Steve Lein

The Minnesota Twins pounded the Detroit Tigers on Friday night TWENTY to six, courtesy of twenty hits including nine for extra bases and four home runs. Eduardo Escobar was a double short of the cycle (which makes no sense…) and 5-6. Kennys Vargas had two doubles, and Oswaldo Arcia smashed his fourth home run (did it hit the Target Center?!) in his last six games. Danny Santana and Trevor Plouffe, back-to-back against Detroit infielder Andrew Romine, also went bombing. Good stuff. In the minors, a few affiliates also pounded out a bunch of hits, but were not quite able to put as many crooked numbers on the scoreboards. Check it out! Apologies in advance for the brevity, but I’m writing this way too early on Saturday morning and Twins Daily has this Pub Crawl thing today…maybe I’ll see you there? The Minnesota Twins pounded the Detroit Tigers on Friday night TWENTY to six, courtesy of twenty hits including nine for extra bases and four home runs. Eduardo Escobar was a double short of the cycle (which makes no sense…) and 5-6. Kennys Vargas had two doubles, and Oswaldo Arcia smashed his fourth home run (did it hit the Target Center?!) in his last six games. Danny Santana and Trevor Plouffe, back-to-back against Detroit infielder Andrew Romine, also went bombing. Good stuff. In the minors, a few affiliates also pounded out a bunch of hits, but were not quite able to put as many crooked numbers on the scoreboards. Check it out! Apologies in advance for the brevity, but I’m writing this way too early on Saturday morning and Twins Daily has this Pub Crawl thing today…maybe I’ll see you there? RED WINGS REPORT Game 1: Syracuse 2, Rochester 4 Box Score Rochester outhit Syracuse 16-6 in the first game of the double-header, but managed just four runs. Fortunately this was plenty enough, as the bullpen patched together 8.1 innings of one-run baseball after the postponement of Kris Johnson’s start yesterday. A.J. Achter pitched the first 3.1 innings, and was followed by Stephen Pryor who picked up his first win with the Twins organization. Lester Oliveros (how is he not back on the Twins yet?!) got four outs with two strikeouts. Michael Tonkin finished the game with 2.1 scoreless innings. Oliveros has now struck out forty-six hitters in thirty innings with Rochester. On offense, Josmil Pinto was had four singles in five at-bats, Chris Herrman added three singles and James Beresford two. Eric Farris was 3-4 with two doubles and two runs scored. Game 2: Syracuse 7, Rochester 0 (7 innings) Box score In the seven-inning game two, it was Logan Darnell on the mound, and he wasn’t able to make it through five innings. He allowed six earned runs on six hits and two walks in four innings, including two home runs. He struck out five. Deolis Guerra allowed a run in two innings and struck out three. The Red Wings managed only three hits in this one as they were blanked on the scoreboard, and two of the hits came off the bat of Farris. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 2, Altoona 7 Box Score Reynaldo Rodriguez (2-4, 2B, RBI) and Brandon Waring (2-3, BB) each had two hits, but Jorge Polanco (1-3, RBI) was the only other hitter in the lineup who tallied one. Adrian Salcedo made the start and got knocked around for two runs in the first and second innings, including surrendering the 19th home run of the season for Altoona slugger Stetson Allie. Daniel Turpen pitched three innings of relief but gave up three runs in the sixth, his last inning of the night. Ryan O’Rourke went two scoreless innings to finish the game, walking two. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 5, Charlotte 2 Box Score Matt Tomshaw picked up his team leading eleventh win, as he tossed seven innings of two run baseball. He scattered seven hits, walked no one and struck out five. Brandon Peterson and Zack Jones pitched scoreless frames, each striking out two. Jones tallied his second FSL save of the year. Leadoff hitter Aderlin Mejia was 4-5 and stole his 21st base and Jason Kanzler went 3-4 with a double, triple, three runs scored, and his 10th stolen base in just nineteen games with the Miracle. Travis Harrison picked up two RBIs with his 31st double of the year. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 8, Burlington 2 Box score The Kernels four runs in the second inning which would have would be enough, but they added three in the fourth and one in the fifth. Logan Wade paced the offense by going 2-4 with a triple and three RBIs. Max Murphy was 2-3 with a double. J.D. Williams added a double and Jonatan Hinojosa added another triple to the offensive effort. Ryan Eades was solid on the mound, pitching six innings and allowing just one earned run. He scattered five hits and struck out two. Jared Wilson allowed three hits and a run in 1.1 innings, while Chris Mazza finished the game by striking out all five men he faced. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 4, Pulaski 10 Box Score Despite outhitting the Mariners 14-8, the Twins were unable to scratch together a victory, as four errors led to seven unearned runs in the eighth inning, which they had started with a 4-3 lead. Felix Jorge was quality in his start, lasting 6.2 innings and allowing three earned runs on six hits, with six K’s. Cameron Booser had a rough go of it in the eighth inning, as two of the errors were his own. He did strike out two. Sam Clay recorded the final out for the Twins with a K. Jorge Fernandez (2-4, RBI), Tyler Kuresa (2-4), Trey Vavra (2-4, RBI), Alex Real (2-5) and T.J. White (2-4) all tallied multiple hits for the Twins. Brian Navaretto added the only extra-base hit on the night with a double in the ninth. GCL Twins Takes GCL Red Sox 3, GCL Twins 4 (11 innings) Box Score The Twins were able to walk this one off in extra innings, as a Jarrard Poteete single brought home Nelson Molina. They stole this one as the Red Sox outhit them 16-5. Bubal Baez (2-5, 2B), and Poteete (2-5, 2B, 3 RBI) each had two hits. Molina scored two of the four Twins runs. Miles Nordgren made the start, but ten hits and three earned runs ended his night after 4.2 innings. But it was Jhon Silva, Eduardo Del Rosario, and Trevor Hildenberger who combined to toss 7.1 scoreless innings to help salvage a team win. Silva struck out three in 3.1 innings The GCL Twins did have a second game scheduled, a makeup of a postponement from August 15th, but it was again unable to be played. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher – Matt Tomshaw, Fort Myers Miracle (7.0 IP, 2 ER’s, 7 H’s, 5 K’s) Hitter – Jason Kanzler, Fort Myers Miracle (3-4, 3 R’s, 2B, 3B, RBI) SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Scranton/Wilkes-Barre @ Rochester – Game 1: Mark Hamburger (3-4, 4.50 ERA), 3:35PM CST Scranton/Wilkes-Barre @ Rochester – Game 2: Sean Gilmartin (2-4, 4.36 ERA) New Britain @ Altoona – Virgil Vazquez (6-6, 4.09 ERA), 5:00 PM CST Fort Myers @ Charlotte - TBD, 5:00 PM CST Cedar Rapids @ Burlington – Chih-Wei Hu (6-1, 2.20 ERA), 6:30PM CST Elizabethton @ Pulaski – Derrick Penilla (4-4, 4.01 ERA), 6:00PM CST GCL Twins @ GCL Red Sox – Game 1: TBD, 9:00AM CST GCL Twins @ GCL Red Sox – Game 2: TBD DSL Orioles @ DSL Twins – TBD, 9:30AM CST View full article

