Cody Christie

Joe Mauer sat out his first Twins game of the season on Wednesday. It might have been a good day for Mauer to rest since the team has another off day tomorrow. He has also been in a major slump at the plate. The Twins All-Star catcher has only hit .091/.211/.091 over the last nine games. This includes one hit over his last six games. Even with Mauer out of the line-up, the Twins were still able to come away with a win and avoid being swept by the Detroit Tigers. Scott Diamond pitched six strong innings by giving up two earned runs and four hits for his second win of the year. Justin Morneau and Chris Parmelee each had a pair of hits and a couple of RBI. On this week's episode of the Talk to Contact Podcast, we discussed a lot about the minor leagues so make sure to check it out. There were some other impressive performances down on the farm. Unfortunately, there were no Trevor May sightings on May Day but let's take a look at Wednesday's results from the Twins farm system. Rochester Red Wings (Scheduled Off Day) The Red Wings enjoyed a scheduled off day after finishing the month of April with a 10-16 record. The club sits eight games out of first place in the International League North Division. Rochester has turned it around a little in their last ten games by posting a 6-4 record. As part of their off day, the club announced that Rafael Perez was activated from the disabled list. Perez, a former member of the Cleveland Indians, was a minor league free agent this past offseason before deciding to sign with the Twins organization. He had missed 26 games as he was recovering from left shoulder surgery he underwent last September. To make room for Perez on the roster, the Red Wings sent Bobby Lanigan back to Double-A. Lanigan had only made one appearance since being called up last week. He earned the save of Friday while pitching 0.1 innings with a strikeout. Rochester used today as travel day to get to Columbus before opening a four-game series versus the Clippers on Thursday. New Britain Rock Cats 4, Harrisburg Senators 0 Box Score Logan Darnell and Daniel Ortiz stole the show for the Rock Cats on Wednesday evening. Both players were at the center of New Britain's 14th win of the season. Darnell threw seven shutout innings by scattering five singles. He struck out six batters and only allowed two walks. It was his third win of the season and he lowered his ERA to 2.16. It was the most impressive start of the year for Darnell and it looks like his second time through the Eastern League will come with some more positive results. Aaron Thompson continued his very good season out of the bullpen. He recorded the last six outs of the game and only allowed one base runner. His 0.97 ERA is the best of pitcher on New Britain’s staff. In his six appearances this season, he has only allowed one run and one walk. Ortiz was the big man on the offensive side of the ball. He went 3-for-4 with his fourth home run of the season, which ranks second on the team behind Josmil Pinto. In the last three games, Ortiz now has compiled a four hit game and a three hit game. Reynaldo Rodriguez and James Beresford added two hits of their own. Rodriguez had a triple and two RBI. New Britain will look to notch their third straight series win with a victory on Thursday. The club sits in the middle of the pack in the Eastern League Eastern Division. Only five games separate the first and last place club so there could be a lot of movement in the coming weeks. Fort Myers Miracle --, Clearwater Threshers -- (Cancelled) Inclement weather interfered with the Miracle's game in Clearwater on Wednesday afternoon. The teams don't meet again in the first half so the game will not be made up. The Miracle are currently riding a seven-game winning streak after they won the first three games of the series against Clearwater. Fort Myers currently has a 21-4 record and the club sits five games ahead of their closest competitor in the Florida State League's South Division. The St. Lucie Mets are the team behind the Miracle in the standings and they just happen to be the next team on their schedule. The two clubs will open a series in Fort Myers on Thursday night. It is the start of a seven-game homestand at Hammond Stadium. Cedar Rapids Kernels 2, West Michigan Whitecaps 7 Box Score The Kernels jumped out to a two run lead but the Whitecaps pitching staff shut down the offense for the rest of the game. A big bottom of the fifth inning broke open the game and West Michigan walked away with the victory. The loss snapped a nine game winning streak for the Kernels. In the first inning, Byron Buxton walked to start the scoring threat. Niko Goodrum followed with a single and an error on the play allowed both runners to advance a base. Back-to-back sacrifice flies by Jorge Polanco and Dalton Hicks put the Kernels up 2-0. Brett Lee started made his third start of the year for Cedar Rapids and he was saddled with his first loss. Through five innings, he kept the game close but the bottom of the seventh didn't start out the best. The first batter singled and this was followed by a long ball that signaled Lee's exit. Tim Atherton didn't provide much relief as he would go on to allow three more runs in the seventh. He had a throwing error, gave up a home run, and allowed two stolen bases. Josh Burris pitched a hitless inning and only gave up one walk. It was only the second appearance for Burris since he joined the team earlier this week. The Kernels will look to get back to their winning ways as the team continues their series with West Michigan over the next two days. Today's game was the first game in a 12-game road trip for Cedar Rapids. The team won't return home until May 14th so the team will have to continue to find ways to win road games.

At the end of last season, things must have been a little tense around the Ron Gardenhire household. The Twins were coming off of back-to-back 90-loss seasons and Gardenhire only had one season left on his current contract. It was inevitable for some changes to take place and almost all of Gardy's coaching staff would not be hired back or would be reassigned. The sporting world can be cruel when a team isn't performing well on the field. Twins fans weren't used to this kind of shake-up since the Pohlad's took over ownership of the club. It was an unprecedented move to clear out the coaching staff and Gardenhire was left standing at the end of the firing frenzy. There have only been two managers and three general managers of the club since the late 1980's. No other club can match that kind of consistency at the top of the organization. This separates the Twins from most of the rest of the sporting world. There might have been some reasons to fire Gardenhire over the last two years but he survived and the Twins have surprised so far this year. Gardenhire still has his job but it is hard not to look at him as a lame duck. His contract is up at the end of the 2013 season and it's not like the Twins were suppose to be making a playoff push. The roster of players assembled looked headed for another dismal season and that could have resulted in the termination of Gardenhire's tenure in Minnesota. Things haven't been as bad as expected in Twins Territory this season. So far, the team has hovered around the .500 mark. They find themselves right in the middle of the pack in the AL Central. This is a bit of a surprise and fans of the team have to be a little impressed with some of the performances put together by the club this year. A new era is starting in Minnesota and the Twins might want Gardenhire around for this new rebuild. The minor leagues are stocked with some great talent, which is reminiscent to when Gardenhire took over as manager back in 2002. Aaron Hicks and Oswaldo Arcia have already broke into the big leagues. Star pitching prospects Kyle Gibson, Alex Meyer, and Trevor May might not be too far behind. Last week, Twins General Manager Terry Ryan told Yahoo! Sports, "I expect Ron to be on this job for a long time. I don't consider it a lame duck at all." It wouldn't have looked right for the club to hand Gardenhire an extension after two of the worst seasons in Twins history. There needs to be some accountability even with the model of consistency the franchise has used over the last couple of decades. Ryan would go on to say, "We're trying to be stable and have continuity, and almost all the people we've had for years are still here. But there does come a point where change is necessary." "I hope that's not now." The future can be uncertain and Gardenhire won't manage this team forever. Fans can see things starting to get back on track so maybe there won't be calls for Gardy's head on a platter. Tom Kelly made it through some rough years in the Metrodome and it looks like Gardenhire might follow that same path at Target Field. I mean what would the Twins baseball world be like without Ronald Clyde Gardenhire.

