5.2 innings. He walked three and struck out three. Blake Martin, David Bromberg and Luis Perdomo went the final 3.1 innings, keeping the Rock Cats within striking distance. The Rock Cats offense just wasn’t able to put enough together. Estarlin de Los Santos went 2-5 with his second stolen base. Evan Bigley was also 2-5. Pedro Florimon was 1-2 with two walks. Chris Herrmann and Nate Hanson each hit a double. FT. MYERS MIRACLE 6, ST. LUCIE 10 Jhon Garcia was given a spot start for the Miracle, something he has done occasionally throughout his professional career. He gave up three runs (1 earned) on five hits. He walked none and struck out one. Miguel Munoz came in and made his first appearance of the season. He gave up three runs on four hits in just one inning. Edgar Ibarra then gave up four runs on six hits and two walks in just two innings. The Miracle bats showed up and showed plenty of power, but it just wasn’t enough in this game. Jairo Perez went 1-3 with a walk and his seventh double. Lance Ray was 1-3 with his third home run. Danny Santana hit his second home run. Michael Gonzales hit his first home run of the season. BELOIT 1, WEST MICHIGAN 6 The Snappers bats and gloves both didn’t appear to show up to the ball park on Monday night. The team committed five errors in this game. They only had six hits. Miguel Sano was 1-3 with a walk and his fourth double. Matt Koch also doubled. Steven Gruver started and gave up four runs (1 earned) on five hits in five innings. He struck out three. Michael Tonkin and Bart Carter each threw a scoreless inning. Corey Williams gave up two runs on two hits and a walk in his inning. He struck out three. --- Players of the Day for Monday, April 23, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Lance Ray [ATTACH=CONFIG]719[/ATTACH] Pitcher of the Day – Jhon Garcia [ATTACH=CONFIG]720[/ATTACH] --- A Look Ahead – Tuesday, April 24, 2012 Schedule Rochester vs Syracuse – RHP Daryl Thompson New Britain vs Portland – LHP Logan Darnell Ft. Myers @ St. Lucie – RHP BJ Hermsen Beloit @ West Michigan – RHP Tim Shibuya --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them!

The Twins lost 6-2 on Sunday afternoon to the Rays meaning they were 3-4 on the road trip. Francisco Liriano had his fourth straight Lirianic start. It wasn’t pretty. Josh Willingham’s hitting streak came to an end. All-in-all, it appears that it would be a great time for the team to head back to home, to Target Field, for a series against the scuffling Boston Red Sox. Of course, they will get to face Jon Lester, Josh Beckett and Clay Buchholz, so it isn’t as though it gets easy. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Sunday: ROCHESTER 3, LEHIGH VALLEY 2 The teams decided beforehand to just play one game on Sunday. They will make up for Saturday’s rainout with a double header in July. The story for the Red Wings all spring so far has been the performance of lefty Scott Diamond, and that story did not change today. On the game, Diamond went seven innings and gave up two unearned runs on four hits. He walked none and struck out four. On the season, he is now 4-0 with a 1.07 ERA. In 25.1 innings, he has given up 21 hits, walked five and struck out 18. As Francisco Liriano continues to struggle, the Twins have a guy in Rochester, pitching on the same schedule, who is earning another opportunity. Casey Fien recorded his fourth save with two scoreless innings. He gave up just one hit. Matt Carson led the offense. He was 2-3 with his seventh double and two RBI. He also stole his second base. Ben Revere went 2-4. It was a nice two-game series win over the IronPigs, the top team in the league. NEW BRITAIN, NEW HAMPSHIRE The Rock Cats, like most of the teams in the northeast, had their game postponed. FT. MYERS MIRACLE 7, ST. LUCIE 5 (Game in progress - 7th Inning) Playing on the east side of the state, the Miracle grabbed an early lead in the 2nd with a single run when Jairo Perez singled in Anderson Hidalgo (who had tripled). Then in the top of the 4th frame, they busted out for five runs. Jairo Perez, Michael Gonzales and Andy Leer hit consecutive RBI doubles. Later Oswaldo Arcia singled in the fifth run. However, starter Pat Dean gave up five runs in the bottom of the fifth to cut the Miracle lead to one, but Arcia launched his first home run of the year to give the Miracle a 7-5 lead in the 6th inning. Pat Dean started and gave up those five runs on six hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out five. Bruce Pugh is coming in to start the bottom of the seventh. Through seven innings, Arcia is 3-4 with his home run. Perez is 3-4 with two doubles. We’ll update this again when the game goes final. BELOIT 3, WEST MICHIGAN 6 Madison Boer made a very strong start, but West Michigan came up with a big eighth inning and took the win. Boer gave up two runs on three hits in 6.2 innings. He struck out two. Ryan O’Rourke came in and after getting out of the 7th. He then gave up four runs on five hits and a walk in the 8th frame. Eddie Rosario led the offense. He was 3-4 with his fifth double and two RBI. Rory Rhodes went 2-4 with his second double. Jhonathan Goncalves was 2-4 with his sixth double. --- Players of the Day for Sunday, April 22, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Oswaldo Arcia [ATTACH=CONFIG]702[/ATTACH] Pitcher of the Day – Scott Diamond [ATTACH=CONFIG]701[/ATTACH] --- A Look Ahead – Monday, April 23, 2012 Schedule Rochester – No Game Scheduled New Britain vs New Hampshire – RHP David Bromberg Ft. Myers @ St. Lucie – RHP Miguel Munoz Beloit @ West Michigan – LHP Steve Gruver --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them!

