Seth Stohs

The Twins and Tigers were rained out on Sunday, so the Twins were able to avoid Justin Verlander. Monday is a scheduled off day before a three-game series at Target Field against the Dodgers where they will see former AL Central nemesis Zach Greinke in Game 1. In the minors, there were a couple of very strong starts. One of the affiliates won on a walk-off, and another used some big extra base hits to mount a huge comeback. On the other hand, one affiliate gave up a late-inning lead. But, one affiliate scored a dozen runs. So, mix and match. Which affiliate did each of these? Read below to find out. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 3, Pawtucket 2 (10 innings) Box Score Chris Parmelee went 0-3 with three strikeouts. It threatened to end his 11-game hitting streak. However, he singled in the 8th inning to help the Red Wings tie the game and send it to extra innings. In the bottom of the tenth, Parmelee hit a walk-off home run to get the Wings back in the win column after two losses. Logan Darnell was on the mound and again very good. He was charged with two runs (1 earned) on five hits and a walk in 6.1 innings. He struck out six. As he walked to the mound for the seventh inning, he had not yet allowed a run. Yohan Pino came in to replace Darnell. He got the final two outs of the seventh inning and then worked three more scoreless innings. It wasn’t until the 10th inning he even gave up a base runner. He was helped by right fielder Doug Bernier who threw out a runner at the plate that inning. Pino struck out six in this outing. He is now 4-0 with a 1.17 ERA. Parmelee was 2-5 in the game with the big hits. James Beresford was 2-4. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 5, Richmond 7 Box Score The Rock Cats got a great start and got some big hits. Until the bottom of the 8th inning, this was a terrific game in Richmond for the Rock Cats. And then came the eighth inning. Virgil Vasquez started and threw six shutout innings. He gave up three hits, walked one and struck out four. Not bad coming off his previous start when he threw seven three-hit, shutout innings. Ryan O’Rourke came in for the seventh inning and gave up a run while striking out two. The Rock Cats grabbed the lead early. Brandon Waring, who had a nice showing in big league camp this spring but was hitting under .180 coming into this game, hit a first inning double that scored Nate Hanson and Kennys Vargas. The Rock Cats added two more in the fourth inning. Former Gophers Kyle Knudson and AJ Pettersen each had an RBI double. With two outs in the seventh inning, Nate Hanson was hit by a pitch and Vargas singled. Then Waring drove in his third run of the game with a single. The Rock Cats had a 5-1 lead heading into the bottom of the 8th inning. Dan Turpen came in. He gave up a single, a walk, a single and a bases-loaded walk before striking out a batter. He was replaced by Jim Fuller who hit the one batter he faced to make the score 5-3. Cole Johnson came on. He hit the next two batters he faced to tie the score at five. A single then scored two more runs before Johnson got the final two outs. Kennys Vargas was 3-4 with his fourth double. Brandon Waring was 2-5 with his sixth double and three RBI. AJ Pettersen went 2-4 with his first double. Reynaldo Rodriguez hit his seventh double, and Kyle Knudson hit his second double. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 10, Palm Beach 7 Box Score The Miracle had a bit of a miracle on Sunday afternoon. Down 5-0 after just two innings, the team fought back and came away with a great team victory. Alex Wimmers made the start. He went five innings and was charged with seven runs, though just four were earned. He gave up seven hits (2 homers) and walked three. He struck out two. Mason Melotakis came on and gave up two hits (and a hit batter) over two scoreless innings. Madison Boer earned his third save with two perfect innings. Down 7-2 going into the sixth inning, the Miracle put six on the board to take the lead. The inning started with walks to Adam Walker and Mike Gonzales before Niko Goodrum’s