At the end of last season, things must have been a little tense around the Ron Gardenhire household. The Twins were coming off of back-to-back 90-loss seasons and Gardenhire only had one season left on his current contract. It was inevitable for some changes to take place and almost all of Gardy's coaching staff would not be hired back or would be reassigned. The sporting world can be cruel when a team isn't performing well on the field. Twins fans weren't used to this kind of shake-up since the Pohlad's took over ownership of the club. It was an unprecedented move to clear out the coaching staff and Gardenhire was left standing at the end of the firing frenzy. There have only been two managers and three general managers of the club since the late 1980's. No other club can match that kind of consistency at the top of the organization. This separates the Twins from most of the rest of the sporting world. There might have been some reasons to fire Gardenhire over the last two years but he survived and the Twins have surprised so far this year. Gardenhire still has his job but it is hard not to look at him as a lame duck. His contract is up at the end of the 2013 season and it's not like the Twins were suppose to be making a playoff push. The roster of players assembled looked headed for another dismal season and that could have resulted in the termination of Gardenhire's tenure in Minnesota. Things haven't been as bad as expected in Twins Territory this season. So far, the team has hovered around the .500 mark. They find themselves right in the middle of the pack in the AL Central. This is a bit of a surprise and fans of the team have to be a little impressed with some of the performances put together by the club this year. A new era is starting in Minnesota and the Twins might want Gardenhire around for this new rebuild. The minor leagues are stocked with some great talent, which is reminiscent to when Gardenhire took over as manager back in 2002. Aaron Hicks and Oswaldo Arcia have already broke into the big leagues. Star pitching prospects Kyle Gibson, Alex Meyer, and Trevor May might not be too far behind. Last week, Twins General Manager Terry Ryan told Yahoo! Sports, "I expect Ron to be on this job for a long time. I don't consider it a lame duck at all." It wouldn't have looked right for the club to hand Gardenhire an extension after two of the worst seasons in Twins history. There needs to be some accountability even with the model of consistency the franchise has used over the last couple of decades. Ryan would go on to say, "We're trying to be stable and have continuity, and almost all the people we've had for years are still here. But there does come a point where change is necessary." "I hope that's not now." The future can be uncertain and Gardenhire won't manage this team forever. Fans can see things starting to get back on track so maybe there won't be calls for Gardy's head on a platter. Tom Kelly made it through some rough years in the Metrodome and it looks like Gardenhire might follow that same path at Target Field. I mean what would the Twins baseball world be like without Ronald Clyde Gardenhire.

When the Twins traded Francisco Liriano to the Chicago White Sox last July, it seemed like the club was getting a bag of balls and some chewing gum in return. There wasn't much to get excited about with names like Pedro Hernadez and Eduardo Escobar. Flashforward a couple of months later and it is starting to look more and more like the Twins got some servicable players. Escobar has built himself a nice little niche in the Twins clubhouse. Manager Ron Gardenhire uses him as a late inning defensive replacement a couple of times a week and he also makes his way into the starting line-up on occasion. In small doses, he has been very good for the team this year. In fact, it seems like Escobar has been the thorn in the side of Minnesota's opponents. This season he is hitting .438/.455/.625 with a home run, a triple, and a double in 32 at-bats. His six runs scored rank higher than two current regular starters, Chris Parmelee and Pedro Florimon. The switch-hitting middle infielder is finding ways to hit for average and power from both sides of the plate. As a left-handed batter, he is slugging .636 and when he switches to the other side that number stays at .600. His career OPS is only .639 so it has been a very good start to the year. The Twins seem to be getting the best out of Mr. Escobar. Which brings up the question, how valuable is Eduardo Escobar? According to FanGraphs, Escobar has been the second most valuable Twins player in 2013. Since he is still pre-arbitration eligible, the club is paying him $520,000 this year. His value according to FanGraphs has been $3.1 million and only Joe Mauer has been worth more at $3.8 million. There are also some other interesting numbers from FanGraphs. Escobar has been the second most valuable offensive player with Josh Willingham being ranked ahead of him. Escobar's solid defense makes him more valuable in the field so his WAR ranking is second to Mauer. By looking to the other reputable online baseball database, Baseball Reference, Escobar is also doing well there. Only Mauer and Willingham have higher WAR marks and his offense WAR ranks right behind both of these everyday players. His Win Probabilty Added ranks sixth in the American League. This puts him ahead of perennial MVP candidates like Robinson Cano and Miguel Cabrera. It seems strange to talk about Escobar in the same breath as Mauer, Willingham, Cabrera, and Cano. For the most part, it is comical to think of the scrappy infielder in the same light as these great hitters. Compared to his Twins counterparts, he has less than a third of the amount of plate appearances as Mauer and less than half of what Willingham has strung together. A small sample size can do wonders for Escobar and his value to the team. His numbers might look promising at this point in the season but things could come back down to earth in a hurry if he got more playing time. Minnesota seems to have found the best way to get the most value out of Escobar. The team can only hope that his value continues to increase as the season progresses. It turns out that he might have been worth more than a bag of balls and some chewing gum after all...

When the Twins traded Francisco Liriano to the Chicago White Sox last July, it seemed like the club was getting a bag of balls and some chewing gum in return. There wasn't much to get excited about with names like Pedro Hernadez and Eduardo Escobar. Flashforward a couple of months later and it is starting to look more and more like the Twins got some servicable players. Escobar has built himself a nice little niche in the Twins clubhouse. Manager Ron Gardenhire uses him as a late inning defensive replacement a couple of times a week and he also makes his way into the starting line-up on occasion. In small doses, he has been very good for the team this year. In fact, it seems like Escobar has been the thorn in the side of Minnesota's opponents. This season he is hitting .438/.455/.625 with a home run, a triple, and a double in 32 at-bats. His six runs scored rank higher than two current regular starters, Chris Parmelee and Pedro Florimon. The switch-hitting middle infielder is finding ways to hit for average and power from both sides of the plate. As a left-handed batter, he is slugging .636 and when he switches to the other side that number stays at .600. His career OPS is only .639 so it has been a very good start to the year. The Twins seem to be getting the best out of Mr. Escobar. Which brings up the question, how valuable is Eduardo Escobar? According to FanGraphs, Escobar has been the second most valuable Twins player in 2013. Since he is still pre-arbitration eligible, the club is paying him $520,000 this year. His value according to FanGraphs has been $3.1 million and only Joe Mauer has been worth more at $3.8 million. There are also some other interesting numbers from FanGraphs. Escobar has been the second most valuable offensive player with Josh Willingham being ranked ahead of him. Escobar's solid defense makes him more valuable in the field so his WAR ranking is second to Mauer. By looking to the other reputable online baseball database, Baseball Reference, Escobar is also doing well there. Only Mauer and Willingham have higher WAR marks and his offense WAR ranks right behind both of these everyday players. His Win Probabilty Added ranks sixth in the American League. This puts him ahead of perennial MVP candidates like Robinson Cano and Miguel Cabrera. It seems strange to talk about Escobar in the same breath as Mauer, Willingham, Cabrera, and Cano. For the most part, it is comical to think of the scrappy infielder in the same light as these great hitters. Compared to his Twins counterparts, he has less than a third of the amount of plate appearances as Mauer and less than half of what Willingham has strung together. A small sample size can do wonders for Escobar and his value to the team. His numbers might look promising at this point in the season but things could come back down to earth in a hurry if he got more playing time. Minnesota seems to have found the best way to get the most value out of Escobar. The team can only hope that his value continues to increase as the season progresses. It turns out that he might have been worth more than a bag of balls and some chewing gum after all...

