Seth Stohs

The weather on Friday meant that the Red Wings needed to play their second double-header of the week. For the second time this week, the now 6-2 Red Wings swept a double-header. Australian James Beresford led the way, continuing to be the most consistent hitter at the start of this season. Mitch Garver had hit two home runs on Friday to take over the organizational lead in home runs this season with four. In the Twins 7-1 win over the Royals on Saturday, Brian Dozier led off with his fourth homer. Then later in the afternoon, Adam Walker hit his fourth homer of the year. Of course, with the Twins three top pitching prospects starting on Saturday, there’s plenty of pitching to talk about as well.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] TRANSACTIONS The Twins put Josh Willingham on the disabled list officially on Saturday and recalled Michael Tonkin. AJ Achter was promoted to the Red Wings. Virgil Vasquez came off of the Red Wings disabled list and was sent to New Britain. Stephen Wickens, who has not yet played for the Rock Cats, was placed on the 7-day DL. He has a strained rotator cuff. RED WINGS REPORT Game 1 – Rochester 4, Lehigh Valley 3 Box Score Alex Meyer made his second start; he was not helped by his defense at all. A couple errors caused him to allow two unearned runs. In his 5.1 innings, he gave up three runs (1 earned) on six hits. He walked none, hit one and struck out five. Aaron Thompson came on and got the final five outs. He gave up just one hit and is credited with the win. Offensively, James Beresford led the way. He went 4-4 with his second and third doubles, a stolen base and two RBI. His 7th inning double scored Chris Rahl with what proved to be the winning run. Danny Santana went 2-4 with his second double. For the IronPigs, Clete Thomas went 2-4. Game 2 – Rochester 5, Lehigh Valley 1 Box Score The Red Wings got pitching and power in this game to win again. Eight Red Wings players had one hit. Five of those hits went for extra bases. In the second inning, Eduardo Nunez hit a two-run homer, his first in the Twins organization. In the third inning, Chris Parmelee hit a two-run homer, his first of the year. Wilkin Ramirez had a triple. Doug Bernier and Chris Rahl hit a double each. Yohan Pino started game two and went four innings. He gave up one run on three hits and a walk while striking out five. Matt Hoffman made his first appearance of the season and struck one out in a perfect inning. Ryan Pressly walked one in his two innings. He struck out two. James Beresford went 1-3 in the second game. He is now hitting .500, 14-28 on the season. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 4, Portland 10 Box Score On a day when the Twins top three starting pitching prospects took the mound for their team, a former Top 10 Twins prospect had a rough go of it out of the Rock Cats bullpen. Matt Summers made his second start for the Rock Cats this season. The right-hander gave up three runs on six hits in five innings. He did not walk a batter and struck out four. Then Adrian Salcedo entered the game in the sixth inning and was only able to record one out, on a strikeout. The flame-thrower gave up four hits, walked one, hit one and threw two wild pitched and was charged with six runs. Virgil Vasquez came on for his first outing of the season. He went 1.2 innings and gave up one run on three hits, walked one and struck out three. Lester Oliveros came on for one inning and gave up only one hit. He struck one out. Nate Hanson is hitting .314 after going 2-4 in this game. Brad Boyer and Danny Ortiz each had an RBI double. Mike Kvasnicka also added his first double of the year. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 4, St. Lucie 5 (10 innings) Box Score The Miracle got a huge, late-inning hit, but it was all for naught as the team lost in extra innings. Down 3-1 going into the 8th frame, Adam Walker came up with two on and two outs. He launched his fourth home run of the season to give the Miracle a 4-3 lead. However, the Mets tied the game in the 8th and won it in the 10th. JO Berrios started and gave up three runs in six innings. He gave up four hits, walked two and struck out five. Steven Gruver gave up an unearned run in the seventh inning. However, he pitched to two batters in the 8th inning and one of them came on to score the tying run. Brian Gilbert got three outs in the eighth and ninth innings. He hit one batter and gave up one hit. He struck out two. Tim Shibuya came in for the 10th inning. He got one out, but gave up the winning run on two hits and a walk. Jorge Polanco went 2-3 with two walks in the game (he is hitting .419). Walker went 2-5, and stole his first base of the season. Michael Gonzales got the Miracle on the scoreboard with a 2nd inning solo home run. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 5, Lansing 3 Box Score Kohl Stewart made his second start for the Kernels. He threw three perfect innings, the first, the second and the fourth. However, in the third inning, he gave up three runs on four hits and a walk. His day was done after the fourth inning with two strikeouts. In that third inning, three of the hits were on ground balls that touched an infielder’s glove. Josue Montanez came on and struck out three in two shutout innings. Brandon Bixler threw a scoreless seventh inning, but the Kernels were still down 3-1 going into the 8th frame. With two on and two out, Tanner Vavra singled in both runners to tie the game at three. (Vavra had driven in the team’s first run with a groundout earlier.) Zach Larson hit the next pitch down the left field line. His fifth double scored Vavra all the way from first base and gave the Kernels their first lead. Bixler began the bottom of the eighth inning, but the first batter walked. Brandon Peterson came on and got the next three batters out to maintain the one-run lead. In the top of the 9th, Bryan Haar led off with a triple off the top of the wall in left field, a throwing error allowed Haar to score the team’s fifth run. Peterson gave up two base runners in the 9th but got out of it without allowing a run for his first save of the year. Joel Licon went 2-4 with a double. Vavra went 1-4 with his three RBI. He is hitting .417 on the year. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Brandon Peterson, Cedar Rapids Kernels Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – James Beresford, Rochester Red Wings Sunday's probable starters: Rochester @ Lehigh Valley (12:35 CST) – Kris Johnson (Listen) New Britain @ Portland (12:00 CST) – Sean Gilmartin (Listen) Ft. Myers @ St. Lucie (12:00 CST) – Mason Melotakis (Listen) Cedar Rapids @ Lansing (1:05 CST) – Felix Jorge (Listen) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Saturday games. Remember: Thanks to the Twins win over the Royals on Saturday, it means that on Sunday you can get 50% off a Large of Extra Large pizza when you use the “TWINSWIN” promotion code at PapaJohns.com.