The Minnesota Twins pounded the Detroit Tigers on Friday night TWENTY to six, courtesy of twenty hits including nine for extra bases and four home runs. Eduardo Escobar was a double short of the cycle (which makes no sense…) and 5-6, Kennys Vargas had two doubles, and Oswaldo Arcia smashed his fourth home run (did it hit the Target Center?!) in his last six games. Danny Santana and Trevor Plouffe (back-to-back after Arcia’s vs. Detroit infielder Andrew Romine) also went bombing. Good stuff. In the minors, a few affiliates also pounded out a bunch of hits, but were quite able to put as many crooked numbers on the scoreboards. Check it out! (apologies in advance for the brevity, but I’m writing this way too early on Saturday morning and Twins Daily has this Pub Crawl thing today…maybe I’ll see you there?) RED WINGS REPORT Game 1: Syracuse 2, Rochester 4 Box Score Rochester outhit Syracuse 16-6 in the first game of the double-header, but managed just four runs. Fortunately this was plenty, as the bullpen patched together 8.1 innings of one-run baseball after the postponement to Kris Johnson’s start yesterday. A.J. Achter pitched the first 3.1 innings, and was followed by Stephen Pryor who picked up his first win with the Twins organization. Lester Oliveros (how is he not back on the Twins yet?!) and Michael Tonkin finished the game with 2.1 scoreless innings. Oliveros has now struck out forty-six hitters in thirty innings with Rochester. On offense, Josmil Pinto was had four singles in five at-bats, Chris Herrman added three singles, and James Beresford two. Eric Farris was 3-4 with two doubles and two runs scored. Game 2: Syracuse 7, Rochester 0 (7 innings) Box score In the seven inning game two, it was Logan Darnell on the mound, and he wasn’t able to make it through five innings. He allowed six earned runs on six hits and two walks in four innings, including two home runs. He struck out five. Deolis Guerra allowed a run in two innings, and struck out three. The Red Wings managed only three hits in this one as they were blanked on the scoreboard, and two of them came off the bat of Farris. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 2, Altoona 7 Box Score Reynaldo Rodriguez (2-4, 2B, RBI) and Brandon Waring (2-3, BB) each had two hits, but Jorge Polanco (1-3, RBI) was the only other hitter in the lineup who tallied one. Adrian Salcedo made the start and got knocked around for two runs in the first and second innings, including surrendering the nineteenth home run of the season for Altoona slugger Stetson Allie. Daniel Turpen pitch three innings of relief, but gave up three runs in the sixth, his last inning of the night. Ryan O’Rourke went two scoreless innings to finish the game, walking two. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 5, Charlotte 2 Box Score Matt Tomshaw picked up his team leading eleventh win, as he tossed seven innings of two run baseball. He scattered seven hits, walked no one, and struck out five. Brandon Peterson and Zack Jones pitched scoreless frames, each striking out two. Jones tallied his second FSL save of the year. Leadoff hitter Aderlin Mejia was 4-5 and stole his 21st base, and Jason Kanzler went 3-4 with a double, triple, three runs scored, and his 10th stolen base in just nineteen games with the Miracle. Travis Harrison picked up two RBI’s with his 31st double of the year in the third inning. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 8, Burlington 2 Box score The Kernels four runs in the second inning would be enough, but also added three in the fourth and one in the fifth. Logan Wade paced the offense by going 2-4 with a triple and three RBI. Max Murphy was 2-3 with a double. J.D. Williams added a double and Jonatan Hinojosa added another triple to the offensive effort. Ryan Eades was solid on the mound, pitching six innings and allowing just one earned run. He scattered five hits and struck out two. Jared Wilson allowed three hits and a run in 1.1 innings, while Chris Mazza finished the game by striking out all five men he faced. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 4, Pulaski 10 Box Score Despite outhitting the Mariners 14-8, the Twins were unable to scratch together a victory, as four errors led to seven unearned runs in the eighth inning, which they started with a 4-3 lead. Felix Jorge was quality in his start, lasting 6.2 innings and allowing three earned runs on six hits, with six K’s. Cameron Booser had a rough go of it in the eighth inning, as two of the errors were his own. He did strike out two. Sam Clay recorded the final out for the Twins with a K. Jorge Fernandez (2-4, RBI), Tyler Kuresa (2-4), Trey Vavra (2-4, RBI), Alex Real (2-5), and T.J. White (2-4) all tallied multiple hits for the Twins. Brian Navaretto added the only extra base hit on the night with a double in the ninth. GCL Twins Takes GCL Red Sox 3, GCL Twins 4 (11 innings) Box Score The Twins were able to walk this one off in extra innings, as a Jarrard Poteete single brought home Nelson Molina. They stole this one as the Red Sox outhit them 16-5 in the game. Bubal Baez (2-5, 2B), and Poteete (2-5, 2B, 3 RBI) had two hits. Molina scored two of the four Twins runs. Miles Nordgren made the start, but ten hits and three earned runs ended his night after 4.2 innings. But it was Jhon Silva, Eduardo Del Rosario, and Trevor Hildenberger who combined to toss 7.1 scoreless innings to salvage a team win. Silva struck out three in 3.1 innings The GCL Twins did have a second game scheduled, a makeup of a postponement from August fifteenth, but it was again unable to be played. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher – Matt Tomshaw, Fort Myers Miracle (7.0 IP, 2 ER’s, 7 H’s, 5 K’s) Hitter – Jason Kanzler, Fort Myers Miracle (3-4, 3 R’s, 2B, 3B, RBI) SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Scranton/Wilkes-Barre @ Rochester – Game 1: Mark Hamburger (3-4, 4.50 ERA), 3:35PM CST Scranton/Wilkes-Barre @ Rochester – Game 2: Sean Gilmartin (2-4, 4.36 ERA) New Britain @ Altoona – Virgil Vazquez (6-6, 4.09 ERA), 5:00 PM CST Fort Myers @ Charlotte - TBD, 5:00 PM CST Cedar Rapids @ Burlington – Chih-Wei Hu (6-1, 2.20 ERA), 6:30PM CST Elizabethton @ Pulaski – Derrick Penilla (4-4, 4.01 ERA), 6:00PM CST GCL Twins @ GCL Red Sox – Game 1: TBD, 9:00AM CST GCL Twins @ GCL Red Sox – Game 2: TBD DSL Orioles @ DSL Twins – TBD, 9:30AM CST