The Twins actually got to get all of their games in so far this week. Monday's game with the Marlins had to be moved to Tuesday as part of a doubleheader but this was a step in the right direction after multiple cancellations last week. Texas is in town for the weekend and it sounds like the weather is actually going to start feeling like spring. Highs will continue to rise and hopefully the Twins can continue to play baseball around the .500 mark. The weekend is almost here so make sure to check out some of the top stories from the last week. Enjoy! Maybe Ron Gardenhire isn't a lame duck after all. Forbes came out with their list of the most valuable players in baseball. Joe Mauer ranks fourth and the men ahead of him are all on the disabled list. Mauer is in his prime and it might be in the team's best interest to accelerate the rebuild timeline. Twins fans will agree that there is a lot wrong with Mike Pelfrey. With other pitcher's struggles, Kyle Gibson could be closer to making his debut. The history of switch hitters with the Twins is interesting to see. MLB's All-Star Game ballot came out this week. Brian Dozier was left off the ballot in favor of Jamey Carroll. Do you want to hear 20 minutes of a Twins versus White Sox game called by Harry Caray? I thought you might. Minnesota has entered the "Moneyball" era behind a mystery man. The early returns on Kevin Correia look good. Oswaldo Arcia might be good at break dancing. Here's another post about Jack Morris and pitching to the score. The campaign has started if you want to "Vote for Delmon" Ben Revere has a chance to climb this list by the end of the season. Target Field is going to have quite the day of baseball when they show "The Sandlot" on the big screen following a game with the Red Sox. Troy Tulowitzki had a mullet as a child and it was fantastic. This Bazooka Joe book looks pretty cool especially for baseball fans that remember gum in their trading cards. It's not very often that a fan is given an opportunity to approach a player that did something against his favorite team when he was a child. Hawk Harrelson was in a sabermetrics debate with Brian Kenny. As you can imagine, there were some good moments. One of the coolest things of the entire week, all of Yu Darvish's pitches at one time. My Weekly Rundown Monday: Talk to Contact: Episode 34 Tuesday: Two strike counts and Joe Mauer Tuesday's Minor League Tidbits Thursday: Is Kevin Correia's performance just smoke and mirrors? Video of the Week: Oswaldo Arcia had a whirlwind week last week by making his MLB debut, being sent down for one game, and then getting called back up. He has played a much bigger role in recent games by being a steady fixture in the line-up. There have been some struggles along the way but he hit his first home run earlier this week. Hopefully, it is the first of many in a Twins uniform.

The Twins actually got to get all of their games in so far this week. Monday's game with the Marlins had to be moved to Tuesday as part of a doubleheader but this was a step in the right direction after multiple cancellations last week. Texas is in town for the weekend and it sounds like the weather is actually going to start feeling like spring. Highs will continue to rise and hopefully the Twins can continue to play baseball around the .500 mark. The weekend is almost here so make sure to check out some of the top stories from the last week. Enjoy! Maybe Ron Gardenhire isn't a lame duck after all. Forbes came out with their list of the most valuable players in baseball. Joe Mauer ranks fourth and the men ahead of him are all on the disabled list. Mauer is in his prime and it might be in the team's best interest to accelerate the rebuild timeline. Twins fans will agree that there is a lot wrong with Mike Pelfrey. With other pitcher's struggles, Kyle Gibson could be closer to making his debut. The history of switch hitters with the Twins is interesting to see. MLB's All-Star Game ballot came out this week. Brian Dozier was left off the ballot in favor of Jamey Carroll. Do you want to hear 20 minutes of a Twins versus White Sox game called by Harry Caray? I thought you might. Minnesota has entered the "Moneyball" era behind a mystery man. The early returns on Kevin Correia look good. Oswaldo Arcia might be good at break dancing. Here's another post about Jack Morris and pitching to the score. The campaign has started if you want to "Vote for Delmon" Ben Revere has a chance to climb this list by the end of the season. Target Field is going to have quite the day of baseball when they show "The Sandlot" on the big screen following a game with the Red Sox. Troy Tulowitzki had a mullet as a child and it was fantastic. This Bazooka Joe book looks pretty cool especially for baseball fans that remember gum in their trading cards. It's not very often that a fan is given an opportunity to approach a player that did something against his favorite team when he was a child. Hawk Harrelson was in a sabermetrics debate with Brian Kenny. As you can imagine, there were some good moments. One of the coolest things of the entire week, all of Yu Darvish's pitches at one time. My Weekly Rundown Monday: Talk to Contact: Episode 34 Tuesday: Two strike counts and Joe Mauer Tuesday's Minor League Tidbits Thursday: Is Kevin Correia's performance just smoke and mirrors? Video of the Week: Oswaldo Arcia had a whirlwind week last week by making his MLB debut, being sent down for one game, and then getting called back up. He has played a much bigger role in recent games by being a steady fixture in the line-up. There have been some struggles along the way but he hit his first home run earlier this week. Hopefully, it is the first of many in a Twins uniform.