Guys like Thomas are around so that guys like Revere, Benson and Tosoni can develop more. Develop more for next season, when the Twins hope to be competitive again. That's why Parmelee should be in Rochester getting at bats every day.

It was a terrific pitcher’s dual through five-and-a-half innings. In fact, Carl Pavano was one out from getting out of the bottom of the 6th inning. Then came a blooper and an error. The Rays had a 3-0 lead, made it 4-0 later, and despite a late run for the Twins, they fell 4-1 to the Rays. In reality, after the Rays got the lead, thing were not pretty for the Twins. Jamey Carroll committed his first error. Danny Valencia misplayed a ground ball. Jeff Gray inexplicably did not allow a run in the 8th despite having zero control. Tomorrow is another day, and the Twins will hope that we get to see good Francisco Liriano against the Rays’ Jeff Niemann. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Saturday: ROCHESTER, LEHIGH VALLEY - Postponed The Red Wings game was postponed by rain on Saturday afternoon, so these two teams will play a double-header on Sunday afternoon. NEW BRITAIN 4, NEW HAMPSHIRE 1 Lefty Andrew Albers was again tremendous in his start against New Hampshire on this night. He gave up just one run on five hits in seven innings for the Win. He walked none and struck out seven. Bobby Lanigan struck out two in hit two scoreless innings. The Rock Cats got plenty of hits in this game. Estarlin de Los Santos (playing LF) went 2-5. Chris Herrmann had his fifth and sixth doubles in five at bats. Evan Bigley went 2-4 with a walk. Pedro Florimon was 2-4 with his second double. Aaron Hicks was 2-3 with a walk and his first triple. The Rock Cats improve to 12-5. FT. MYERS MIRACLE 8, BRADENTON 6 Down 6-1 going into the top of the 8th, the Miracle put together a miraculous comeback. They scored two in the eighth. Then in the top of the ninth, they scored three runs. Danny Santana drove in one with a triple, then Levi Michael drove him in with a sacrifice fly to tie the game. The game went to the 10th and the Miracle offense continued. Dan Rohlfing drove in the go-ahead run with a single, and then Lance Ray doubled him in for an insurance run. The bullpen held and the Miracle came away with a very nice win. Marty Popham was on the mound to start. He gave up three runs on six hits and three walks in five innings. He struck out five. Tony Davis came in to start the sixth. He faced four batters and gave up two hits and two walks. Three runs scored were charged to him. Ricky Bowen threw two perfect innings in relief. Then Caleb Thielbar struck out six, walked just one and gave up no hits in his three scoreless frames. Levi Michael went 2-4 in the game and drove in three runs. In the first inning, he hit his first career home run. Danny Santana was 3-5 with his first triple. Josmil Pinto remains hot. He had another 3-5 game. The Miracle broke a four game losing streak and are now 7-8 on the season. INJURY NOTES – The Miracle put Danny Rams and Manuel Soliman on the Disabled List, and they activated RHP Miguel Munoz. BELOIT 5, SOUTH BEND 8 It was seven-run fifth inning that did in Matt Summers and the Snappers. The big right-hander gave up eight runs on five hits, four walks and two hit batsmen in 4.1 innings. Matt Tomshaw came in and threw 2.2 scoreless innings. He walked one and struck out one. Nelvin Fuentes then gave up two runs in the eighth inning. The Snappers got plenty of base runners, but they were unable to make up for the one inning. Tyler Grimes was 1-3 with a walk. Miguel Sano was 1-3 with a walk and his second stolen base. Eddie Rosario was 0-1 but walked his first three plate appearances. Wang-Wei Lin was 2-2 with two walks and his first triple. The Snappers fall back over .500 at 8-8. --- Players of the Day for Friday, April 20, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Levi Michael [ATTACH=CONFIG]696[/ATTACH] Pitcher of the Day – Andrew Albers [ATTACH=CONFIG]695[/ATTACH] --- A Look Ahead – Sunday, April 21, 2012 Schedule Rochester vs. Lehigh Valley (DH) – LHP Scott Diamond, RHP Daryl Thompson New Britain vs New Hampshire – RHP David Bromberg Ft. Myers @ St. Lucie – RHP Miguel Munoz Beloit @ West Michigan – RHP Madison Boer --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them!

