Seth Stohs

Welcome to another season of Minnesota Twins Minor League game reports. Can you believe that on the first night, we already had a walk-off home run?! In this series, you will find are the scores and highlights of each Twins minor league game throughout the season. We will write about who pitched for the Twins affiliate and how well they did. We’ll mention home runs and multi-hit games by hitters. As the season goes along, we’ll keep you updated on where the team stands in their divisions.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] We will also be around the take any questions you may have about the teams and players so be sure to review this report each and every day from now until Labor Day (and hopefully beyond that as it would mean a team made the playoffs). Let's get to the Opening Night action... The minor league schedule was full and all four teams were able to play their games despite chilly temperatures throughout the north. There was even a walk-off win for one of the affiliates. However, before we get started with the report, the Minnesota Twins recorded their first win of the 2014 season with a 10-9 win over the Chicago White Sox. It was an ugly win, but I think the Twins and their fans would be really happy with any and all ugly wins that the team is able to record. The win was the 999th of manager Ron Gardenhire’s managerial career with the Twins. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 3, Buffalo Bison 6 Box Score The Red Wings played the first game of the 2014 minor league season. It began when Blue Jays top pitching prospect Marcus Stroman threw his first pitch to Darin Mastroianni. Scott Diamond got the start for the Red Wings, and it’s fair to say he didn’t get the results he likely wanted. The southpaw gave up four first innings runs and then another in the second before his day was complete. He gave up five runs (4 earned) on six hits and an uncharacteristic four walks. He struck out just one batter. Diamond continues a run that no Red Wings starting pitcher has completed five innings on Opening Day since Boof Bonser in 2006. He was replaced by veteran Yohan Pino who struck out one in two perfect innings. Brooks Raley came in for the fifth inning. He went 1.2 innings and gave up only an unearned run despite yielding three hits and walking two. Deolis Guerra got the final out of the sixth inning and pitched a 1, 2, 3 seventh frame. Matt Hoffman pitched a quiet eighth inning. Mastroianni led the offense. He went 2-5 with two RBI. James Beresford was 2-4 with an RBI. Deibinson Romero went 1-3 with a walk. The winning pitcher for the Bison was former Red Wings and Twins starter Liam Hendriks who pitched the fifth and sixth innings without allowing a base runner. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 10, Richmond 2 Box Score The Rock Cats scored ten runs, but it was the pitching that kept them in the game early. Pat Dean made the Opening Day start and went the first 5.1 innings. He gave up just three hits, walked one and struck out seven. He was replaced by AJ Achter who struck out five (and walked one) in 2.2 hitless innings. Cole Johnson got through his first appearance of 2014. He gave up two hits, but no runs to end the game. The offense started quickly. Corey Wimberly led off the first inning with a double which was followed by a Danny Ortiz single. Nate Hanson came up and drilled a two-run double. The Rock Cats scored single runs in the second and fourth inning. In the sixth inning Kennys Vargas singled. He went to third on a Reynaldo Rodriguez single. Rodriguez advanced to second on the throw to third. That allowed both runs to score on a Tony Thomas single. Matt Koch followed with a double to score Thomas and extend the lead to 7-2. They added another three runs in the 8th inning. Tony Thomas led the way. He went 3-4 with a double and two RBI. Danny Ortiz went 3-4 with a walk. Reynaldo Rodriguez, playing left field, scored four runs in the game. He was 2-2 with a walk and was hit by a pitch. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 5, Jupiter 1 Box Score Jason Wheeler provided an early-season quality start and Max Kepler provided the offense. Wheeler, who went 9-4 with a 3.70 ERA for the Miracle last year, got the nod to start the opener. The lanky lefty went the first 5.2 innings and gave up just one run on five hits and two walks. He struck out four. Lefty Steven Gruver got the final out of the sixth inning and pitched a scoreless seventh as well. Tim Shibuya was perfect over the final two innings, including two strikeouts. What should be a potent Miracle offense got off to a quick start on Opening Night in Jupiter. Leadoff man Levi Michael led off with a double. It was followed by a single by Jorge Polanco. Dalton Hicks singled off the pitcher which scored Michael from third. Polanco advanced to third and scored on a sacrifice fly by Max Kepler. However, the Miracle bats were quiet until the 8th inning when Jorge Polanco and Adam Walker singled. They both scored on a triple down the right field line by Max Kepler. Kepler scored later on an infield single by Michael Gonzales. Eight of the nine Miracle hitters had at least one hit. Jorge Polanco, 2-5, was the only player with more than one hit. We certainly won’t discuss the lineup or the defensive alignment, but the Opening Night alignment was interesting, especially in the infield. Levi Michael started at second base. Jorge Polanco was at shortstop. Niko Goodrum played at third base. Goodrum made some nice plays at the hot corner. Polanco made one diving play, but he also committed two errors in the game. Travis Harrison started in left field with Max Kepler in center and Adam Walker in right. I’m certain many of these players will be gaining some versatility by playing several positions throughout the season. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 4, Clinton 3 (10 innings) Box Score With one out in the bottom of the 10th inning, Bryan Haar stepped to the plate with no one on base. Last year, he led the Appalachian League in extra base hits. He came up with a timely one on this night. Haar hit a long home run to deep left field to give the Kernels a walk-off win on Opening Night. Aaron Slegers made the Opening Night start for the Kernels. The 6-10 righty gave up two runs on five hits in five innings. He walked none and struck out five. He also hit two batters. Christian Powell came on and threw two scoreless innings. Miguel Sulbaran, who will be starting at the back end of the rotation, got an inning and was charged with an unearned run. Hudson Boyd came in for the ninth inning and worked two scoreless innings to get the win. Haar’s home run was his first hit of the season. He had earlier walked and driven in a run. Zach Larson went 2-4 with a pair of doubles. Joel Licon went 2-3 with two walks in the game. If you feel the need to post one negative thing in this game, how about the defense on the left side of the infield. Engelb Vielma had two errors at shortstop. Logan Wade, playing third base, had three errors. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Pat Dean, New Britain Rock Cats Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Bryan Haar, Cedar Rapids Kernels FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Buffalo (1:05 CST) – Alex Meyer (vs Ricky Romero) Richmond @ New Britain (10:30 a.m. CST) – DJ Baxendale Ft. Myers @ Jupiter (5:35 CST) – Tyler Duffey Clinton @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 CST) – Randy Rosario Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the games of Friday night. ~~~ Thanks to the Twins come back win over the White Sox on Thursday, you can get 50% off a Large of Extra Large pizza on Friday when you use the “TWINSWIN” promotion code at PapaJohns.com.

Three days after MLB’s Opening Day, I wish you all a very Happy Minor League Opening Day! I may be in the minority, but I think I get as excited, if not more so, about minor league opening day as the big league version. For me, instead of just watching the Minnesota Twins games, I can now follow as many as five box scores each day. All four Twins minor league affiliates are scheduled to play their opening day games on Thursday. Hopefully weather will cooperate so they can get their games in. On Tuesday, I posted the Twins minor league opening day rosters. Today, I’ll provide a primer on the four affiliates. Please feel free to ask questions.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] ROCHESTER RED WINGS The Red Wings are scheduled to open their season at Buffalo. Scott Diamond decided to stay with the Twins organization. He will make the opening night start for the Red Wings opposite Blue Jays pitching prospect Marcus Stroman. The schedule has them playing their first two games in Buffalo before the teams move to Frontier Field in Rochester for two games to open up the Red Wings home schedule. Top Pitching Prospect – Alex Meyer Top Hitting Prospect – Danny Santana First Pitcher Promoted – Kris Johnson First Hitter Promoted – Chris Herrmann Most Underrated Pitcher – Deolis Guerra Most Underrated Hitter – James Beresford Radio Voice – Josh Whetzel (Listen Live here) NEW BRITAIN ROCK CATS The Rock Cats will open their season at home against Richmond. Pat Dean returns to the team to start this season after getting a handful of starts in Rochester a year ago. The Rock Cats will play their first seven games at home at New Britain Stadium, four against Richmond followed by three against Harrisburg. Top Pitching Prospect – Flip a Coin (DJ Baxendale, Sean Gilmartin or Taylor Rogers) Top Hitting Prospect – Kennys Vargas (since Miguel Sano is on the DL and Eddie Rosario on the Restricted List) First Pitcher Promoted – AJ Achter First Hitter Promoted – Danny Ortiz Most Underrated Pitcher – Adrian Salcedo Most Underrated Hitter – Mike Kvasnicka Radio Voice – Jeff Dooley (Listen Live here) FT. MYERS MIRACLE Ft. Myers starts out on the road in Jupiter for two games before returning to Hammond Stadium for two games against the Hammerheads. Jason Wheeler returns to the Miracle despite a solid season with the team a year ago. The Miracle made it to the playoffs a year ago and this year will have a mix of guys who played with the Miracle or with that offensive juggernaut from Cedar Rapids last year. Top Pitching Prospect – JO Berrios Top Hitting Prospect – Jorge Polanco (or some might say Adam Walker, Travis Harrison, or Max Kepler… with Byron Buxton on the DL) First Pitcher Promoted – Jason Wheeler First Hitter Promoted – Lance Ray (if/when healthy) Most Underrated Pitcher – Mason Melotakis Most Underrated Hitter – Travis Harrison Radio Voice – Brice Zimmerman (Listen Live here) CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS The Kernels had a hugely successful inaugural season as an affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. The offense was remarkable. This season’s team will not hit anywhere near those prolific numbers, but the pitching staff certainly has a lot of talent. 