There can be plenty of surprises at the beginning of a season. The Twins find themselves around the .500 mark and most fans would likely be happy if the club was able to keep up this pace for the remainder of the season. It might not be likely but stranger things have happened in the world of baseball. One of the most intriguing players so far this year has been Kevin Correia. He has surprised most Twins fans with his performances on the mound. Of the members in the Twins starting rotation, he has been the most consistent. He has thrown seven innings or more and allowed three runs or fewer in each start. Correia became the first Twins pitcher to throw at least seven innings in his first four starts to lead off a year since Ramon Ortiz did it in 2007. Oritz went on to compile a 4-4 record and a 5.14 ERA before the team dumped him on the Rockies in mid-August for Matt Macri. It is important to take into account the wonders of small sample size at the beginning of the year. When the Twins signed Correia this off-season, there were many people in the industry who scoffed at the contract he was given. Minnesota is paying Correia $10 million over the next two years. That is a decent chunk of change for a man without that great a track record. His career ERA of 4.54 and a WHIP of 1.41 in the National League seemed hardly worth $5 million a year but that is what Minnesota is paying him. Correia's first impression with the Twins wasn't great. He scuffled in spring training and posted some terrible numbers. His ERA was 5.40 and his 1.68 WHIP was tough to stomach. He gave up more than a hit an inning and he struck out only eight men over 25 innings. Twins Territory was bracing for the worst. This led most Twins fans to wonder why the team had offered a player like this a two-year deal. But luckily for Twins fans, spring training statistics usually don't matter. Correia has looked great so far but it's hard to know if he will be able to keep up this pace. The lowest ERA he has posted in a season was 3.45 back in 2007 with the San Francisco Giants. He made only eight starts that season. Since becoming a full time starter, he has only one season with sub-4.00 ERA. He was a Padres pitcher that season and over half of his starts came at the pitcher-friendly Petco Park. In recent years, the Twins witnessed the turn-around of Carl Pavano, another veteran pitcher with a poor track record. Pavano's flaws had been mostly related to injuries so he was able to put up solid middle of the rotation numbers when he was healthy. Correia's connection to Pavano isn't exactly perfect because Correia didn't fight a lot of injuries before joining the Twins. He has pitched at least 145 innings a year since 2009 and that includes a minimum of 26 starts in those seasons. Over that stretch, he averaged 167 innings per season and that would have ranked second on last year's Twins behind Scott Diamond. If a person is taking bets on Correia, it might be time to sell your stock while it is still high. It seem like he has nowhere to go but down. His track record shows that he will most likely come back down to earth at some point this season. For now, fans can relish the solid performances he is putting forth on a team that continues to surprise.

There can be plenty of surprises at the beginning of a season. The Twins find themselves around the .500 mark and most fans would likely be happy if the club was able to keep up this pace for the remainder of the season. It might not be likely but stranger things have happened in the world of baseball. One of the most intriguing players so far this year has been Kevin Correia. He has surprised most Twins fans with his performances on the mound. Of the members in the Twins starting rotation, he has been the most consistent. He has thrown seven innings or more and allowed three runs or fewer in each start. Correia became the first Twins pitcher to throw at least seven innings in his first four starts to lead off a year since Ramon Ortiz did it in 2007. Oritz went on to compile a 4-4 record and a 5.14 ERA before the team dumped him on the Rockies in mid-August for Matt Macri. It is important to take into account the wonders of small sample size at the beginning of the year. When the Twins signed Correia this off-season, there were many people in the industry who scoffed at the contract he was given. Minnesota is paying Correia $10 million over the next two years. That is a decent chunk of change for a man without that great a track record. His career ERA of 4.54 and a WHIP of 1.41 in the National League seemed hardly worth $5 million a year but that is what Minnesota is paying him. Correia's first impression with the Twins wasn't great. He scuffled in spring training and posted some terrible numbers. His ERA was 5.40 and his 1.68 WHIP was tough to stomach. He gave up more than a hit an inning and he struck out only eight men over 25 innings. Twins Territory was bracing for the worst. This led most Twins fans to wonder why the team had offered a player like this a two-year deal. But luckily for Twins fans, spring training statistics usually don't matter. Correia has looked great so far but it's hard to know if he will be able to keep up this pace. The lowest ERA he has posted in a season was 3.45 back in 2007 with the San Francisco Giants. He made only eight starts that season. Since becoming a full time starter, he has only one season with sub-4.00 ERA. He was a Padres pitcher that season and over half of his starts came at the pitcher-friendly Petco Park. In recent years, the Twins witnessed the turn-around of Carl Pavano, another veteran pitcher with a poor track record. Pavano's flaws had been mostly related to injuries so he was able to put up solid middle of the rotation numbers when he was healthy. Correia's connection to Pavano isn't exactly perfect because Correia didn't fight a lot of injuries before joining the Twins. He has pitched at least 145 innings a year since 2009 and that includes a minimum of 26 starts in those seasons. Over that stretch, he averaged 167 innings per season and that would have ranked second on last year's Twins behind Scott Diamond. If a person is taking bets on Correia, it might be time to sell your stock while it is still high. It seem like he has nowhere to go but down. His track record shows that he will most likely come back down to earth at some point this season. For now, fans can relish the solid performances he is putting forth on a team that continues to surprise.

It wasn't that long ago that Oswaldo Arcia was a member of the Twins minor leagues. Today he made his biggest mark at the big league level by cracking his first home run and knocking in three runs. His long ball turned out to be the difference in the team winning the first game of their double header 4-3. He would be moved up to the third spot in the batting order for the second game of the double header so it was an exciting day for the budding star. There were some other exciting moments across the Twins farm system on Tuesday so let's check out what happened down on the farm. Rochester Red Wings 7, Syracuse Chiefs 8 (13 innings) Box Score Rochester staked themselves to an early lead but the bullpen faltered in the late innings to send this contest to an exciting finish. The Red Wings got three home runs from Clete Thomas, Eric Farris, and Nate Hanson. It was the Triple-A debut for Hanson and he certainly made his mark. He would finish 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI. Farris and Thomas both racked up three hits in the game. Virgil Vasquez started the night on the mound for Rochester but he would be long gone before this one was decided. He tossed 5.1 innings and allowed two earned runs on six hits. It was his second consecutive start throwing five innings and allowing two runs or less. When the game went to extra innings, it looked like the Red Wings were close to finding a way to win. The team scored a run on a throwing error in the top of the 11th inning. This run would be answered by the Chiefs in the bottom half of the frame and the game continued on into the night. Rochester tried to mount another lead in the 13th inning. The team loaded the bases with only one out in the inning. Farris grounded into an ill-timed double play and another scoring opportunity was lost. Michael O'Connor came out for his second inning of relief work in the bottom of the 13th. Syracuse started the inning with three straight bunt attempts. The first one was good for a single, the second caused an fielding error by Ray Olmedo, and the third put two runners in scoring position. The next batter would single to end the game. With the loss, Rochester still has one victory on the road this year. The Red Wings have three more games in their series with Syracuse before heading home this weekend to face Buffalo. The club will need to figure some way to win on the road. New Britain Rock Cats --, New Hampshire Fisher Cats -- (Postponed) The Rock Cats were trying to end a three game skid on Tuesday evening but Mother Nature had other plans. Their game with the Fisher Cats was pushed to Wednesday night as part of a double-header. Thursday's game is scheduled for 10:35 am so the team's will play three games in less than 24 hours. Trevor May was scheduled to make his first start in over a week. With cold weather and early season pitch counts, May hasn't made it through more than 5.1 innings in any of his starts. He hasn't faced Syracuse yet this year so maybe he will be in line for a good start. New Britain heads home for a seven-game home stand. The action starts this weekend with a three game set against Richmond. At the beginning of next week, the team has an important four-game series with Harrisburg. Fort Myers Miracle 5, Palm Beach Cardinals 1 Box Score The Palm Beach Cardinals are getting really sick of seeing Miguel Sano trot around the bases. He hit a grand slam against them last week in Fort Myers. Some fireworks flew on Sunday when Palm Beach threw at Sano and he responded by cracking the ball over the fence. Tuesday brought another game and another Sano home run. It was a solo home run, Sano's 7th of the year, and he would be involved in another scoring play in his next at-bat. The Miracle had already scored twice in the inning on an Eddie Rosario single and a Lance Ray sacrifice fly. Sano would get his second RBI of the game with a single to center field. The club would score four runs in the inning to push their lead to 5-0. Taylor Rogers made his first start of the year after being called-up from Cedar Rapids. He performed well by limiting the Cardinals to four hits and no runs. He struck out four batters and only walked two men. Zach Jones gave up the lone run for the Cards. Nelvin Fuentes and Corey Williams each had a perfect inning of relief. Fort Myers got back on the winning track after losses in their last three games. The club still has the best record in the Florida State League. The Miracle have a scheduled off day tomorrow before playing three games against Charlotte Cedar Rapids Kernels --, Burlington Bees -- (Postponed) Rain washed out the final game of the series between the Kernels and the Bees. The game will be made up later in the first half as part of a doubleheader in Cedar Rapids. The Kernels are on a little bit of a roll with wins in their last three games including the first two games against the Bees. Byron Buxton still has a batting average over .400 and his OPS of 1.128 is off the charts. He is making his first full professional season look easy. The team has a scheduled off day on Wednesday before returning home for a three-game series vs Great Lakes. The six-game home stand will conclude with a three-game set against Lansing.

