Tom Froemming

Thank you. Happy to hear people are enjoying these. Definitely gives me fuel to keep rolling.

In 19 starts he has a 2.15 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and 6.0 K:BB ratio. He's holding opposing hitters to a .221/.257/.333 line (.590 OPS). Personally, I don't care if he's 24 or 34, that kind of performance certainly demands some attention. This is his first full professional season, so it doesn't seem all that weird he's in Cedar Rapids. In fact, the prospect handbook projected him to spend most of this season in EST/E-Town. Being a 33rd rounder as a fifth-year senior, no, it's not likely he'll skyrocket up the prospect rankings, but I would still consider him a "real" prospect.

What planet is Bartolo Colon from? Seriously? Because there’s no way he’s an earthling. Colon, a 44-year-old man pushing 300-pounds who pumps 90 mph fastballs up to the plate, pitched a complete game for the Twins in a much-needed victory. And it was a fun one.Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WinEx84.png How great is baseball? We have giants like Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. We have little guys like Jose Altuve and Mookie Betts. And we have extraterrestrial pitchers like Bartolo Colon. Colon’s previous current season high in innings was 7.0, and the longest he had gone in his three starts with the Twins was 6.1 innings. He had also thrown over 100 pitches just once this season, way back on April 21. Tonight he threw 106, 78 of them for strikes. Colon got off on the wrong foot, giving up two runs in the first inning. But Brian Dozier popped an opposite field leadoff homer and Robbie Grossman added a three-run shot in the bottom of the first to give Big Sexy new life. From innings 2-8, Colon held the Rangers to one run and gave up just five hits. Carlos Gomez cracked a solo homer with two outs in the ninth inning, but all that really did was add more drama. Just when you thought there was no way Bartolo was going to make it, he coaxed a ground ball that Joe Mauer made a great play on for the final out. Twins W-L Record Overall: 52-54 (.491) Last 10: 3-7 (.300) Last 20: 7-13 (.350) Last 40: 18-22 (.450) Last 80: 38-42 (.475) Defensive Lineups Here’s a look at the starting lineups from the past seven games: Download attachment: Lineups84.png Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Pen84.png Looking Ahead Saturday: Twins (Kyle Gibson) vs. Texas (Cole Hamels), 6:10 pm CT Hamels is coming off a strong July in which he posted a 3.66 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and 4.57 K:BB ratio over six starts. Joe Mauer is 0 for 12 with no walks and three strikeouts against Hamels. Gibson was excellent in his three starts down in Triple A. He had a 2.08 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 23 strikeouts over 17.1 innings pitched. A lot people point to the first pitch being a big key for Kyle, which is certainly true, but he also needs to do a better job getting the first batter of each inning out. Batters who leadoff an inning are hitting .315/.394/.598 (.992 OPS) off Gibson this season. Sunday: Twins (Jose Berrios) vs. Texas (Nick Martinez) Next Series: Twins host the Brewers in a two-game series before heading to Milwaukee for two games. Click here to view the article