single loaded the bases. Max Kepler came to the plate and picked the perfect time for his first home run of the season, a grand slam that cut the lead to 7-6. After a pitching change, Tyler Grimes doubles. Following a Levi Michael walk, Travis Harrison doubled to score Grimes and tie the game. Jorge Polanco came up and hit a sacrifice fly to give the Miracle an 8-7 lead. The Miracle added some insurance in the bottom of the 8th inning when Travis Harrison doubled in Levi Michael and scored on a Jorge Polanco single Harrison was 3-5 with the two doubles, his fifth and sixth on the season. Polanco was 2-4. Levi Michael was 1-2 with three walks. Adam Walker was 0-2 but walked three times. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 12, Clinton 1 Box Score When a team scores 12 runs in a game, you’d think we’d start with a note on the offense. Not in this game. Aaron Slegers started and was terrific. He went seven innings and gave up just one run on six hits. He walked none and struck out eight batters. Todd Van Steensel made his Kernels debut and had a one, two, three inning with two strikeouts. Christian Powell came in for the ninth. He gave up a hit, but he struck out two in a scoreless inning. Chad Christensen went 3-5 with a walk. He stole his sixth base. Zack Larson went 3-5 with his league-leading tenth double and his third stolen base. Ivory Thomas was 2-3 with two walks and his first stolen base and Midwest League home run. Mitch Garver was 2-4 with a walk. Tanner Vavra was 2-5 with his sixth double. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Aaron Slegers, Cedar Rapids Kernels Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Chris Parmelee, Rochester Red Wings MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Charlotte @ Rochester (6:05 CST) – Alex Meyer (Listen) New Britain @ Harrisburg (6:00 CST) – Matt Summers (Listen) Bradenton @ Ft. Myers (6:05 CST) – Jason Wheeler (Listen) Kane County @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 CST) – Ryan Eades (Listen) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Sunday games.

Phil Hughes worked seven quality innings and the Twins evened their series with the Detroit Tigers. On Sunday, it will be Kyle Gibson taking the mound for the Twins opposite Justin Verlander. Oswaldo Arcia began his rehab. Scott Diamond was back on the mound. After being rained out on Friday, the Rock Cats played two games in Virginia. A couple of powerful hitters hit home runs. And, there is a doubles-machine down in Cedar Rapids that Twins fans will want to learn more about. TRANSACTIONS Early on Saturday afternoon, we learned the ‘other’ transaction in Cedar Rapids. Jonatan Hinojosa was suspended for 50 games for testing positive for a PED. According to Baseball America, the Twins signed Dutch Deol, a 21-year-old outfielder from California who is yet to get out of the rookie leagues. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 2, Pawtucket 6 Box Score Scott Diamond’s last start was at least somewhat encouraging. On Saturday, things did not go well for him. He gave up six runs on nine hits in five innings. He walked none and struck out three. His ERA is back above ten at 10.35. He was replaced by Edgar Ibarra who didn’t allow a run in 1.2 innings despite giving up three hits and walking two. AJ Achter came on and struck out two of the four batters he faced and got out. Ryan Pressly came in for the ninth inning and gave up three runs on two hits and two walks. He did strike out two batters. Oswaldo Arcia made his first rehab appearance, DH'ing and batting fifth. He batted three times and went 3-3, all singles. Danny Santana went 3-5 with his seventh double. Doug Bernier went 2-5 with his fifth double. He’s hitting .380. Deibinson Romero went 2-3 with a walk. ROCK CATS REVIEW Game 1 – New Britain 5, Richmond 4 Box Score If you look at Sean Gilmartin’s line in this game, it doesn’t look that great. The lefty was charged with four runs on six hits in 6.2 innings. He walked one and hit one batter. He struck out seven. However, into the seventh inning, he had given up just