It wasn't that long ago that Oswaldo Arcia was a member of the Twins minor leagues. Today he made his biggest mark at the big league level by cracking his first home run and knocking in three runs. His long ball turned out to be the difference in the team winning the first game of their double header 4-3. He would be moved up to the third spot in the batting order for the second game of the double header so it was an exciting day for the budding star. There were some other exciting moments across the Twins farm system on Tuesday so let's check out what happened down on the farm. Rochester Red Wings 7, Syracuse Chiefs 8 (13 innings) Box Score Rochester staked themselves to an early lead but the bullpen faltered in the late innings to send this contest to an exciting finish. The Red Wings got three home runs from Clete Thomas, Eric Farris, and Nate Hanson. It was the Triple-A debut for Hanson and he certainly made his mark. He would finish 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI. Farris and Thomas both racked up three hits in the game. Virgil Vasquez started the night on the mound for Rochester but he would be long gone before this one was decided. He tossed 5.1 innings and allowed two earned runs on six hits. It was his second consecutive start throwing five innings and allowing two runs or less. When the game went to extra innings, it looked like the Red Wings were close to finding a way to win. The team scored a run on a throwing error in the top of the 11th inning. This run would be answered by the Chiefs in the bottom half of the frame and the game continued on into the night. Rochester tried to mount another lead in the 13th inning. The team loaded the bases with only one out in the inning. Farris grounded into an ill-timed double play and another scoring opportunity was lost. Michael O'Connor came out for his second inning of relief work in the bottom of the 13th. Syracuse started the inning with three straight bunt attempts. The first one was good for a single, the second caused an fielding error by Ray Olmedo, and the third put two runners in scoring position. The next batter would single to end the game. With the loss, Rochester still has one victory on the road this year. The Red Wings have three more games in their series with Syracuse before heading home this weekend to face Buffalo. The club will need to figure some way to win on the road. New Britain Rock Cats --, New Hampshire Fisher Cats -- (Postponed) The Rock Cats were trying to end a three game skid on Tuesday evening but Mother Nature had other plans. Their game with the Fisher Cats was pushed to Wednesday night as part of a double-header. Thursday's game is scheduled for 10:35 am so the team's will play three games in less than 24 hours. Trevor May was scheduled to make his first start in over a week. With cold weather and early season pitch counts, May hasn't made it through more than 5.1 innings in any of his starts. He hasn't faced Syracuse yet this year so maybe he will be in line for a good start. New Britain heads home for a seven-game home stand. The action starts this weekend with a three game set against Richmond. At the beginning of next week, the team has an important four-game series with Harrisburg. Fort Myers Miracle 5, Palm Beach Cardinals 1 Box Score The Palm Beach Cardinals are getting really sick of seeing Miguel Sano trot around the bases. He hit a grand slam against them last week in Fort Myers. Some fireworks flew on Sunday when Palm Beach threw at Sano and he responded by cracking the ball over the fence. Tuesday brought another game and another Sano home run. It was a solo home run, Sano's 7th of the year, and he would be involved in another scoring play in his next at-bat. The Miracle had already scored twice in the inning on an Eddie Rosario single and a Lance Ray sacrifice fly. Sano would get his second RBI of the game with a single to center field. The club would score four runs in the inning to push their lead to 5-0. Taylor Rogers made his first start of the year after being called-up from Cedar Rapids. He performed well by limiting the Cardinals to four hits and no runs. He struck out four batters and only walked two men. Zach Jones gave up the lone run for the Cards. Nelvin Fuentes and Corey Williams each had a perfect inning of relief. Fort Myers got back on the winning track after losses in their last three games. The club still has the best record in the Florida State League. The Miracle have a scheduled off day tomorrow before playing three games against Charlotte Cedar Rapids Kernels --, Burlington Bees -- (Postponed) Rain washed out the final game of the series between the Kernels and the Bees. The game will be made up later in the first half as part of a doubleheader in Cedar Rapids. The Kernels are on a little bit of a roll with wins in their last three games including the first two games against the Bees. Byron Buxton still has a batting average over .400 and his OPS of 1.128 is off the charts. He is making his first full professional season look easy. The team has a scheduled off day on Wednesday before returning home for a three-game series vs Great Lakes. The six-game home stand will conclude with a three-game set against Lansing.