Recently, we have seen the “Adopt of Prospect” concept run on various team sites for baseball, and for hockey. We liked the ideas as well, and we want to bring it to Twins Daily. Here is what we were thinking. We use this thread to come up with any ideas or suggestions for this. Then on Monday morning at 10:00 central time, we will set up a separate Forum section called Minnesota Twins Adopt-a-Prospect. Seth will initiate a forum in which Twins Daily members can “adopt” a player. The thread will determine who gets to adopt each player. However, each Twins Daily member can adopt just one prospect, and each prospect can only be adopted once. It will be first-come, first-serve, determined by the time of the post. By Monday afternoon, Adoptees can start their Prospect’s thread in the Adopt-a-Prospect forum. There are nearly 200 Twins prospects, so there will be a lot of threads. That thread can go any which way, either as a news only update type thread or one with more discussion and observations. Hopefully people would be able to watch and share some videos, stats, local newspaper stories, etc., about their prospect. What does everyone think? Possible success? Doomed for failure from the start? RULES The following are the rules for the Adopt-a-Prospect forum. If you don't believe you can abide by these rules... don’t Adopt-a-Prospect. These rules can be discussed and a final set of rules will be posted in Monday morning’s initial Adopt-A-Prospect thread. 1) The first post must be an introduction of the player. The format of the post is up to the individual, but please be sure to get all the important information needed on the player. For Example, Name, Position, Handedness, Drafted/Signed/Acquired (out of where/what round), Previous Stats, etc. Feel free to make it as detailed as you want. (There are a lot of websites you could link to such as their Baseball-Reference, The Baseball Cube, First Inning, Fan Graphs, etc.) 2) After the initial post (and throughout the season), you MUST update the thread AT LEAST once a week. If you fail to do this, the prospect will be taken away from you. [if a player is inactive due to injury or suspension, this requirement is waived as appropriate.] If you would like to update more often, feel free. Updates should, at least, include Year-To-Date numbers for the player. The more information given, however, the better. Brag up your prospect! 3) Any major event (i.e. Promotion/Demotion/Trade/Perfect Game/4 HRs in one game...) must be reflected in the thread within a day of the event. Failure to update for this purpose may result in losing your adoptee. 4) Threads will be closed one week after a prospect has been traded out of the organization. However, if the player is traded back to the Twins (for some reason), the member who had the prospect will have the option to regain the prospect. 5) If a player is placed on the 25-man roster, this is wonderful news and you can continue that player’s thread. Reward for your player getting to the big leagues is that you can adopt a second prospect at that point. Even if the first player is eventually sent back to the minor leagues, you can maintain both prospect threads. 6) All other rules which are enforced on the main board will be enforced here. What do you think? [ATTACH=CONFIG]692[/ATTACH]

The Twins improved to 5-9 with a 5-4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Denard Span, Jamey Carroll and Joe Mauer each had two hits, but it was again Josh Willingham who played hero in this game. With the Twins down 4-2 in the 7th, the bases were loaded with two outs and Willingham came to the plate. With two strikes, Willingham drilled a opposite-field doubles to drive in three and give the Twins the lead. It extended his hitting streak to 14 games. Matt Maloney, Jared Burton, Brian Duensing and then Matt Capps finished out the game very well. Liam Hendriks started and gave up just one run through five innings. However, in the 6th inning, he gave up three runs, culminated by an Evan Longoria home run. The Twins are playing some exciting baseball, and the excitement is trickling down to the minor leagues. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Friday: ROCHESTER 5, LEHIGH VALLEY 2 The Red Wings got a big win against the International League’s top team on Friday night. PJ Walters improved to 2-1 with a decent start. In 5.1 innings, he gave up two runs on six hits. (He gave up back to back home runs in the 3rd inning to Derrick Mitchell and Tuffy Gosewisch.) He walked two and struck out three. Then the bullpen took over. Tyler Robertson got the two outs of the sixth inning. Jeff Manship pitched two scoreless innings. Casey Fien recorded his third save with a scoreless ninth. The Red Wings tied a season-high with 11 hits in this game. Michael Hollimon was 3-4. Drew Butera was 2-3 with a double and two RBI (in the three-run fifth inning). The RBI were his first since Opening Day. Darin Mastroianni was 2-4. Matt Rozzotti was 2-4. It was his third multi-hit game in his past three games. The Red Wings win pushes them back to .500, at 8-8. NEW BRITAIN 7, NEW HAMPSHIRE 3 This Friday afternoon ball game was tied 3-3 when the Rock Cats came to bat in the bottom of the eighth. With an out, Evan Bigley and Chris Colabello hit back-to-back doubles that gave the team the lead. One out later, Deibinson Romero walked and Pedro Florimon hit a three-run homer that broke that game open. Earlier in the game, it was Romero that supplied the offense. He also knocked a three-run homer. It was Romero’s third homer of the year while Florimon hit his second in as many games. James Beresford went 2-3. Luke French made the start for the Rock Cats. He gave up three runs (2 earned) on three hits in five innings. He struck out three, but he walked an uncharacteristic six batters. Deolis Guerra struck out two in two scoreless innings. Daniel Turpen got the win as he struck out two in two innings. The Rock Cats improve to 11-5. FT. MYERS MIRACLE 3, BRADENTON 4 Adrian Salcedo and Gerrit Cole were matched up against each other in consecutive starts. Josmil Pinto hit a home run against Cole, and the Miracle scored all three of their runs against the talented right-hander who went the first five innings. Salcedo also went five innings. He gave up three runs (2 earned) on six hits and three walks. He struck out four. Jhon Garcia gave up one run over the next two innings, a solo home to Drew Maggi. Matt Hauser gave up a hit and two walks but no runs in the 8th inning. The Miracle bats continue to struggle. In this game, they had just six hits. Pinto hit his first homer. Jairo Perez and Anderson Hidalgo each hit a double. Lance Ray was 1-2 with a walk and a stolen base. The loss is the fourth in a row for the Miracle, who drop to 6-8. BELOIT 13, SOUTH BEND 3 Big innings are always helpful for a baseball team. The Snappers scored four runs in the 4th inning, the 7th inning and the 9th inning and pulled away in this game. The Snappers scored their 13 runs on 15 hits and eight walks, but let’s start with the pitching. Lefty Jason Wheeler got the start. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on four hits and three walks. He struck out four. AJ Achter was good again, throwing two scoreless innings. Clinton Dempster threw the ninth. He gave up a run on one hit and three walks in the inning. OK, to the offense. Miguel Sano came into the game with six homers and a triple, but no doubles. In this game, he went 4-5 with a walk and his first three doubles of the season. JD Williams was 3-6. Eddie Rosario went 2-5 with a walk. (Side Note – He also committed his fifth error.) Danny Ortiz had two hits. AJ Pettersen and Rory Rhodes each hit a double. Jhonathan Goncalves hit a triple. The Snappers jump back over .500 at 8-7. --- Players of the Day for Friday, April 20, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Miguel Sano [ATTACH=CONFIG]686[/ATTACH] Pitcher of the Day – Jason Wheeler [ATTACH=CONFIG]687[/ATTACH] --- A Look Ahead – Saturday, April 21, 2012 Schedule Rochester vs. Lehigh Valley – LHP Scott Diamond New Britain vs New Hampshire – LHP Andrew Albers Ft. Myers @ Bradenton – RHP Marty Popham Beloit @ South Bend – RHP Matt Summers --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them!