Clark Beeker threw 8.2 shutout innings for Cedar Rapids tonight, extending his scoreless streak to 25.2 innings. It was in an epic pitcher’s duel, which the Kernels unfortunately lost 2-0 in 10 innings. Find out everything that happened in the Twins minor league system on Friday.RED WINGS REPORT Game 1: Syracuse 2, Rochester 1 (7 innings) Box Score Dietrich Enns’ Minnesota org debut will go down as a complete game. Sure, it was only a six-inning outing, but it still counts. Enns, whom the Twins acquired from the Yankees in the (second) Jaime Garcia trade, gave up two runs on seven hits and two walks. He struck out four. Niko Goodrum hit his 22nd double of the year and drew a walk. Engelb Vielma hit his eighth two-bagger since being called up from Chattanooga. Daniel Palka was 1-for-2 with a walk. Both managers got ejected from this one, in separate incidents/innings and even by different umpires. Had to make it a little awkward to go back out there for Game 2. Game 2: Rochester 3, Syracuse 2 (7 innings) Box Score Mitch Garver was 2-for-3 with a double and sparked the game-winning rally. With the score tied in the top of the seventh (and final) inning, Garver hit a leadoff single. That was followed by a Leonardo Reginatto double. Consecutive walks by Niko Goodrum and J.B. Shuck forced in the go-ahead run. Nik Turley got off to a great start, striking out three batters in three scoreless innings, but a rain delay knocked him out of the game. Drew Rucinski gave up two runs over 2.1 innings. Jake Reed pitched 1.2 scoreless innings for his first win of the season. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 3, Jackson 1 Box Score Nick Gordon hit his eighth home run and Stephen Gonsalves pitched 6.2 shutout innings to help lift the Lookouts to victory. Gordon also stole his 13th base and drew a walk. He has five more homers than he’s ever hit in a season, and both his current OBP (.357) and slugging percentage (.431) would represent career highs by a large margin. Gonsalves has been incredibly consistent this season. Tonight was his 13th start. You know how many times he’s given up four runs? Zero. Tonight was just his second scoreless outing, however, and the second consecutive game he’s pitched into the seventh inning. Third baseman T.J. White has also been essential to the special season Chattanooga is putting together. He was 2-for-2 tonight with a double, a homer and two walks. Max Murphy also had a pair of hits. Todd Van Steensel continued his excellent season by striking out a pair of batters over 1.1 scoreless innings. Gabriel Moya, recently acquired in the John Ryan Murphy trade, gave up a solo homer, but managed to earn the save. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 5, Jupiter 0 Box Score Lewis Thorpe struck out nine batters over five shutout innings. He gave up just two hits and walked three. Thorpe threw 97 pitches on the night, 59 for strikes, as he lowered his ERA to 2.79 on the season. The nine K's was a season high, and Thorpe has now racked up 64 strikeouts in 58.0 innings this season. Here’s what Thorpe told Seth Stohs of Twins Daily after his outing: “Slider was working tonight. And the fastball. It wasn't really the plan but in the first two innings we figured out they were gonna be aggressive.” The K's kept coming, as Michael Theofanopoulos had four over his two innings and Williams Ramirez had three over his two frames. So it was a 16-strikeout game for the Miracle pitching staff. Plus, catcher Kevin Garcia was 2-for-4 with a couple of RBI. Nelson Molina was 1-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored. This was a huge win for Fort Myers, as it put them a half game in front of Jupiter for the Flordia State League South division lead. After finishing the first half two games under .500, the Miracle are 25-16 so far in the second half. KERNELS NUGGETS Kane County 2, Cedar Rapids 0 (10 innings) Box Score Clark Beeker was phenomenal, as he’s been all season for the Kernels. The Davidson product pitched 8.2 shutout innings, striking out seven without issuing a walk. He gave up four hits, all singles. He gave up a two-out single in the top of the ninth after he had surpassed the 100-pitch mark, so it seemed logical that was as far as he was going to pitch in this one. This was the 24-year-old’s third-straight scoreless start. He pitched a complete game shutout on July 29 after throwing six shutout innings in July 23. Unfortunately, Cedar Rapids just couldn’t get anything going offensively. Seth also found time to catch up with Beeker tonight, here’s what he had to say about his marvelous performance: “The game plan was very similar, mix in all counts and use the changeup early to set up the fastball later in at-bats. It was the third time facing these guys so I had a decent idea of how I wanted to pitch some of their hitters. I'd be lying if I said I completely ignored the scoreless streak, but I try not to think too much about it. I just know if I put up scoreless innings, it gives our team the best chance to win and keeps the bullpen fresh.” Colton Davis gave up a couple of runs in the top of the 10th inning, but it appeared for a moment the Kernels might mount a comeback. Ben Rortvedt drew a leadoff walk. After Trey Cabbage struck out, Hank Morrison hit a deep fly out to center field. Jordan Gore singled, but Rortvedt was thrown out at the plate for the game’s final out. That run wouldn’t have mattered much, so it was a bit of a head-scratcher. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 10, Burlington 5 Box Score Catcher Robert Molina had a big game, going 3-for-5 with a double, two runs and an RBI. Akil Baddoo was on base four times, hitting two singles to go with a pair of walks. Multi-hit games also came from Shane Carrier, J.J. Robinson, Ariel Montesino and T.J. Dixon. Brusdar Graterol, who turns just 19 later this month, picked up his first Appy League victory, giving up a pair of runs over five innings. He struck out three batters. Randy Dobnak, who was recently signed out of the United Shore League, earned the save by throwing the final four innings. He gave up three runs and struck out five. E-Town improved to 27-15 on the season, extending their lead in the Appy League West to 4.5 games. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 9, GCL Red Sox 8 Box Score Jean Carlos Arias, a 19-year-old Dominican center fielder, was 3-for-4 with a triple, a walk, two runs scored and an RBI. Emmanuel Morel, Benjamin Rodriguez, Alex Robles and Jared Atkins all had two hits a piece. Rodriguez drove in three runs. Altogether, the Twins had 14 hits, eight walks and stole five bases. They were also 8-for-17 with runners in scoring position. Royce Lewis had his second-straight three walk game, stole his 11th base (in 13 attempts) and scored a pair of runs. He’s now played 30 games. He has 32 hits, 16 walks and 34 runs scored. Lewis’ slash line is .291/.405/.445 (.850 OPS). Carlos Suniaga started and gave up two runs (one earned) over five innings. The Twins built an 8-4 lead before their bullpen sputtered a bit, letting the Red Sox back in this game. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Clark Beeker, Cedar Rapids (8.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K) Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: T.J. White, Chattanooga (2-for-2, HR, 2B, 2 BBs SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester at Syracuse, 6:05 pm CT, David Hurlbut (3.34 ERA, 1.33 WHIP) Chattanooga vs. Jackson, 6:15 pm CT, Zack Littell (3.00 ERA, 1.33 WHIP) Fort Myers vs. Jupiter, 5:05 pm CT, Anthony McIver (2.32 ERA, 1.40 WHIP) Cedar Rapids at Wisconsin, 6:35 pm CT, Anthony Marzi (2.27 ERA, 0.95 WHIP) Elizabethton vs. Burlington, 5:00 pm CT, Bailey Ober (0.00 ERA, 0.55 WHIP) GCL Twins vs, GCL Red Sox, 9:00 am CT, TBD Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Friday's games. Click here to view the article