-> http://twinsdaily.com/topic/11821-nick-burdi-2014/ Unfortunately, because Fort Myers is in the FSL playoffs, and since the Twins have literally zero reason to promote him, this won't happen.

I like that a few of the bombs lately have been on off-speed offerings. I think he's still essentially a "guess" hitter, but jacking curves and changeups shows an improvement in the pitch recognition regard.

And I love what Max Kepler has been doing. Steadily increasing his production over the last 3 months to now excellent status.

Nick Gordon currently has a 5 game hitting streak, during which he is 7-23 with a double, 3 RBI, and 5 runs scored. His 38 runs on the season lead the Elizabethton Twins, as do his 57 total hits, batting primarily from the 2-hole.

Burdi has now made four appearances for the Fort Myers Miracle, and picked up his first Florida State League save last night! In four innings, he's allowed just four hits and one walk, while striking out eight, with zero runs allowed. He's also hit one batter...hope it wasn't a fastball! With the Miracle already locked into a FSL playoff spot, Burdi should make around 5-7 more appearances this season. Omitting his first game, he's now thrown a total of 17 IP, with just two earned runs allowed (both in one game), on 12 Hits and just 5 walks, with 34 strikeouts. That's also a 1.05 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, and 18.0 K/9IP. Another way to describe this dominance is he's struck out 47.8% of the batters he's faced in the minors. For a comparative reference, Glen Perkins has struck out 28.6% of the batters he's faced this season in the majors. This is what people in the industry call "ri-DONK-ulous".

I wouldn't be worried about Thorpe. He's been very impressive, including the game I saw him and wrote about 2 weeks ago. He's going move up prospect lists for next year.

I hope you read more than just the title, because this was not an article about Mauer, it just included quotes from him referencing the relevant players I went to see! If there's any "love fest" herein, it's in relation to my prospect crushes on Lewis Thorpe and Nick Burdi!