Weather was again a factor in the Twins farm system. Of course, it appears that the Red Wings get rained out whenever Alex Meyer is scheduled to pitch. His first start was pushed back twice by weather, and he was supposed to start on Friday night for Rochester but it was rained out as well. As Rochester Democrat and Chronicle writer Jim Mandelaro noted on twitter, “Nine days into the season, the Red Wings have as many wins (4) as games postponed.” Of course, that lines up a replay of last Sunday’s pitching matchups highlighting the Twins top pitching prospects. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]Matt Summers will get the start in New Britain, and in the second Red Wings game Yohan Pino will throw. Top prospect Alex Meyer will start in game one for the Red Wings. JO Berrios will pitch in St. Lucie. Kohl Stewart will make the start in Lansing for the Kernels. In the matchups below, I will include the links where you can listen to these games live. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester, Lehigh Valley Alex Meyer is scheduled to pitch, so of course weather has become a factor and his start will move to Saturday after Friday’s game was postponed. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 2, Portland 11 Box Score Taylor Rogers was back on the mound for the Rock Cats in this game. He had another rough first inning but settled down. He gave up five runs in the first, but just one more over the next three innings. In four innings, he gave up six runs (5 earned) on eight hits and a walk. He struck out seven. Cole Johnson and Ryan O’Rourke each threw a scoreless inning. BJ Hermsen pitched the seventh inning and gave up five runs on four hits and a walk. Jim Fuller was perfect in the eighth. Tony Thomas led the offense. He was 2-4 with two doubles. Kennys Vargas hit his second home run of the season, a solo homer in the ninth frame. Corey Wimberly walked twice. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 3, St. Lucie 6 Box Score Lefty Brett Lee made his second Miracle start. In his first game, he was one out from a quality start. In this game, he got the final out of the sixth inning and gets the quality start. He gave up three runs (2 earned) on eight hits and two walks. He struck out four. Matt Tomshaw pitched a scoreless seventh inning but was charged with three runs (2 earned) in the eighth to take the loss. Niko Goodrum went 2-4 with his fourth double. He also drove in two runs. He now has 10 RBI in eight games. Jorge Polanco was 1-1 with two walks and was also hit by a pitch. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 10, Great Lakes 7 Box Score This game went back and forth through the night. Lansing scored three in the bottom of the 8th inning to take a one-run lead, but Mitch Garver hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game at seven. Zach Larson singled in the go-ahead run and Chad Christensen singled in two insurance runs. Hudson Boyd came on for the ninth and struck out two in a perfect inning for his second save. The hitting hero again for the Kernels was Mitch Garver who, besides the game-tying sacrifice fly, hit two solo home runs, his third and fourth of the year. Jeremias Pineda went 2-3 with a walk and a triple. Chad Christensen went 2-4. Jason Kanzler went 2-5 with a triple after going 3-5 in his first Kernels game. Lefty Randy Rosario was very good in his second outing. He threw four shutout innings before giving up two in the fifth inning. In total, he gave up four hits, walked one and struck out two. Ethan Mildren made his first appearance with the Kernels since his call up on Monday. He gave up two runs on three hits and a walk in two innings. He struck out three. Yorman Landa pitched the eighth inning, and it didn’t go so well. He gave up three runs on two hits and three walks in the inning. He did strike out one. Again, Boyd got the save with his two-strikeout ninth. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Randy Rosario, Cedar Rapids Kernels Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Mitch Garver, Cedar Rapids Kernels THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Lehigh Valley (4:35 CST) – Alex Meyer, Yohan Pino (Listen) New Britain @ Portland (12:00 CST) – Matt Summers (Listen) Ft. Myers @ St. Lucie (5:30 CST) – JO Berrios (Listen) Cedar Rapids @ Lansing (1:05 CST) – Kohl Stewart (Listen) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Friday games. A quick reminder: Thanks to the Twins win over Kansas City on Friday, it means that on Saturday you can get 50% off a Large of Extra Large pizza when you use the “TWINSWIN” promotion code at PapaJohns.com.