Dozier last 37 PAs: .135/.135/.243 Buxton last 37 PAs: .353/.389/.500 I dunno, letting Buxton lead off for a few games may be an interesting way to try and jump start the dragging offense.

Well, I believe started these when they were out in Seattle. They had a 29-24 record at that point. So, looks like they're 22-31 since ... sorry

The Twins managed just three hits and Joey Gallo blasted a three-run homer for Texas. That about says it all. Adalberto Mejia lasted just four innings, but that was in part due to the fact that his teammates made a couple of crucial misplays.Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WinEx83.png Brian Dozier and Max Kepler, the top two batters in tonight’s order, have both really been struggling of late. Dozier was 0 for 4 tonight, and is now 5 for 37 (.135) since the start of that West Coast road trip with 13 strikeouts and no walks. Kepler, 0 for 3 tonight, is now 11 for 66 (.167) since the All-Star break. It was a weird night for Mejia. He walked the first batter of the game, then gave up back-to-back singles, putting Texas up 1-0 before the Twins even recorded an out. But then just like that, Adalberto struck out the next five batters he faced. After a 30-pitch first frame, Mejia faced the minimum in both the second and third innings. Things got messy in the fourth, however, as his defense misplayed a couple of balls. After retiring the leadoff man, Mejia gave up a “double” to Mike Napoli that bounced out of a sliding Eddie Rosario’s glove. Baseball Savant had the hit probability on that ball at just three percent. Twins Record Overall: 51-55 (.481) Last 10: 2-8 (.200) Last 20: 6-14 (.300) Last 40: 17-23 (.425) Last 80: 37-43 (.463) A couple of big stories to follow over these final two months will be who is playing shortstop and how young players like Zack Granite are being used. Things will get even more interesting once rosters expand. With that in mind, these game recaps will also include some info on recent starting lineups. Enjoy. Defensive Lineups Here's a look at the starting lineups from the past seven games: Download attachment: Lineups83.png Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Pen83.png Looking Ahead Friday: Twins (Bartolo Colon) vs. Texas (Martin Perez), 7:10 pm CT In four second-half starts, Perez has a 7.03 ERA and 1.52 WHIP. But the southpaw has great numbers against current Twins hitters, holding them to a .189/.267/.208 line over 61 PAs. As a team, the Twins have a .697 OPS vs. LHP. League average is .744. Colon is coming off his best start as a Twin, having held the A's to three runs over 6.1 IP. Adrian Beltre, who recently recorded his 3,000th hit, has an .844 OPS and six homers off Colon over his career. Saturday: Twins (Kyle Gibson) vs. Texas (Cole Hamels) Sunday: Twins (TBD) vs. Texas (Nick Martinez) Next Series: Twins host the Brewers in a two-game series before heading to Milwaukee for two games. Click here to view the article