"Strike two, you're out," seems to be the current mantra for most of baseball. One of the biggest challenges for batters in recent years has been their ability to come back in an at-bat after falling into a two-strike count. Since 2006, there has been a steady decrease in player’s ability to hit with two strikes. Last year, two-strike hitting dropped to a new low, as batters were only able to muster a .178 batting average. How do pitchers have so much of an advantage when it comes to throwing to batters with two strikes? For one thing, players don't care as much about if they strikeout. Blame the juiced up players in the steroids era. It didn't matter if a player was swinging and missing as long as the ball was flying over the fence. Home run and RBI totals made up for big strikeout numbers. For batters to get anywhere near 200 strikeouts in the past would have been horrific. Bobby Bonds would be a trailblazer for the current generation of strike out prone players. He struck out 187 times in 1969 only to pass that mark the next year with 189. The 200-strikeout mark hasn't been as much of an embarrassment in recent years with the mark being passed five times in the last five seasons. Mark Reynolds has three of the top five strikeout seasons and he also sits at the top of the list with 223 strikeouts. Adam Dunn came within one strikeout of tying the MLB record last year but the dubious honor still belongs to Reynolds. Twins fans have become accustom to seeing one player buck the trend when it comes to hitting with a two-strike count. Joe Mauer is one of the best hitters in the game and he doesn't seem to have any trouble when he finds himself deep into an at-bat. It almost seems like Mauer becomes better as an at-bat goes on. In 2012, Mauer ranked as one of the top five batters in all of baseball when it came to hitting with two strikes. His .266 batting average with two-strikes was the highest mark in the American League. It was just high enough to finish ahead of Prince Fielder. Best Two-Strike Hitters in 2012 1. Martin Prado .286 2. Jayson Werth .286 3. Matt Carpenter .268 4. Joe Mauer .266 5. Prince Fielder .265 Mauer has been on quite the role to start the 2013 season. This has also helped his numbers with two strikes against him. So far this season, he is hitting .409/.435/.523 when he has two strikes. Those are unheard of numbers and it is hard to image that he will be able to keep up that pace for the entire season. For his career with two strikes, Mauer has a batting line of .258/.312/.359 which gets him close to the top of the all-time list. Besides being a Hall-of-Fame caliber hitter, Tony Gwynn was also the best hitter of all-time with two strikes against him. His .302 average would be good for any count let alone when he has two strikes against him. Todd Helton, Ichiro Suzuki, Juan Pierre, and Wade Boggs round out the rest of the top five with their averages sitting anywhere from .262 to .260. Ichiro would be a name that most would expect to see on this list. Pierre certainly doesn't fit the mold of all-time great but baseball is a funny game. The game of baseball will always be changing and batters are going to need to find some way to improve when they have two strikes against them. If Mauer continues on his current track, he could become one of the best two-strike hitters in history. He is going against the trend in baseball and Twins fans are happy with those results.

"Strike two, you're out," seems to be the current mantra for most of baseball. One of the biggest challenges for batters in recent years has been their ability to come back in an at-bat after falling into a two-strike count. Since 2006, there has been a steady decrease in player’s ability to hit with two strikes. Last year, two-strike hitting dropped to a new low, as batters were only able to muster a .178 batting average. How do pitchers have so much of an advantage when it comes to throwing to batters with two strikes? For one thing, players don't care as much about if they strikeout. Blame the juiced up players in the steroids era. It didn't matter if a player was swinging and missing as long as the ball was flying over the fence. Home run and RBI totals made up for big strikeout numbers. For batters to get anywhere near 200 strikeouts in the past would have been horrific. Bobby Bonds would be a trailblazer for the current generation of strike out prone players. He struck out 187 times in 1969 only to pass that mark the next year with 189. The 200-strikeout mark hasn't been as much of an embarrassment in recent years with the mark being passed five times in the last five seasons. Mark Reynolds has three of the top five strikeout seasons and he also sits at the top of the list with 223 strikeouts. Adam Dunn came within one strikeout of tying the MLB record last year but the dubious honor still belongs to Reynolds. Twins fans have become accustom to seeing one player buck the trend when it comes to hitting with a two-strike count. Joe Mauer is one of the best hitters in the game and he doesn't seem to have any trouble when he finds himself deep into an at-bat. It almost seems like Mauer becomes better as an at-bat goes on. In 2012, Mauer ranked as one of the top five batters in all of baseball when it came to hitting with two strikes. His .266 batting average with two-strikes was the highest mark in the American League. It was just high enough to finish ahead of Prince Fielder. Best Two-Strike Hitters in 2012 1. Martin Prado .286 2. Jayson Werth .286 3. Matt Carpenter .268 4. Joe Mauer .266 5. Prince Fielder .265 Mauer has been on quite the role to start the 2013 season. This has also helped his numbers with two strikes against him. So far this season, he is hitting .409/.435/.523 when he has two strikes. Those are unheard of numbers and it is hard to image that he will be able to keep up that pace for the entire season. For his career with two strikes, Mauer has a batting line of .258/.312/.359 which gets him close to the top of the all-time list. Besides being a Hall-of-Fame caliber hitter, Tony Gwynn was also the best hitter of all-time with two strikes against him. His .302 average would be good for any count let alone when he has two strikes against him. Todd Helton, Ichiro Suzuki, Juan Pierre, and Wade Boggs round out the rest of the top five with their averages sitting anywhere from .262 to .260. Ichiro would be a name that most would expect to see on this list. Pierre certainly doesn't fit the mold of all-time great but baseball is a funny game. The game of baseball will always be changing and batters are going to need to find some way to improve when they have two strikes against them. If Mauer continues on his current track, he could become one of the best two-strike hitters in history. He is going against the trend in baseball and Twins fans are happy with those results.

Tragedy struck Boston on Monday with the horrific bombings at the Boston Marathon. A very visible sporting event was attacked and this story hit home with a lot of us. It can be frightening to think about attacks happening at big events but people are resilient. There were numerous positive stories coming out of the tragedy. A former New England Patriots lineman carried a woman to safety and there were plenty of other stories like this. Many teams around the world of baseball paid tribute to Boston in a similar fashion. The song "Sweet Caroline" has become synonymous with Red Sox games. Most teams saw it fitting to play this song during a break in the action; even the rival Yankees stood united in support of Boston. Here are the fans at Target Field singing "Sweet Caroline." Baseball continued to go on this week and there were some great stories from across the web. Have a safe weekend and give someone you love a call. Chris Colabello has one of the best stories in baseball. How does Joe Mauer do when it comes to catcher framing? Twins starters pitch to contact and that is killing them this year. AJ Petterson is playing with some very good players and he offers his early season highlights. There has been more than one player for the Twins to get a cup of coffee with the club. Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario are helping the Miracle to a record start. Sano already has one movie about his rise and they are working on a sequel. Glen Perkins is always an interesting interview. Aaron Hicks set a record and it wasn't one a player wants to set. Mauer and David Wright forged a friendship in the WBC. "Delmon's going to be as good as Delmon wants to be" Here is a cool list of all the players that have debuted this year with the scouts that signed them. A couple of Twins players on the list. IMDb released their top 10 baseball movies of all-time. Here is my top 5 baseball films: Bull Durham Sandlot Major League A League Of Their Own Field of Dreams Beyond the Boxscore did some great research creating Pitcher Similarity Scores based on Pitchf/x data. Denard Span didn't know what a double-switch was. Jackie Robinson gets a lot the press but Larry Doby was just as important in the AL. Bert Blyleven never had anyone charge him but he did charge the mound once himself. Lance Berkman really doesn't like Wrigley Field. There is more than one way to deal with hecklers in the stands. Former Twins pitcher Kyle Waldrop had an impressive first start at the Triple-A level. My Weekly Rundown: Monday: Talk to Contact: Episode 33 Tuesday: Finding solutions for struggling Aaron Hicks Wednesday: Arcia's ascension could mean Willingham's exit Wednesday's Minor League Wrap-Up Video of the Week: It is hard for Ben Revere to amaze after some of the plays he made in a Twins uniform. This catch from earlier this week might still leave you with your mouth open. He misplays the ball a little at the beginning and has to make up for it at the end with a Superman like jump. It was a very cool play by a good defense center fielder.