Wins and losses are far from the most important thing in the minor leagues. Player development matters above all else. That said, winning is always fun. And, to be fair, part of a player’s development is learning how to win, and learning how to play team baseball. When a team is able to develop players while also finding ways to win, it is a perfect collision. On Wednesday, the Twins four affiliates played five games, and the result was five wins. Call it a good day. Of course, winning at the big league level does matter, and the Twins lost their second straight game to the Oakland A’s.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Aaron Slegers In other news, the Minnesota Twins placed Oswaldo Arcia on the disabled list and added Darin Mastroianni to both the 40 and 25 man rosters. Be sure to look at the Twins Rosters & Payrolls page for current rosters, salary information and much more. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 7, Scranton/Wilkes Barre 6 Box Score For Scott Diamond, it was an improvement from Opening Day. However, it was still a rough one. The lefty gave up four runs on eight hits and a walk in just three innings. He was replaced by Yohan Pino who worked 2.1 scoreless innings. He gave up one hit, walked two and struck out two. Aaron Thompson was charged with two unearned runs in 2.1 innings. He gave up three hits, walked one and struck out three. Deolis Guerra came on and gave up a hit, but recorded two outs. Brooks Raley struck out the final two batters of the game to record the save. The Red Wings bats got plenty of offense. Only Brad Nelson, who will be traveling home in the morning to be with his pregnant, overdue wife, went hitless. Chris Parmelee went 3-5 with a double. Danny Santana, James Beresford, Wilkin Ramirez and Chris Rahl all had two hits including a double. Also with two hits was Eric Farris. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 5, Harrisburg 4 Box Score It’s been a tough go in the early season for Kennys Vargas. Coming into this game, he was batting just .100 (2-20). However, in this game, he went 2-3 with a walk (and is now hitting .174). In his first at bat, in the first inning, he launched his first home run of the year, a three-run shot. Nate Hanson continues his strong start. He was 3-4 in the game and is hitting .318. Aderlin Mejia was 3-3 in the game and is hitting .364. Of course, that’s the beauty of the early season statistics; he was hitting just .125 (1-8) coming into the game. Pat Dean improves to 2-0 and just missed a quality start. The lefty gave up four runs on seven hits and a walk in six innings. He struck out five. BJ Hermsen and Jim Fuller each worked a scoreless inning. AJ Achter gets the save. He struck out two in a scoreless inning. That means he has pitched 6.2 innings and given up three hits, walked one and struck out 11 with the Rock Cats. MIRACLE MATTERS Game 1 - Ft. Myers 4, Charlotte 2 Box Score After getting rained out on Tuesday night, the Miracle and Stone Crabs played two on Wednesday. In Game 1, Mason Melotakis got the start. The lefty gave up one run on three hits in three innings. He walked two and struck out two. Alex Wimmers came on for his first appearance of the year. He threw three shutout innings. In the 7th inning, he got two outs but gave up three hits and a run. He left with two on and a two-run lead. Brian Gilbert came on and struck out the one batter he faced for the save. Dalton Hicks went 2-3 and drove in three of the Miracle’s runs. Niko Goodrum drove in the other run with a bases loaded walk. Jorge Polanco added a double. MIRACLE MATTERS Game 2 - Ft. Myers 10, Charlotte 6 Box Score The offense showed up in Game , 2 taking an 8-0 lead after just three innings, but the Stone Crabs made a game of it. Jorge Polanco led the offense. He went 2-3 with a walk, a double and a triple. Niko Goodrum continues his hot start. He went 2-4 with a triple. Adam Walker hit his second homer of the season, a long, opposite field blast. Jason Wheeler had given up just one run through the first four innings, but he was unable to get the final out of the fifth inning. In total, he gave up six runs (just one earned due to Polanco’s fourth error of the year) on five hits and a walk. He struck out three. Tim Shibuya came in and got the final out of the fifth and worked scoreless sixth and seventh innings as well for the win. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 5, Great Lakes 3 Box Score Without question, the story in this game was about Aaron Slegers, and no, it’s not a tall tale. The 6-10 right-hander made his second start for Cedar Rapids and went six innings. He gave up just one run on four hits. He walked none and struck out four. Lefty Brandon Bixler, a 5-11 lefty, gave the Loons a completely different look. He went two shutout innings, allowing no hits, two walks and striking out two. Hudson Boyd came in for the ninth. He gave up two runs on two hits and a walk but kept the lead. Mitch Garver got the scoring going in the second inning with a two-run homer, his second of the season. In the fourth inning, he hit his second double of the year and scored on a single by Tanner Vavra. Vavra went 2-3 with a walk and is now 3-5 in his limited playing time. Logan Wade was 2-5 with a triple. 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 – Kennys Vargas, New Britain Rock Cats THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Lehigh Valley (6:05 CST) – Logan Darnell New Britain @ Portland (5:00 CST) – DJ Baxendale Charlotte @ Ft. Myers (6:05 CST) – Tyler Duffey Cedar Rapids @ Great Lakes (11:05 a.m. CST) – Ryan Eades