I hate the "innings limit" stuff, only because not all "innings" are created the same or as stressful. Meyer has been pulled early several times in games he was cruising because of the "pitch limit" as well, which I don't agree with either. They should be situational, not hard limits. It's high pitch counts in an inning that are detrimental in my view. I like this analogy for it: If you go to a skeet-shooting range and are shooting a 12-guage, how does your shoulder feel if you fire 30 shots one-after-the other before stopping, compared to three sequences of 10 shots with breaks in between? The answer is your shoulder hurts like hell after 30, but is just fine with 3/10. It's the same thing to me with pitching. If a guy's thrown, say 20/25 or more pitches in multiple innings already during a game, than I'd consider taking him out a bit early. That means he's been laboring some. But if he's been tossing 10/15 pitches per inning, and it's the start of the seventh (so he's at around 80 pitches), I don't understand the need to pull them like they've been doing. Would this help at all with injuries? Who knows. But without looking at how they compare with other organizations, I'm not sure I'd label them as just "snakebitten" on the pitching front.

Other teams aren't going to completely "buy" the season Escobar has had so far. I'd call this a "selling medium" situation if one was looking to trade him. The acquiring team would hope he could keep it up, but not expect it and be satisfied if he turned into a utility piece, just like the Twins probably are now (and why I would keep him). I don't think that gets you much, probably not even enough in the Twins current situation to make it worthwhile (youth movement finally in progress).

I hope Stewart is just "tired," and I'd be more worried about something serious if there were drastic control problems tied in with a drop in velocity. But this does bring up a topic I know a bit about, and that is diabetes and what it can affect physically. It's a known fact we are more susceptible to problems with joints, and in particular, shoulders. Mine is basically shot from playing and throwing a baseball, and I'm barely over 30. I would think this should be far-less of an issue for a professional athlete who has access to all the strength and conditioning tools he could possibly need, but that also means he's throwing a baseball a heck of a lot more than I ever would. It's his first full season, and I think he's thrown a reasonable amount of innings already, so hopefully it's nothing, or just something that ends up pushing he and the team to realize they'll have to do extra work and maintenance to keep his arm in shape.