Tragedy struck Boston on Monday with the horrific bombings at the Boston Marathon. A very visible sporting event was attacked and this story hit home with a lot of us. It can be frightening to think about attacks happening at big events but people are resilient. There were numerous positive stories coming out of the tragedy. A former New England Patriots lineman carried a woman to safety and there were plenty of other stories like this. Many teams around the world of baseball paid tribute to Boston in a similar fashion. The song "Sweet Caroline" has become synonymous with Red Sox games. Most teams saw it fitting to play this song during a break in the action; even the rival Yankees stood united in support of Boston. Here are the fans at Target Field singing "Sweet Caroline." Baseball continued to go on this week and there were some great stories from across the web. Have a safe weekend and give someone you love a call. Chris Colabello has one of the best stories in baseball. How does Joe Mauer do when it comes to catcher framing? Twins starters pitch to contact and that is killing them this year. AJ Petterson is playing with some very good players and he offers his early season highlights. There has been more than one player for the Twins to get a cup of coffee with the club. Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario are helping the Miracle to a record start. Sano already has one movie about his rise and they are working on a sequel. Glen Perkins is always an interesting interview. Aaron Hicks set a record and it wasn't one a player wants to set. Mauer and David Wright forged a friendship in the WBC. "Delmon's going to be as good as Delmon wants to be" Here is a cool list of all the players that have debuted this year with the scouts that signed them. A couple of Twins players on the list. IMDb released their top 10 baseball movies of all-time. Here is my top 5 baseball films: Bull Durham Sandlot Major League A League Of Their Own Field of Dreams Beyond the Boxscore did some great research creating Pitcher Similarity Scores based on Pitchf/x data. Denard Span didn't know what a double-switch was. Jackie Robinson gets a lot the press but Larry Doby was just as important in the AL. Bert Blyleven never had anyone charge him but he did charge the mound once himself. Lance Berkman really doesn't like Wrigley Field. There is more than one way to deal with hecklers in the stands. Former Twins pitcher Kyle Waldrop had an impressive first start at the Triple-A level. My Weekly Rundown: Monday: Talk to Contact: Episode 33 Tuesday: Finding solutions for struggling Aaron Hicks Wednesday: Arcia's ascension could mean Willingham's exit Wednesday's Minor League Wrap-Up Video of the Week: It is hard for Ben Revere to amaze after some of the plays he made in a Twins uniform. This catch from earlier this week might still leave you with your mouth open. He misplays the ball a little at the beginning and has to make up for it at the end with a Superman like jump. It was a very cool play by a good defense center fielder.

The Twins weren't the only team impacted by the weather on Wednesday evening. Minnesota's affiliate's game in Cedar Rapids was also postponed due to inclement weather. The Upper Midwest is still waiting for spring to show up and there will probably be more weather issues before spring is finally sprung. Three other affiliates took the field for Wednesday action. The Miracle were going for lucky win 13 to start their season. Rochester has been struggling and the call-up of Oswaldo Arcia is going to hurt their offense. New Britain played an afternoon game and they found themselves in another tight contest. Let's see how the teams and players fared in "Wednesday's Minor League Wrap-Up." Rochester Red Wings 0, Scranton W/B RailRiders 7 Boxscore It was a rough night for the Red Wings as the team was shut out for the second consecutive night. The loss marked the seventh in a row for Rochester as the team hasn't recorded a win since last Tuesday. Going back to last season, the RailRiders have won 10 of the last 13 games between these two clubs. Liam Hendriks made his first start at Triple-A this season after starting the season with the big league club. He gave up a run in each of the first three innings to put Rochester in an early hole. For the game he tossed six innings, gave up nine hits and four earned runs. Anthony Slama got back on the mound after being slammed around in both of his last two outings. In those appearances, combined, he recorded only three outs and gave up seven earned runs. After walking multiple batters in those rough outings, he had a clean ninth inning with no walks and a strikeout. There wasn't much to write home about on the offensive side. Jeff Clement and Brandon Boggs were the only men to record more than one hit. Boggs added his second double of the year. Evan Bigley made his 2013 debut with the Red Wings as a pinch hitter and he flied out in the ninth. Rochester had only four plate appearances with runners in scoring position. The team failed in all of those attempts. Overall, the team left eight runners on base. The team starts a four game series with Pawtucket tomorrow night and the club will look to get back on track. New Britain Rock Cats 2, New Hampshire Fisher Cats 3 (11 Innings) Boxscore The Rock Cats seem have a flair for the dramatic this season. After winning in the bottom of the ninth on Tuesday, New Britain found themselves in the middle of another tight contest this afternoon. The team was held scoreless and was behind by two until the bottom of the ninth. They needed two runs to make things interesting. Back to back one out singles by Josmil Pinto and Daniel Ortiz had the team in good shape. A throwing error on the hit from Ortiz put two runners in scoring position. Curt Smith came through with a grounder up the middle to cut the score to 2-1. James Beresford was the next batter and he cracked a sac fly to center to knot the game at 2. The Fisher Cats then mounted their own rally in the top of the 11th inning to score the go-ahead run. Two singles and a balk by Aaron Thompson allowed the winning run to score. It was the first loss of the year for Thompson in his second appearance with the club. Pat Dean pitched seven strong innings, allowing one run on seven hits. He was being very democratic by not striking out a batter and letting the defense do their work behind him. He also didn't issue any walks and it was the first time he made it into the fifth inning this year. New Britain managed seven hits in the game. Smith and Ortiz were both 2-for-5 and they were the lone members of the Rock Cats to collect more than one hit. The team was 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and the club left seven men on base. Fort Myers Miracle 2, Palm Beach Cardinals 5 Boxscore The hunt for win number 13 turned out to be unlucky for the Miracle. After finding a way to win their first 12 games of the year, Fort Myers suffered their first loss on Wednesday night. The Miracle found themselves with an early 2-0 lead but the offense of the Cardinals proved to be too much. Even in the ninth inning the club tried to hold on to their perfect season. Trailing by three runs entering the bottom of the final frame, Fort Myers would load the bases on singles from Michael Gonzalez, Kyle Knudson, and Kennys Vargas. Another single from Adam Pettersen scored a run. Unfortunately, Angel Morales then grounded into a double play. This left Eddie Rosario on deck and Miguel Sano in the hole. Sano played the hero on Tuesday with a grand slam to give the Miracle the lead. He struggled in this game going 0-for-4 with a couple of strikeouts. Even with the bad day he is still hitting .380 on the season. Rosario has also helped the offense and he went 1-for-4 with his seventh RBI of the year. The bottom of the line-up did most of the damage for the Miracle. Hitters five through eight all had multiple hits. Extra base hits were tough to come by though as Michael Koch had the lone two-bagger in the game. Matthew Summers started for the Miracle and pitched 5.2 innings. During this outing he gave up three runs on seven hits. He walked one and struck out one to record his first loss of the year. Adrian Salcedo did well in relief by striking out three of the four batters he faced. Fort Myers will look to start a new winning streak as the team travels to Port St. Lucie for a three game set. Cedar Rapids Kernels --, Wisconsin Timber Rattlers -- (Postponed) The only thing slowing down Byron Buxton this spring has been the bad weather. Cedar Rapids had their game cancelled on Wednesday due to inclement weather. Since the Kernels and the Timber Rattlers don't play again in the first half of the MWL season, the game will not be made up. Cedar Rapids will now head out on the road for six games in Peoria and Burlington. Their next home action will be Thursday, April 25th when they open a six game home stand against Great Lakes and Lansing. With a 9-3 record the Kernels find themselves on top of the Western Division of the MWL. They are looking to keep the good juices flowing as they take a two game winning streak into their road trip. The addition of J.O. Berrios, the 32nd pick in last year's draft, should be a boost to the pitching staff.