I'm going to see how long this can last. My prediction for tomorrow: Don't Need a Closer When You Hit 5 HRs

Ervin Santana pitched his fifth complete game of the season and set a new season high with nine strikeouts. He also delivered at the dish, driving in a pair of runs. Word is he’s also going to prepare a five course meal for the entire team, fly the jet back to Minneapolis and serve as a one-man grounds crew to prepare Target Field for tomorrow’s game. Ok, those last three things weren’t true, but it seems like the guy can do it all.Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WinEx82.png What a performance. Santana gave up two runs on four hits and a walk. He lived in the strike zone all game, throwing 82 of his 110 pitches on the day for strikes. But that wasn’t all. Santana also did something that has been seemingly impossible for the regular lineup to do. He got a hit with two outs and the bases loaded. With the game scoreless in the top of the second inning, Ervin chopped a two-run single past the first baseman. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Pen82.png Looking Ahead Thursday: Twins (Adalberto Mejia) vs. Texas (A.J. Griffin), 7:10 pm CT Griffin will be making his first start off the DL. His last outing was May 27. He’s been recovering from an intercostal strain. The right-hander has only made eight starts in 2017, posting a 5.77 ERA. He’s served up an eye-popping 12 home runs over just 39.0 innings (2.8 HR/9). You’d usually expect a 24-year-old rookie to be inconsistent, but Mejia hasn’t given up more than four runs in eight straight starts. In five starts during July, Big Bert had a 3.49 ERA and 2.75 K:BB ratio. He still hasn’t found that Ervin-like knack for pitching deep into games (to be fair, who has?), but if that’s our biggest concern, that’s a pretty great situation to be in. Friday: Twins (Bartolo Colon) vs. Texas (Martin Perez) Saturday: Twins (TBD) vs. Texas (Cole Hamels) Sunday: Twins (TBD) vs. Texas (Nick Martinez) Next Series: Twins host the Brewers in a two-game series before heading to Milwaukee for two games. Click here to view the article

Jose Berrios was outstanding, carrying a no-hitter into the sixth inning, but the Twins offense got shut out for just the second time all season. The bats could muster only three hits, all of them singles, to go along with a pair of walks. The bright side: At least one of the base knocks came from Byron Buxton, who was playing his first game back off the DL.Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WinEx81.png This was an encouraging night for Berrios and Buxton, which in the big picture is really what’s important for the remainder of this season. Berrios gave up just one run over 7.0 two-hit innings. He walked two and struck out four, throwing just 75 pitches, 46 for strikes. If this was an AL game, there’s little doubt Jose would have gone out for the eighth inning, but he was pinch hit for as the leadoff man in the eighth inning. Paul Molitor has been an easy target of late, but I think that’s a move that had to be made in a 1-0 game at the time. Along with going 1-for-3, Buxton also stole his 17th base of the season. Eduardo Escobar was a bright spot as well, going 1-for-2 with a pair of walks. Zack Granite had a rough night at the plate, hitting into two double plays, but he also made a nice catch at the wall in left field. Joe Mauer made the play of the game with this sweet over the shoulder basket catch. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Pen81.png Wednesday Twins (Ervin Santana) at San Diego (Luis Perdomo), 2:40 pm CT Over his last five starts, Perdomo has given up 21 runs in 25.1 innings, though only 15 of those were earned (5.33 ERA). The right-hander has yielded an .895 OPS and has a 15:9 K:BB ratio over that same stretch. Lefties have hit .331/.407/.494 (.901 OPS) off him this season. Santana followed a terrible June with a more respectable, yet still uninspiring July. In four starts he had a 4.68 ERA and 1.40 WHIP. Through his first 11 starts, Erv had a 1.75 ERA. In his 10 starts since, his ERA is 5.46. Click here to view the article