The Minnesota Twins and newcomer Tommy Milone were knocked around on Sunday afternoon in between the rain delays with myself in attendance, but the young guns in the lineup continued to provide me with some hope for the future. Danny Santana led off the game for the Twins with a triple to left center, Kennys Vargas had three hits on the day including his third home run, and Oswaldo Arcia launched his 11th home run of the season. In the minors, two affiliates completed series sweeps, two games went into extra innings and two finished in walk-off fashion. Check it out! Image courtesy of Justin Rinaldi, Rinaldi Photos The Minnesota Twins and newcomer Tommy Milone were knocked around on Sunday afternoon in between the rain delays with myself in attendance, but the young guns in the lineup continued to provide me with some hope for the future. Danny Santana led off the game for the Twins with a triple to left center, Kennys Vargas had three hits on the day including his third home run, and Oswaldo Arcia launched his 11th home run of the season. In the minors, two affiliates completed series sweeps, two games went into extra innings and two finished in walk-off fashion. Check it out! RED WINGS REPORT Game 1: Syracuse 5, Rochester 2 (10 innings) Box score After their rain postponement on Saturday, Logan Darnell made the start for the Red Wings in the first of two games. In 5.2 innings, the lefty allowed just two earned runs on three hits and three walks, while striking out three. What did him in was the long ball, as two of those hits went for solo home runs, including one from the first batter of the game. Lester Oliveros then came in to pitch 2.1 scoreless innings, with two strikouts. Mark Hamburger pitched into extra innings, but was saddled with the loss after giving up three runs (one unearned) in the tenth, after a walk, three consecutive singles and an error at the plate allowed the runs to score. The Red Wings had just five hits and three walks in the game, and were 0-9 with runners in scoring position. Chris Herrmann and Pedro Florimon each had two hits, with Herrmann collecting a double, his third home run of the season and he scored both of Rochester’s runs. Game 2: Syracuse 7, Rochester 3 (7 innings) Box Score Syracuse jumped all over starter Sean Gilmartin in the first inning and never looked back, as a grand slam contributed to six runners crossing the plate for the Chiefs. Gilmartin recovered to retire ten in row before a walk, double and intentional walk to load the bases ended his night in the fifth inning. A.J. Achter came on and allowed one inherited runner to score, but struck out three in two innings of relief. Michael Tonkin finished the shortened game with a scoreless inning, striking out two. Rochester outhit Syracuse 11-6 in the game, but were unable to string enough of them together to keep pace. Aaron Hicks was 2-4 with a double from the leadoff spot, while Josmil Pinto was 3-3 with a double and a walk from the 3-hole to lead the offense. ROCK CATS REVIEW Harrisburg 2, New Britain 7 Box Score Eddie Rosario got the Rock Cats on the board first in this one, when he slugged his sixth home run of the season in the third inning, a two-run shot with Levi Michael on-base after a leadoff single. They added five more runs in the seventh, when Jorge Polanco (RBI single), Corey Wimberly (bases-clearing triple) and Kyle Knudson (sacrifice fly) brought home ducks on the pond. Rosario (2-5), Mike Gonzalez (2-4), Reynaldo Rodriguez (2-3), Polanco (2-4), and Stephen Wickens (2-4 each had multiple hits. Tony Thomas and Gonzalez added doubles to the effort. It was Jason Wheeler on the mound for New Britain. He controlled the Harrisburg lineup for five innings, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out nine. He walked the first batter of the game, but struck out the next six. He struck out eight of the first eleven he faced and set down eight in a row before his exit after the fifth inning. He improved to 4-4 with the Rock Cats. Alex Wimmers struck out two more Senators in an inning of relief, while Cole Johnson, Ryan O’Rourke and Jim Fuller added three more K's in the final three innings for a total of fourteen for the pitching staff. O’Rourke surrendered the two Harrisburg runs in the eighth inning, but they weren’t enough to overcome the seventh