The Twins weren't the only team impacted by the weather on Wednesday evening. Minnesota's affiliate's game in Cedar Rapids was also postponed due to inclement weather. The Upper Midwest is still waiting for spring to show up and there will probably be more weather issues before spring is finally sprung. Three other affiliates took the field for Wednesday action. The Miracle were going for lucky win 13 to start their season. Rochester has been struggling and the call-up of Oswaldo Arcia is going to hurt their offense. New Britain played an afternoon game and they found themselves in another tight contest. Let's see how the teams and players fared in "Wednesday's Minor League Wrap-Up." Rochester Red Wings 0, Scranton W/B RailRiders 7 Boxscore It was a rough night for the Red Wings as the team was shut out for the second consecutive night. The loss marked the seventh in a row for Rochester as the team hasn't recorded a win since last Tuesday. Going back to last season, the RailRiders have won 10 of the last 13 games between these two clubs. Liam Hendriks made his first start at Triple-A this season after starting the season with the big league club. He gave up a run in each of the first three innings to put Rochester in an early hole. For the game he tossed six innings, gave up nine hits and four earned runs. Anthony Slama got back on the mound after being slammed around in both of his last two outings. In those appearances, combined, he recorded only three outs and gave up seven earned runs. After walking multiple batters in those rough outings, he had a clean ninth inning with no walks and a strikeout. There wasn't much to write home about on the offensive side. Jeff Clement and Brandon Boggs were the only men to record more than one hit. Boggs added his second double of the year. Evan Bigley made his 2013 debut with the Red Wings as a pinch hitter and he flied out in the ninth. Rochester had only four plate appearances with runners in scoring position. The team failed in all of those attempts. Overall, the team left eight runners on base. The team starts a four game series with Pawtucket tomorrow night and the club will look to get back on track. New Britain Rock Cats 2, New Hampshire Fisher Cats 3 (11 Innings) Boxscore The Rock Cats seem have a flair for the dramatic this season. After winning in the bottom of the ninth on Tuesday, New Britain found themselves in the middle of another tight contest this afternoon. The team was held scoreless and was behind by two until the bottom of the ninth. They needed two runs to make things interesting. Back to back one out singles by Josmil Pinto and Daniel Ortiz had the team in good shape. A throwing error on the hit from Ortiz put two runners in scoring position. Curt Smith came through with a grounder up the middle to cut the score to 2-1. James Beresford was the next batter and he cracked a sac fly to center to knot the game at 2. The Fisher Cats then mounted their own rally in the top of the 11th inning to score the go-ahead run. Two singles and a balk by Aaron Thompson allowed the winning run to score. It was the first loss of the year for Thompson in his second appearance with the club. Pat Dean pitched seven strong innings, allowing one run on seven hits. He was being very democratic by not striking out a batter and letting the defense do their work behind him. He also didn't issue any walks and it was the first time he made it into the fifth inning this year. New Britain managed seven hits in the game. Smith and Ortiz were both 2-for-5 and they were the lone members of the Rock Cats to collect more than one hit. The team was 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and the club left seven men on base. Fort Myers Miracle 2, Palm Beach Cardinals 5 Boxscore The hunt for win number 13 turned out to be unlucky for the Miracle. After finding a way to win their first 12 games of the year, Fort Myers suffered their first loss on Wednesday night. The Miracle found themselves with an early 2-0 lead but the offense of the Cardinals proved to be too much. Even in the ninth inning the club tried to hold on to their perfect season. Trailing by three runs entering the bottom of the final frame, Fort Myers would load the bases on singles from Michael Gonzalez, Kyle Knudson, and Kennys Vargas. Another single from Adam Pettersen scored a run. Unfortunately, Angel Morales then grounded into a double play. This left Eddie Rosario on deck and Miguel Sano in the hole. Sano played the hero on Tuesday with a grand slam to give the Miracle the lead. He struggled in this game going 0-for-4 with a couple of strikeouts. Even with the bad day he is still hitting .380 on the season. Rosario has also helped the offense and he went 1-for-4 with his seventh RBI of the year. The bottom of the line-up did most of the damage for the Miracle. Hitters five through eight all had multiple hits. Extra base hits were tough to come by though as Michael Koch had the lone two-bagger in the game. Matthew Summers started for the Miracle and pitched 5.2 innings. During this outing he gave up three runs on seven hits. He walked one and struck out one to record his first loss of the year. Adrian Salcedo did well in relief by striking out three of the four batters he faced. Fort Myers will look to start a new winning streak as the team travels to Port St. Lucie for a three game set. Cedar Rapids Kernels --, Wisconsin Timber Rattlers -- (Postponed) The only thing slowing down Byron Buxton this spring has been the bad weather. Cedar Rapids had their game cancelled on Wednesday due to inclement weather. Since the Kernels and the Timber Rattlers don't play again in the first half of the MWL season, the game will not be made up. Cedar Rapids will now head out on the road for six games in Peoria and Burlington. Their next home action will be Thursday, April 25th when they open a six game home stand against Great Lakes and Lansing. With a 9-3 record the Kernels find themselves on top of the Western Division of the MWL. They are looking to keep the good juices flowing as they take a two game winning streak into their road trip. The addition of J.O. Berrios, the 32nd pick in last year's draft, should be a boost to the pitching staff.