Great, great stuff. Awesome, super valuable information. Thank you, thank you, thank you. There will be a lot of tough decisions, but the front office has had a great grasp on the market so far, successfully slipping Park and Melotakis through waivers. I'd love to see some of the guys on the fringe who are in their mid- to late-20s get a look in the bigs before the end of this season.

My only disappointment is there wasn't a stronger market out there for Kintzler. The front office clearly played hardball to try and get the absolute max for him, waiting until the very final minutes, but there was no desperate mystery team that ever emerged. What can you do?

Another really poor baseball decision I forgot to mention originally was when Max Kepler ran into an out at third base. With the score tied and one out in the top of the ninth, Kepler was on second base when Miguel Sano sent a chopper to third. Kepler broke to third and was easily tagged out. I don't know if maybe Kepler thought he could beat the third baseman to the bag or if he thought there were two outs already (he entered the game as a pinch runner) or what, but that was a terrible play on his part in a huge situation. Just a lot of bad baseball all around for the Twins of late.

For the second-straight night, the Twins blew a lead and were thwarted by Oakland thanks to a walk-off homer. Yonder Alonso played the hero this time, blasting a homer off Tyler Duffey to win it in the 12th inning. This was the Twins last opportunity to make a positive impression on the front office prior to the trade deadline.Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WinEx630.png The Twins built up a 5-0 lead early but, once again, they failed to tack on. Taylor Rogers, who gave up the walk-off homer last night, came in to pitch the eighth today. He got the first two batters he faced out before issuing a four-pitch walk. Oakland pinch hit Rajai Davis, who just so happened to be the guy who hit that walk-off homer off Rogers Saturday night, and he delivered a clutch single. Rogers was lifted for Ryan Pressly, who gave up a game-tying double to Matt Chapman. In a situation that clearly called for a no-doubles defense (game-tying run at first base with two outs), left fielder Eddie Rosario was inexplicably playing in. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Pen730.png Monday Off The Twins get to spend another day off in California tomorrow. Not a bad deal. Tuesday evening they’ll open a quick two-game series at San Diego. Jose Berrios is scheduled to start against Jhoulys Chacin. The big news, of course, is the upcoming trade deadline, which is Monday at 3 pm CT. Be sure to be refreshing Twins Daily often, as we’ll keep you updated on any rumors or trade news between now and then. Click here to view the article

Brandon Kintzler was unavailable, so it was up to Taylor Rogers to protect a one-run lead. It would have been his first professional save on any level … would have been. Rogers walked the leadoff man, then gave up a walk-off homer to the next batter, Rajai Davis. Cleveland extended its winning streak to nine games, though the Royals’ winning streak was snapped. The Twins are seven games back in the division and four back in the wild card race.Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WinEx729.png Oakland struck first in this one, but the Twins built a 4-1 lead by the top of the fifth inning. The A’s climbed back into it by scoring a run on a two-out single in the fifth and a two-out solo homer in the eighth. Rogers came in to bail out Buddy Boshers, who gave up that homer, and recorded the final out of the eighth inning. He opened the ninth by getting up 0-2 on Adam Rosales, but eventually walked him. Then Davis blasted a 1-0 pitch into the night to finish off the Twins. This was Rogers’ fourth-straight appearance allowing a run. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Pen729.png Sunday Twins (Bartolo Colon) at Oakland (Jharel Cotton), 3:05 pm CT Sonny Gray was originally scheduled to start this game. He’s the hottest name on the trade market right now, so it’s no surprise to see the A’s opt not to roll him out there right before the deadline. Instead, the Twins will face Cotton in his first start since July 7 (blister). Cotton has struggled in 14 starts this year, posting a 5.17 ERA Colon has given up seven runs on 16 hits in his 9.0 innings pitched for the Twins over two starts. Bartolo spent the 2012 & 2013 seasons with the A’s, and has outstanding numbers at the Coliseum. In 224.1 innings, Colon has a 2.93 ERA and 1.10 WHIP in Oakland. Click here to view the article