inning outburst from the Red Wings as they completed the three game sweep. MIRACLE MATTERS Palm Beach 5, Fort Myers 6 (11 innings) Box Score The Miracle gave up leads in both the eighth and ninth innings of this one, but ended the game with some extra inning heroics from Adam Brett Walk[off] II, as he drove in Travis Harrison with a single in the eleventh to give Fort Myers the victory. Ethan Mildren made the start, and pitched five solid innings, allowing two runs as he scattered five hits and three walks. He struck out five. Zack Jones and Madison Boer combined to throw the next two scoreless innings, before Tyler Jones gave up the game-tying run in the eighth. Fort Myers was quick to take back the lead in the bottom half of the frame, as Tyler Grimes (single) and Jason Kanzler (double) got themselves into scoring position for Aderlin Mejia (sacrifice fly) and Niko Goodrum (RBI single), for a two run lead going into the ninth. D.J. Johnson then gave up two runs to blow the save opportunity and send the game into extra innings. Todd Van Steensel was next to pitch for the Miracle and picked up his first FSL win with two scoreless extra innings, walking two and striking out two. Seven of the nine hitters in the Miracle lineup collected multiple hits, as they tallied seventeen in the game. Stuart Turner, Grimes and Kanzler had doubles, while Mejia and Grimes each drove in two runs. Kanzler also stole two bases, giving him nine in sixteen games with Fort Myers. KERNELS NUGGETS Peoria 4, Cedar Rapids 5 Box score Cedar Rapids was also able to finish off a series sweep, winning their sixth game in a row, in [intentional] walk-off fashion on Sunday. With the game tied 4-4 with two out in the bottom of the ninth, a Logan Wade double, a wild pitch and a Chad Christensen walk put runners on first and third for Mitch Garver. Peoria pitcher Jacob Booden, who had entered the game in the eighth inning, then intended to put Garver on first base with an intentional walk, but misfired his first throw into the dirt and past the catcher, allowing Wade to race home for the win. The Kernels offense was led by Wade who was 3-5 on the day, with the ninth inning double and fifth inning home run to drive in three. Jonatan Hinojosa was 2-5 with a run scored. Garver was 2-4 with two doubles and a walk. Ryan Eades was on the mound and despite allowing three runs in the third inning, was able to finish six innings for Cedar Rapids. He allowed four runs on seven hits and two walks, with one strikeout. Hudson Boyd struck out two in two perfect innings, while Brian Gilbert was credited with the win after pitching a scoreless top of the ninth. E-TWINS E-NOTES Princeton 0, Elizabethton 11 Box Score Elizabethton scored early and often en route to the blowout of Princeton at home. A wild pitch in the first inning allowed Jermias Pineda to score the first run of the game, while singles from Trey Vavra and Alex Real brought home Nick Gordon and Tanner English for a 3-0 lead after three. Elizabethton then sent ten men to the plate in the fourth on their way to seven runs, punctuated by a three run home run from Brian Navaretto, his second of the year. Six hitters collected multiple hits for the Twins, including Pineda (2-5, 2 R’s, 2B, 3 RBI), Gordon (2-4, 2 RBI), English (2-4, BB, R, 2B), Vavra (3-5, R), Real (2-4, BB, R, RBI) and Austin Deimer (2-4, 2 R’s, 2B) as the team garnered fifteen hits. Derrick Penilla improved to 4-4 on the season with six shutout innings, scattering four hits and one walk, while striking out eight. Enigma Brandon Poulson pitched two scoreless innings of relief, allowing one hit and two walks with two K’s, while Randy LeBlanc finished the game with a scoreless inning. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher – Jason Wheeler, New Britain Rock Cats (5 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 R’s, 9 K’s) Hitter – Logan Wade, Cedar Rapids Kernels (3-5, 2 R’s, 2B, HR, 3 RBI) MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Syracuse @ Rochester – Mark Hamburger (3-3, 4.37 ERA), 6:05PM CST Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids – Chih-Wei Hu (5-1, 2.54 ERA), 6:35PM CST Princeton @ Elizabethton – John Curtiss (2-1, 0.84 ERA), 6:00PM CST GCL Twins @ GCL Orioles – TBD, 11:00AM CST DSL Twins @ DSL Padres – TBD, 9:30AM CST View full article