one run on four hits (and the hit batter). In that final inning, he gave up a hit and a walk before giving up a three-run homer to Tyler Graham that cut the Rock Cats lead to 5-4. Lester Oliveros came on and hit the first batter he faced on an 0-2 count. Oliveros then threw to first in a pickoff attempt, but the ball was thrown wide and the potential game-tying runner advanced to third base. On the next batter, Brandon Waring made a lunging backhand catch at third base and used his strong arm to get the runner at first in a close play to finish off the win. The Rock Cats plated two runs in the third and two more runs in the fourth inning. In the top of the 7th inning, AJ Pettersen had a leadoff bunt single. He stole second, and with two outs, Nate Hanson singled him in to give the Rock Cats a 5-1 lead. It proved to be a very big insurance run. Kennys Vargas went 3-4 with a double and an RBI. Reynaldo Rodriguez went 2-3 with his second homer of the year. Nate Hanson drove in two runs. Game 2 – New Britain 2, Richmond 5 Box Score Pat Dean was charged with five runs in five innings, but only one of the runs was earned. He gave up eight hits, walked two and struck out four. He gave up three runs in the second inning. He went out for the sixth inning and was charged with two more in that inning. Cole Johnson got the three outs in the sixth inning. He walked one and struck out two. The Rock Cats had just four hits in the game. Kennys Vargas hit his third home run, a two-run shot that made the score 3-2 in the top of the sixth. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 4, Palm Beach 9 Box Score David Hurlbut made his second start since replacing Mason Melotakis in the rotation. He went five innings and gave up two runs on six hits. He walked three and struck out three. Tim Shibuya came in for the sixth inning. It was a rough one. He gave up six runs on eight hits and a walk. Brian Gilbert pitched two innings. He walked three but gave up no runs or hits. Steven Gruver pitched the ninth. He gave up one run on two hits. The Miracle were shut out through the first eight innings. They scored four runs in the ninth frame. Adam Walker went 2-4 with his fifth home run. In his return to the Florida State League, Aderlin Mejia went 2-3 with a walk. Dalton Hicks hit a two-run double in the ninth inning as well. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 7, Clinton 6 Box Score Felix Jorge started for the Kernels and was very good. However, things got very interesting late, but Hudson Boyd was able to close the door and secure a Kernels win. They are now back over .500 at 11-10 on the season. Jorge went the first six innings and gave up two runs on five hits. He walked one and struck out five. Josue Montanez pitched a scoreless seventh inning. He came out for the eighth and gave up two runs. He left the game with runners at first and third and nobody out. Hudson Boyd came in and got two outs before issuing a walk to load the bases. He gave up a two-run single to cut the lead to one, but he got the final out of that inning. He had one base runner in the ninth, but was able to record the save. Zack Larson led the offense. He went 4-5 with his eighth and ninth double. He drove in two runs. Tanner Vavra went 2-5 with his fifth double. Mitch Garver was 2-4 with a walk. Ivory Thomas had a single and a walk in his first Kernels game. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Felix Jorge, Cedar Rapids Kernels Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Kennys Vargas, New Britain Rock Cats SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Charlotte @ Rochester (12:05 CST) – Logan Darnell (Listen) New Britain @ Richmond (12:35 CST) – Virgil Vasquez (Listen) Palm Beach @ Ft. Myers (3:05 CST) – Alex Wimmers (Listen) Cedar Rapids @ Clinton (2:00 CST) – Aaron Slegers (Listen) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Saturday games. A quick reminder: Thanks to the Twins win over the Detroit Tigers on Saturday, ion Sunday you can get 50% off a Large of Extra Large pizza when you use the “TWINSWIN” promotion code at PapaJohns.com.