Byron Buxton, whose walk-up song is Mark Morrison’s 1996 hit “Return of the Mack,” made a triumphant return to Rochester. He opened his rehab assignment by slugging a lead-off homer, then helped spark a game-winning rally in extra innings. Also tonight, Royce Lewis picked up two more hits, Fernando Romero dazzled, Gabriel Moya impressed in his Twins org debut, Tim Melville struck out 11 batters and Joe Cronin had a big game.Find out everything that happened in the Twins minor league system on Friday. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 5, Toledo 1 (10 innings) Box Score Buxton popped the leadoff homer and Red Wings starter Tim Melville had a no-hitter through 4.2 innings, but Rochester couldn’t muster any more offense. Melville eventually gave up a run in the seventh, and the game went into extras. Buxton led off the 10th with a single, and after Mitch Garver struck out, Matt Hague singled to advance Byron to second. Niko Goodrum struck out, but ByungHo Park delivered the go-ahead hit, a two-run double. The Wings added two more runs, as Daniel Palka tripled and Tommy Field hit a single. Melville was marvelous, striking out 11 batters over 7.0 innings in this one. He lowered his ERA to 2.44 over his 48 innings with the Red Wings. He was pitching with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League earlier this year. Mason Melotakis pitched two perfect innings to pick up the W. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 7, Birmingham 2 Box Score Jonathan Rodriguez, who has a strong case to be the Southern League MVP this season, had yet another great night. The 27-year-old hit his 15th homer and 24th double of the season on a three-hit night in which he also scored three runs. Rodriguez entered the evening as the league leader in OPS by 21 points. The Twins signed Rodriguez as a minor league free agent over the winter. Fernando Romero went five innings yet again tonight, but it may not have been due to any kind of limits this time. There was a rain delay in the middle of the fifth, so it was a logical point to call it a night for the 22-year-old Dominican sensation. As we’ve come to expect at this point, Romero was outstanding. He struck out nine batters and surrendered one run on just three hits while issuing one walk. Gabriel Moya, acquired from Arizona for Joh Ryan Murphy, made his Twins organization debut. He struck out the side in the eighth inning and walked a batter. Nick Anderson pitched a perfect ninth, striking out two. Nick Gordon hit a double, drew a walk and scored a run. He also made a throwing error, his 21st error of the season. (UPDATE The official scorer has changed that play to a hit, so Gordon is still at 20 errors.) Fun fact: the Southern League record for errors in a season by a shortstop is 56. The player? Former Twins center fielder Otis Nixon in 1981. Andy Wilkins, Ryan Walker and Levi Michael all had two-hit games. T.J White hit a bases-clearing triple. Catcher Brian Navarreto hit his first career homer at the Double A level. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 2, Lakeland 0 Box Score Brady Anderson turned in a terrific start, the Fort Myers bullpen dominated and the offense manufactured a pair of runs. Anderson gave up five hits and a walk over 5.2 innings while striking out three batters. Andrew Vasquez, who has dominated like very few other pitchers in all of minor league baseball this season, struck out four batters over 2.1 innings of one-hit ball. He’s now pitched 23.2 scoreless innings for the Miracle, and has 38 Ks against just four walks. Sam Clay finished things off in the ninth, striking out the side for his eighth save. Tanner English had a great game out of the leadoff spot. He drew three walks, stole second base twice and scored a run. The Miracle scored their runs on an error on a pickoff throw and a sacrifice fly. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 6, Peoria 3 Box Score Shortstop Joe Cronin hit a three-run homer and ended the night 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored. That led a big offensive night for the Kernels, as Trey Cabbage also had three hits and Caleb Hamilton, Christian Cavaness and Gorge Munoz each had two hits. Domenick Carlini gave up three runs, one earned, over 5.0 innings. Ryan Madson was the first man out of the bullpen, and threw 3.0 scoreless innings, giving up a couple of hits while tallying three strikeouts. Hector Lujan earned his 10th save with a scoreless ninth inning. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 5, Princeton 1 (Game 1, 7 innings) Box Score Bryan Sammons, the Twins eighth-round pick in this year’s draft, pitched 5.0 shutout innings. He gave up three hits, struck out six and didn’t walk anyone. Sammons, a lefty out of Western Carolina, has now pitched 24.2 innings and has only surrendered four earned runs (1.46 ERA). Colton Waltner, a 21st rounder in this year’s class, hit his first professional home run and stole a base. Shane Carrier had a pair of hits, boosting his average to .339, and Andrew Bechtold hit a double, drew a walk and scored twice. Elizabethton 3, Princeton 0 (Game 2, Suspended after 2 innings) Box Score The Twins were off to an excellent start in this one, but more rain came through and forced this game to be suspended. Jose Miranda and Carrier both hit homers and Bechtold had a triple. Edwar Colina had thrown two shutout innings with four strikeouts. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Red Sox 12, GCL Twins 7 Box Score The Twins built a 7-4 lead in this one, but typically rock solid bullpen arms Vadim Balan and Zach Featherstone combined to give up eight runs (five earned) over just 1.2 innings. Alex Robles had the big blast in this one, clubbing a three-run homer. The 22-year-old right fielder had a monster game, going 3-for-5 with four RBI. Royce Lewis had yet another big game, going 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI and a run. This was his 25th professional game, he’s gotten multiple hits in 12 of them. Petru Balan started for the Twins and gave up three runs on four hits over 3.0 innings. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Tim Melville, Rochester (7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 11 K) Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Jonathan Rodriguez, Chattanooga (3-for-5, HR, 2B, 3 R, 1 RBI) SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester at Toledo, 6:05 pm CT, Hector Santiago (6.75 ERA, 1.75 WHIP) Chattanooga vs. Birmingham, 6:15 pm CT, Felix Jorge (4.01 ERA, 1.43 WHIP) Fort Myers at Clearwater, 5:15 pm CT, Lewis Thorpe (3.06 ERA, 1.26 WHIP) Cedar Rapids vs Clinton, 6:35 pm CT, Clark Beeker (2.51 ERA, 1.00 WHIP) Elizabethton at Princeton, 6:00 pm CT, TBD GCL Twins at GCL Red Sox, 9:00 am CT, TBD Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Saturday's games. Click here to view the article