2014 fifth round pick Aaron Slegers will make the Opening Day start for the Kernels when they host Clinton at Perfect Game Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium. Top Pitching Prospect – Kohl Stewart Top Hitting Prospect – Zach Larson or Engelb Vielma First Pitcher Promoted – Miguel Sulbaran First Hitter Promoted – Michael Quesada Most Underrated Pitcher – Brandon Peterson Most Underrated Hitter – Zach Granite Radio Voice – Morgan Hawk (Listen Live here) PLANNING A TRIP TO CEDAR RAPIDS Last season, I had the opportunity to go to Cedar Rapids on two separate occasions. I was there for their opening weekend and then again around the Fourth of July. For me, it is about 11-12 hours each direction. If you live in the Twin Cities, the drive to Cedar Rapids is about four-and-a-half hours. Just check mapquest and you’ll see you only have to know about three or four road names/numbers to get there. On the way home, consider going up to Decorah and then to Rochester. There are a couple of places to stop and some incredible scenery. Driving that way and seeing all of the corn is actually a pretty incredible site. As you get further north and are driving along the Mississippi River, there are some breathtaking views. Of course, along that path is Dyersville, IA, which of course is the home of the Field of Dreams movie site. My brother and I made a stop there on our way home and although we were only there for about an hour, maybe 90 minutes, it was a pretty neat experience. It is incredible in its simplicity. Walk in the corn, play catch, take some pictures in front of the house, or sit on the bleachers where James Earl Jones gave the memorable "They Will Come, Ray" speech. For any baseball fan, Dyersville should be on your bucket list. And, it is about one hour north and east of Cedar Rapids. Also along that way, if you’re as cool as me (and I wouldn’t wish that on many people), Burr Oak, Iowa is on the way. Of course, that is one of the many places where author Laura Ingalls Wilder lived. Maybe you’ve got a goal to visit many midwestern-type, small town museums. You can cross this one off the list! The Amana Colonies are about 15 to 20 miles southwest of Cedar Rapids. There are several cultural options as well such as the NewBo City Market, the Czech and Slovak Museum, the Cedar Rapids Museum of Arts and around the Fourth of July is the Freedom Festival. Depending upon your interests, Cedar Rapids has many options so you (and your family) have something to do between Kernels ball games! That’s right, back to the Kernels… They play at Perfect Game Field. Another interesting thing is that the Perfect Game facilities are basically right across the street from the ballpark. Each of the six Kernels games that I went to I had at least one (and usually two or three) people come up and tell me they had driven down from the Twin Cities. Generally speaking they would leave work at noon on Friday or Saturday, spend a night and go to a second game the next day before driving back. I had one or two people say they drove down that afternoon and were driving back after the game. I couldn’t do that, but it is an option. The atmosphere at the stadium is tremendous, especially after school lets out and the weather warms. You will most likely see GM Doug Nelson roaming the huge concourse, talking with fans and making sure they’re enjoying the experience. The Kernels players do a ton in the community and before each game two players are up in the concourse signing autographs. The field is really terrific and they continue to make improvements each year. This offseason, the put in new grass on the field which was a huge undertaking. The year before, they put in a huge 30x48 LED scoreboard in the outfield that shows replays and provides a ton of statistical information. They also have a pregame show before each game on the board that includes the daily Minnesota Twins Organizational Report which is sponsored by Twins Daily. You'll also want to check out their Hall of Fame. Cedar Rapids has a long, rich history of minor league baseball going back over 100 years. There is a ton of information on that history. There are also a lot of plaques on the wall of contributors, but also of a lot of players you will recognize from the Reds and the Angels organizations. They also have a really neat feature, a Walk of Fame with players getting stars around the concourse. It was a very neat thing to see all those big league stars who spent time with the Kernels, such as the new $144.5 million man, Mike Trout. And after the games, be sure to head over to Bushwood Sports Bar & Grill for lots of sports on big screen TVs, beverages and great food. Most likely, you will also find Steve Buhr (aka Jim Crikket) sitting at a table top. You can thank him for all his great writing and reporting of the Kernels by buying him a beer and some corn nuggets (which are actually not too bad!). I can’t emphasize enough that if you enjoy reading about the minor leaguers, and Twins Daily is certainly the best place online to do that every day, it’s so satisfying to get to a couple games and see for yourself. The Twins have an affiliate within reasonable travel distance. Take advantage. Check out their schedule and their promotions and book some tickets if you’re interested. And, if you do make a trip to Cedar Rapids to see the Kernels (or see the Miracle, Rock Cats or Red Wings as well), be sure to report for us what your observations were about the facilities, the experience, the players and anything else you found interesting in the forums of Twins Daily. Again, Happy Minor League Opening Day to everyone! It’s great to be able to talk about five teams, especially when the big league club struggles. Good luck to each of the teams and all the players.