I wondered why the Twins called up Jonatan Hinojosa to Cedar Rapids. Now we know. From Bob Nightengale on Twitter: Class A #Twins IF Jonatan Hinojosa receives 50-game PED suspension for testing positive for metabolites of Nandrolone. Hardball Times' Bill Baer said this of Nandrolone: Because he was on the Cedar Rapids roster, his suspension can start right now. Had he stayed in EST, his suspension would not have started until the Elizabethton season starts in late June. Hinojosa is the fourth Twins minor leaguer currently suspended. Eddie Rosario, Dallas Gallant and Mark Hamburger are the others. They are all in Ft. Myers playing in Extended Spring Training games. ~~~ Since the Twins beat the Tigers 5-3 yesterday (Saturday), you can get 50% off a L or XL pizza from PapaJohns.com if you use the 'TWINSWIN' promo code on Sunday. ~~~

It is apparent that most nights we will be able to follow at least one very good pitching prospect. On this night, Trevor May looked to continue the good work he had done through his first three starts. JO Berrios and Kohl Stewart were looking for their first wins with their 2014 teams. Continue to read below to see how these three did in their efforts Friday night. Meanwhile, Jorge Polanco had another big night with the bat. And, of course, it wouldn’t be an April day without one of the Twins affiliates getting rained/snowed/weathered out. TRANSACTIONS Newly acquired Kenny Wilson made his way to Richmond, Virginia, on Friday to join his new team (and organization). AJ Pettersen was promoted to New Britain while Aderlin Mejia was sent back to the Miracle. The Cedar Rapids Kernels put Randy Rosario on the 7-day disabled list with a left flexor mass sprain. Australian reliever Todd Van Steensel and outfielder Ivory Thomas spent all night traveling and should join the Kernels on Saturday. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 2, Pawtucket 6 Box Score Trevor May was very good in his first three starts for the Red Wings this season. In those, he worked 15.1 innings and had just three walks to go with 16 strikeouts. He also had a sub-3 ERA. Things didn’t go quite so well for May in his fourth start. May went just three innings and was charged with five runs, all earned and all in the 3rd inning. He gave up three hits, walked four and struck out four. Brooks Raley came on and gave up one run on three hits and a walk in three innings. He struck out three. Aaron Thompson walked two and struck out two in two scoreless innings. Eric Farris was the lone Red Wings batter with more than one hit. He went 2-4. Dan Rohlfing had the lone extra base hit, his third double of the year. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain, Richmond Kenny Wilson made it to Richmond. AJ Pettersen was supposed to make his 2014 Rock Cats debut in this game, batting ninth and playing shortstop but instead he’ll have to wait a day as the teams were rained out. They will play a doubleheader on Saturday. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 5, Palm Beach 1 Box Score JO Berrios really had to work, but he did a great job and earned his first win in the Florida State League. Berrios went six innings and gave up eight hits and two walks, but he yielded only one run. He struck out seven. Mason Melotakis came on and struck out four in two perfect innings. Tyler Jones worked a scoreless ninth inning. Thursday, Jorge Polanco hit his first home run of the season. In his first at-bat Friday night, he hit his second. He went 3-4 in the game. Dalton Hicks went 2-4 with his fourth double. Max Kepler was 2-3 with his second double. He drove in two runs. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 6, Clinton 1 Box Score Tonight, Kohl Stewart put together the best start of his season in Clinton. The right-hander gave up only an unearned run over six innings. He gave up one hit, walked one, hit one and struck out six. Like Berrios, he recorded his first win at his new level, evening his record at 1-1. Yorman Landa came on and struck out five in two hitless innings. He did walk one. Brandon Peterson struck out two in his one-hit, no-run inning. Mitch Garver went 3-5 and he drove in three runs, one in each of three separate at-bats. He hit his fifth double as well. Engelb Vielma was 3-4 and stole two bases. Jason Kanzler went 2-4 and tripled. He stole two bases including a steal of home on the back end of a double steal. Tanner Vavra was 2-4 with a walk and is now hitting .340. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Kohl Stewart, Cedar Rapids Kernels Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Jorge Polanco, Ft. Myers Miracle SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Charlotte @ Rochester (3:05 CST) – Scott Diamond (Listen) New Britain @ Richmond (Doubleheader, 4:05 CST) – Sean Gilmartin, Pat Dean (Listen) Palm Beach @ Ft. Myers (5:05 CST) – David Hurlbut (Listen) Cedar Rapids @ Clinton (2:00 CST) – Felix Jorge (Listen) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Friday games.