The Minnesota Twins and newcomer Tommy Millone were knocked around on Sunday afternoon in between the rain delays with myself in attendance, but the young guns in the lineup continued to provide me with some hope the future. Danny Santana led off the game for the Twins with a triple to left center, Kennys Vargas had three hits on the day including his third career home run, and Oswaldo Arcia launched his 11tth home run of the season. In the minors, two affiliates completed series sweeps, two games went into extra innings, and two finished in walk-off fashion. Check it out! RED WINGS REPORT Game 1: Syracuse 5, Rochester 2 (10 innings) Box score Logan Darnell made the start in the first of two games on the day for the Red Wings, after their rain postponement on Saturday. In 5.2 innings, the lefty allowed just two earned runs on three hits and three walks, while striking out three. What did him in was the long ball, as two of those hits went for solo home runs, including one from the first batter of the game. Lester Oliveros then came in to pitch 2.1 scoreless innings, with two strikouts. Mark Hamburger would pitch into the extra innings, but was saddled with the loss after giving up three runs in the tenth, after a walk and three consecutive singles, including one where an error on a play at the plate allowed a second runner to score. The Red Wings had just five hits and three walks in the game, and were 0-9 with runners in scoring position. Chris Herrmann and Pedro Florimon each had two hits, with Herrmann collecting a double, his third home run of the season, and scoring both of Rochester’s runs. Game 2: Syracuse 7, Rochester 3 (7 innings) Box Score Syracuse jumped all over starter Sean Gilmartin in the first inning and never looked back, as a grand slam contributed to six total runners crossing the plate for the Chiefs. Gilmartin would recover to retire ten in row before a walk, double, and intentional walk to load the bases ended his nigh in the fifth inning. A.J. Achter came on and allowed one inherited runner to score, but struck out three in two innings of relief. Michael Tonkin finished the shortened game with a scoreless inning, striking out two. Rochester outhit Syracuse 11-6 in the game, but were unable to string enough of them together to keep pace. Aaron Hicks was 2-4 with a double from the leadoff spot, while Josmil Pinto was 3-3 with a double and a walk from the 3-hole to lead the offense. ROCK CATS REVIEW Harrisburg 2, New Britain 7 Box Score Eddie Rosario got the Rock Cats on the board first in this one, when he slugged his sixth home run of the season in the third inning, a two-run shot with Levi Michael on-base after a leadoff single. They would add five more runs in the seventh, when Jorge Polanco (RBI single), Corey Wimberly (bases clearing triple), and Kyle Knudson (sacrifice fly) brought home ducks on the pond. Rosario (2-5), Mike Gonzalez (2-4), Reynaldo Rodriguez (2-3), Polanco (2-4), and Stephen Wickens (2-4 each had multiple hits. Tony Thomas and Gonzalez added doubles to the effort. It was Jason Wheeler on the mound for New Britain, and he controlled the Harrisburg lineup for five innings, allowing just one hit and one walk, while striking out nine. He walked the first batter of the game, but would strike out the next six batters, eight of the first eleven he faced, and set down eight in a row before his exit after the fifth inning. He improved to 4-4 with the Rock Cats on the season. Alex Wimmers struck out two more Senators in an inning of relief, while Cole Johnson, Ryan O’Rourke, and Jim Fuller added three more K’s in the final three innings for a total of fourteen for the pitching staff in the game. O’Rourke surrendered the two Harrisburg runs in the eighth inning, but they weren’t enough to overcome the seventh inning outburst from the Red Wings as they completed the three game sweep. MIRACLE MATTERS Palm Beach 5, Fort Myers 6 (11 innings) Box Score The Miracle gave up leads in both the eighth and ninth innings of this one, but ended the game with some extra inning heroics from Adam Brett Walk[off] II, as he drove in Travis Harrison with a single in the eleventh to give Fort Myers the victory. Ethan Mildren made the start, and pitched five solid innings, allowing just two runs as he scattered five hits and three walks. He struck out five. Zack Jones and Madison Boer would combine to throw the next two scoreless innings, before Tyler Jones gave up the first game tying run in the eighth. Fort Myers was quick to take back the lead in the bottom half of the frame, as Tyler Grimes (single) and Jason Kanzler (double) got themselves into scoring position for Aderlin Mejia (sacrifice fly) and Niko Goodrum (RBI single) for a two run lead going into the ninth that D.J. Johnson would give right back to blow the save opportunity. Todd Van Steensel was next to pitch for the Miracle, and picked up his first FSL win with two scoreless extra innings, walking two and striking out two. Seven of the nine hitters in the Miracle lineup collected multiple hits, as they tallied seventeen in the game. Stuart Turner, Grimes, and Kanzler had doubles, while Mejia and Grimes drove in two runs. Kanzler also stole two bases, giving him nine total in just sixteen games with Fort Myers. KERNELS NUGGETS Peoria 4, Cedar Rapids 5 Box score Cedar Rapids was also able to finish off a series sweep, and win their sixth game in a row, in [intentional] walk-off fashion on Sunday. With the game tied 4-4 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, a Logan Wade double and Chad Christensen walk put runners on first and third for Mitch Garver. Peoria pitcher Jacob Booden then intended to put Garver on first base with an intentional walk, but misfired his first throw into the dirt and past the catcher, allowing Wade to race home for the win. The Kernels offense was led by Wade who was 3-5 on the day, with the ninth inning double and fifth inning home run to drive in three. Jonatan Hinojosa was 2-5 with a run scored, and Garver was 2-4 with two doubles and a walk. Ryan Eades was on the mound and despite allowing three runs in the third inning, was able to finish six innings for Cedar Rapids. He allowed four total runs on seven hits and two walks, with one strikeout. Hudson Boyd struck out two in two perfect innings, while Brian Gilbert was credited with the win after pitching a scoreless top of the ninth. E-TWINS E-NOTES Princeton 0, Elizabethton 11 Box Score Elizabethton scored early then often en route to the blowout of Princeton at home. A wild pitch in the first inning allowed Jermias Pineda to score the first run of the game, while singles from Trey Vavra and Alex Real brought home Nick Gordon and Tanner English for a 3-0 lead after three. Elizabethton then sent ten men to the plate in the fourth on their way to seven runs, punctuated by a three run home run from Brian Navaretto, his second of the year. Six hitters collected multiple hits for the Twins, including Pineda (2-5, 2 R’s, 2B, 3 RBI), Gordon (2-4, 2 RBI), English (2-4, BB, R, 2B), Vavra (3-5, R), Real (2-4, BB, R, RBI) and Austin Deimer (2-4, 2 R’s, 2B) as they totaled fifteen hits in the game as a team. Derrick Penilla improved to 4-4 on the season with six shutout innings, scattering four hits and one walk, while striking out eight. Enigma Brandon Poulson pitched two scoreless innings of relief, allowing one hit and two walks with two K’s, while Randy LeBlanc finished the game with a scoreless inning. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher – Jason Wheeler, New Britain Rock Cats (5 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 R’s, 9 K’s) Hitter – Logan Wade, Cedar Rapids Kernels (3-5, 2 R’s, 2B, HR, 3 RBI) MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Syracuse @ Rochester – Mark Hamburger (3-3, 4.37 ERA), 6:05PM CST Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids – Chih-Wei Hu (5-1, 2.54 ERA), 6:35PM CST Princeton @ Elizabethton – John Curtiss (2-1, 0.84 ERA), 6:00PM CST GCL Twins @ GCL Orioles – TBD, 11:00AM CST DSL Twins @ DSL Padres – TBD, 9:30AM CST