Seems as good a time as ever to revisit an article I wrote last Sept. about recent 100-loss teams. There have been 24 of them since the strike, and those teams averaged a 67-95 record the next season. Just two of them had winning records the next season, and the best was the 85-win '09 Mariners. With the Twins coming out the gate unexpectedly competent, the Royals scuffling and Cleveland failing to find its footing it kinda felt like we were playing with house money up until this week. No matter the circumstances, nobody expected the Twins to be in the hunt as long as they have. Now, after a poor week from the Twins and hot streaks from KC and Cleveland things appear to have separated. But as quickly as the Twins have fallen behind, they can get back in the mix with a good run coupled with a slump from one of the other contenders. There are still 62 games left and the Twins are only four back of the Wild Card. HOWEVER I think we would all agree the roster as it's currently constructed is unlikely to get the job done. Am I saying go be buyers? Not necessarily. The org has seemed to shy away from bringing up minor league talent, possibly because they feel the veterans are more dependable and likely to help keep this team afloat. Makes sense, you never quite know what you're going to get from a rookie. But, given that we're still really playing with house money (at least in my eyes), what's there to lose? I'd much rather see the team fade and miss the postseason because somebody like Stephen Gonsalves (or insert a dozen other names) faltered than miss the postseason because we were relying on Bartolo Colon. Call up the kids! That's a real controversial statement to make at Twins Daily ... on a Seth Stohs article, I know