Felix Jorge was also Baseball America's Pitcher of the Day!

I was able to be talked into taking a trip down to Cedar Rapids on Saturday to catch Joe Mauer playing with the Kernels. For this particular game they had a cool promotion, where it was “Jimmy Buffet Night,” complete with the Kernels wearing special jerseys, which were auctioned off after the game. Mauer’s took in $1,000. After the game, when told that was probably a record for the Kernels jersey auctions, beating Byron Buxton by $250, Mauer remarked, “I’m glad to raise some money. If I was down here and he was playing, I’d probably get his too.” I was able to be talked into taking a trip down to Cedar Rapids on Saturday to catch Joe Mauer playing with the Kernels. For this particular game they had a cool promotion, where it was “Jimmy Buffet Night,” complete with the Kernels wearing special jerseys, which were auctioned off after the game. Mauer’s took in $1,000. After the game, when told that was probably a record for the Kernels jersey auctions, beating Byron Buxton by $250, Mauer remarked, “I’m glad to raise some money. If I was down here and he was playing, I’d probably get his too.” That was pretty cool to see, but my particular interest in this game was tied to a couple of the Kernels’ pitchers. Lewis Thorpe, who made the start and picked up his third victory of the year, and Nick Burdi who closed out the ninth inning for his fourth save. Thorpe has been heralded as perhaps the best prospect to ever come out of Australia, and acknowledged by several outlets coming into the year as a guy who could move up prospect lists pretty quickly. Armed with a four pitch mix and extreme willingness to work hard and improve his game and his body (he added about 50 lbs and 5+MPH to his frame and velocity last season), Thorpe is definitely a pitcher to keep a close eye on, and one to not forget among the glut of pitching talent the Minnesota Twins now seem to possess. Asked to describe his arsenal of pitches after the game, Thorpe gave a pretty good scouting report on himself, “My go to pitch is mostly my fastball and changeup. And now, the curveball and slider have picked up astonishingly. I can throw those pitches now where I want them, they’re nice and hard, and good sharp break.” If you go by the “+2” rule everybody in the know talks about with the Veteran Memorial Stadium radar gun, Thorpe sat 91-93MPH all night with his fastball (from the windup and stretch), and touched 95. His curveball was sharp and came in around 75, while the changeup sat around 80 and the slider at 84. I though everything looked great and when I asked him what he thought he did well and what was working for him in the game, he agreed. “I think everything was working tonight. Just down in the zone, throwing it where I wanted to throw it at times I needed to throw it. Just regrouping and getting those low strikes. Everything was working tonight.” Even Mauer noted his effectiveness, “Threw the ball well. His curveball looks pretty nasty, mixing speeds. Second start I’ve seen him throw and he was pretty good today.” He retired the first seven batters of the game, before a low line drive single snuck between the shortstop and third baseman in the third inning. It wouldn’t matter much, as Thorpe paid close attention to the runner at first, and it paid off as he nabbed him with a quick throw. “Pretty good pickoff move I found out first hand,” Mauer would also add. Thorpe didn’t record his first K of the night until the last out of the third inning, but nobody had come close to squaring him up to that point. There were two weak infield line drives along with a tapper back at him on the mound in the first, then two easy ground balls including a broken bat and then another tapper to him in the second. It was the fourth inning when Thorpe really started to dial it in, as in each of the next three innings he picked up two of the outs via K’s. In the fourth, it was two swinging strikeouts on fastballs at 92 and 93, and the two in the sixth were swinging K’s on a nice changeup and a dirty curveball. Like he said, everything was working for him. Needless to say, Thorpe had control of the game for all his six innings, in which he allowed just four hits and two walks, while striking out seven. An unearned run scored in the fifth, the only one I didn’t chart (you can blame me, Lewis), after the inning was started with the only loud contact of the night against him, a double from Kane County’s Jeffrey Baez to left field. He came around to score after Thorpe misfired his throw toward Mauer at first base on the next hitter’s bunt attempt. Unfazed and quick to refocus, he proceeded to strike out the next two batters to end the inning. When asked about that sequence and how he felt in those situations, Thorpe remarked, “I’m calm. I clear myself off. I need to get myself back in the zone, throw strikes. Lost it for a couple of those batters, found myself down to that lefty, but got a good strikeout out of that.” Dallas Gallant came on in relief for the seventh inning, but six innings was all it would take for Thorpe to leave me with a good impression. While being chauffeured around the Kernel’s facilities after he was done, a friend (of mine and Twins Daily) asked what I thought of Thorpe’s outing. I pondered the question for a moment, trying to think of the right word, but it wasn’t hard. “I was impressed.” With the opportunity that was presented to chat with Thorpe post game, I also asked if he had any specific goals going into the end of the year, and what he was going to work on in the offseason. “Get stronger is a big key now. Work hard in the offseason, and if I go to instructs, probably the most likely, work on my mechanics more and make sure I have them all down pat so I don’t lose focus. That’s going to be a big key for me this year working into the offseason.” I also asked if he had picked up anything from Mauer or Ricky Nolasco while they had been around, and he was glowing in praise of the Twins rehabbers. "Just the way they act around the clubhouse. Both those guys are so good to us. They talk to us, teach us, having their presence around is amazing. I love having [them] around, but they're not going to be here for much longer. They're going to go back up with Minnesota and do their thing up there." After Gallant finished the eighth, it was the next pitcher, 2014 second round fireballer Nick Burdi, who intrigued me. I was quick to go back and find my seat behind home plate to take in the action. The first pitch of his outing registered 98 on the scoreboard, which as mentioned above, would equate to 100MPH with a properly calibrated gun. It was bounced to second base for an easy 4-3 putout. The fastball to start the next hitter came up as 99 (101) on the board, and the third pitch of this at-bat was the first slider of his outing, clocked at 89 (91) though taken low and away for a ball. It was then a 94MPH (96) fastball that was sent down the left field line for a double, and a game-tying threat from Kane County. The next sequence from Burdi was the most telling for me and his future MLB prospects, however. A three pitch K, in which he used every bullet in his gun. It was started with a 94 MPH (96) heater for strike one, followed by an 86 MPH (88) swing-and-miss slider for strike two, and finally an 87 MPH (89) changeup that froze the batter as it darted down on the outside corner for strike three and a looking-K. Nasty, nasty stuff. In fact, take a look for yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hS9Z49Y4cY&feature=youtu.be The final batter of the game took a slider for strike one, before popping out to the catcher just behind home plate on a fastball to end the game. If you ignore Burdi’s now irrelevant Midwest League debut, he has appeared in twelve games, thirteen innings pitched, with just eight hits, four walks and two earned runs allowed, while racking up twenty six strikeouts. Mauer was even asked if he would like to grab a bat and stand in against Burdi, he laughed. “I’ve seen it before. Not from him, but he’s got a great arm and I imagine I’ll probably see him pretty soon.” One can hope, Joe. View full article

Gordon has continued to hover right around a .300 batting average since the last update. In his last ten games going back to July 27th, he has hit .297/.325/500, with 2 doubles and a triple, and 5 RBI. In two of his last three games he's collected 3 hits. For his debut season, he is now batting .298/.341/.385. Not too shabby!

I miss playing in Town Ball parks too, A.J. This was great!

Burdi was promoted to Fort Myers on Sunday, as reported by Darren Wolfson over on the Twitter machine. And here's the video I promised, since I've figured it out how to post it now! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hS9Z49Y4cY

I was in Cedar Rapids on Saturday night to catch Joe Mauer, Lewis Thorpe, and Nick Burdi in action for the Kernels. For details on the game and performances of Thorpe and Burdi, be sure to check out my post: http://twinsdaily.com/blog/15/entry-5310-color-me-and-joe-mauer-impressed-by-lewis-thorpe-and-nick-burdi/ Lots of direct quotes from Mauer on those guys in there, and I also chatted with Thorpe. Good times! If I could figure out how to post a video here, I will do so as well. Have the 3-pitch K from Burdi on tape.