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St. Paul didn’t hit another grand slam on Thursday, but they flashed plenty of power. Wichita grabbed a late lead, and Fort Myers got off to a late start. Check all of the minor league action within. Image courtesy of Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports TRANSACTIONS RHP Alex Scherff placed on temporary inactive list by St. Paul RHP John Klein promoted from Fort Myers to Cedar Rapids The Twins released RHP Chad Donato from Wichita's roster SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 10, Louisville 3 Box Score St. Paul turned to Simeon Woods Richardson on Thursday night, and he was nothing short of lights out. He worked six innings and allowed just a single run on four hits and a walk. The run didn’t come until the sixth inning, and he punched out five on the evening. It didn’t take long for the electric Saints lineup to produce. Kyle Garlick launched a two-run homer that brought in Trevor Larnach and put St. Paul ahead. Gilberto Celestino nabbed a homer the hard way, an inside-the-park variety, that brought home Jair Camargo in the second inning. Up 4-0, Woods Richardson had a comfortable lead. For the second time on the night, Garlick spiced things up with a homer. The two-run shot was his 14th of the year, and again plated Larnach in the process. Hernan Perez then singled with both Yunior Severino and Anthony Prato on base, driving both in, and making it an 8-0 ballgame. In the sixth inning, Prato ripped an RBI single to score Larnach for the third time. With the bases loaded, Celestino drew a walk to drive Garlick in and make it a 10-0 game. Louisville recorded their first run in the sixth inning, and then plated a pair in the eighth inning, but it wasn’t nearly enough to make this one a game. While Austin Martin didn't make his mark with the bat tonight, he certainly made his presence felt with the glove. The Saints recorded a whopping 14 hits on Thursday with Larnach, Garlick, Severino, Prato, and Camargo all recording a pair each. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 2, Corpus Christi 1 Box Score The Wind Surge gave the ball to Pierson Ohl on Thursday night and he worked 5 1/3 innings allowing one run on four hits. Ohl also gave up a walk while striking out four. His one mistake came on a home run that Chad Stevens sent to left field. Wichita jumped out to an early advantage when Seth Gray crushed his ninth home run of the season. A second inning solo shot represented the game’s first run. Corpus Christi responded with a solo shot of their own in the bottom half and the game stayed tied until the ninth inning. Needing some separation to avoid extras, Wichita made things happen in the ninth inning. Willie Joe Garry Jr. stole second base, and when catcher C.J. Stubbs sailed the throw, he came around the score. The costly miscue put Corpus Christi behind by a run with only three runs to work with. Picking up six hits on the night, no one recorded more than one hit for Wichita. The late run was enough to win it. KERNELS NUGGETS Wisconsin 11, Cedar Rapids 6 Box Score C.J. Culpepper made the start on Thursday night for the Kernels, and unfortunately it was a tough outing for him. He lasted just two innings while allowing seven runs on seven hits. Culpepper also walked two and struck out just one. Despite a very good season, this wasn’t an outing to hang his hat on. Trailing 7-0 by the third inning, the Kernels didn’t fold and looked to bounce back. Jefferson Morales doubled home Misael Urbina to put Cedar Rapids on the board. In the fourth inning Luke Keaschall added another when he singled home Jorel Ortega. Then in the fifth inning, Kala’i Rosario kept up his hot-hitting while blasting his 21st dinger of the season. The three-run shot also scored Noah Miller and Emmanuel Rodriguez while bringing the Kernels within two. Wisconsin added a pair of runs back in the fifth inning to push it back to a four-run lead. Adding another pair in the seventh inning, it was an 11-5 game and Cedar Rapids found themselves staring at a sizeable deficit once again. Attempting to mount a comeback, the Kernels gained a run back when Rodriguez drew a bases loaded walk in the eighth inning to score Keaschall. They couldn't capitalize with other runners on base however. Unable to add in the ninth inning, the Kernels dropped the contest by five. The Kernels had just five hits Thursday night, and while Rosario posted three RBI, no one added multiple hits. MUSSEL MATTERS Bradenton 9, Fort Myers 5(F/7) Box Score With inclement weather in the area, the start of Thursday night’s tilt for the Marauders and Mighty Mussels was delayed. After finally getting underway, Miguelangel Boadas took the ball for Fort Myers. In the first inning, Nate Baez doubled with Jay Harry scoring and the Mighty Mussels were on the board first. Yohander Martinez added another with a single during the third inning that scored Danny De Andrade. Leading 2-0, the Mighty Mussels gave both back in the fourth inning and saw the Marauders tie the contest. Bradenton jumped on top of Fort Myers with three runs in the fifth inning. The Mighty Mussels weren't ok with playing from behind and immediately stormed back. De Andrade doubled home Ricardo Olivar before Baez traded places with him on a double of his own. Martinez then singled to drive in Baez and make it a tie ballgame. The Marauders loaded the bases in the top of the seventh inning and rather than emerge unscathed, the Mighty Mussels gave up a grand slam. The 9-5 lead was going to be difficult to overcome with just three outs left. Fort Myers couldn't mount a late comeback and that was enough to do them in. With both squads recording ten hits on the evening, Fort Myers saw two each come from De Andrade, Baez, and Martinez. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Simeon Woods Richardson (St. Paul) - 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K Hitter of the Day – Kyle Garlick (St. Paul) - 2-3, 3 R, 4 RBI, 2 HR(14), 2 BB PROSPECT SUMMARY We will again keep tabs on the Twins top prospects. You’ll probably read about them in the team sections, but if they aren’t there, you’ll see how they did here. Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed: #3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 0-2, R, RBI, 3 BB #7 - Austin Martin (St. Paul) - 1-6, 2 K #8 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 1-3, BB, K #10 - Luke Keaschall (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, R, RBI, BB, K #13 - Kala’i Rosario (Cedar Rapids) - 1-5, R, 3 RBI, HR(21), BB, K #14 - Yunior Severino (St. Paul) - 2-6, R, 2 K #15 - Simeon Woods Richardson (St. Paul) - 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K #17 - Danny De Andrade (Fort Myers) - 2-3, 2 R, RBI, 2B(20) FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Louisville (6:15PM CST) - RHP Randy Dobnak Wichita @ Corpus Christi (7:05PM CST) - RHP Marco Raya Cedar Rapids @ Wisconsin (6:40 CST) - RHP Zebby Matthews Bradenton @ Fort Myers (6:00PM CST) - RHP Matt Gabbert Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Thursday’s games! View full article

Kyle Garlick and Patrick Murphy had great games for the Saints. The Wind Surge got great pitching, and Alex Isola remains on a huge roll. Cedar Rapids saw an unlikely source lead their offense. There was a pitcher's duel in Fort Myers. Find out what happened in the Twins organization on Wednesday. Image courtesy of Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports Kyle Garlick signed a guaranteed contract to avoid arbitration before this season. Near the end of spring training, he was DFAd and outrighted to the Saints. He has played 14 games with the Twins, and when he was DFAd a second time, he decided to remain in the organization. Last week, the Twins claimed outfielder Jordan Luplow whose skill set is incredibly similar to Garlick's. On Wednesday night, Garlick reminds us that he doesn't want to be (and shouldn't be) forgotten. The short-season affiliates’ seasons came to an end on Tuesday. Here are the records of the Twins and their six affiliates through games on Wednesday. Minnesota Twins: 65-62 St. Paul Saints: 70-51 Wichita Wind Surge: 53-62 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 72-44 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 57-59 FCL Twins: 25-29 (season complete) DSL Twins: 14-37 (season complete) Let’s get to the report. As always, please feel free to discuss and ask questions. TRANSACTIONS -As we learned on Tuesday night, 2023 first-round pick, outfielder Walker Jenkins, was promoted to Low-A Fort Myers on Wednesday. He is expected to be in the lineup on Thursday. -Lefty Develson Aria and infielder Kamron Willman were transferred to the Development List of Fort Myers. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 6, Omaha 4 Box Score Kyle Garlick had five hits to help lead the Saints to a two-run win in Nebraska. The Saints got off to a fast start. Andrew Stevenson started the game with a double and advanced to third on a throwing error. Austin Martin walked and then stole second base. Garlick ripped a single to center to score Stevenson. Brooks Lee followed with a single that drove in Martin with the second run. Garlick scored on a ground out. In the fifth inning, the Saints added another run. Anthony Prato doubled Garlick, who singled, to third base. Garlick scored on a Trevor Larnach sacrifice fly. That gave the Saints a 4-1 lead. Omaha came back and tied the game at 4-4 after eight frames. However, the Saints responded in the top of the ninth. With one out, Stevenson got on with a bunt single and his 41st stolen base advanced him to second base. After a pop out, Kyle Garlick came through again with an RBI double. Brooks Lee blooped a single to right field to drive Garlick in with the sixth run. Kyle Garlick went 5-for-5 with his 17th double. Andrew Stevenson went 3-for-5 with his 23rd double. Brooks Lee went 2-for-5. Anthony Prato went 2-for-4 with a walk and his 21st double. Blayne Enlow served as the Opener. He gave up a hit, walked one, and struck out three batters in two scoreless innings. Patrick Murphy came on and worked the next five innings. He was charged with two runs on three hits (two solo homers). He struck out nine batters. Kody Funderburk came on for the eighth inning and gave up a two-run homer that tied the game at four. However, he worked a scoreless ninth inning. So he had a blown save but then improved to 4-1. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 5, Arkansas 1 Box Score The Wind Surge scored in four different innings, and they received some great pitching throughout this game to score a really nice win. David Festa’s season in Double-A has been filled with ups and downs, but his start on Wednesday night was definitely a positive. The Twins representative in the Futures Game this year gave up one run on just two hits over five innings. He had seven strikeouts without any walks. At that point, the bullpen came on and three pitchers each recorded four outs and kept Arkansas off the scoreboard. Lefty Aaron Rozek and right-hander Taylor Floyd each had two strikeouts. Alex Scherff struck out three batters and earned his fourth save. This is your Alex Isola Appreciation paragraph. On Wednesday, Isola went 3-for-4 with three RBI. He has now hit in 10 of his past 11 games. He has had seven multi-hit games including five games with three hits. In those 11 games, he is 22-for-42 and has hit .524/.580/.929 (1.509) with two doubles, five homers, and 16 RBI. He has seven strikeouts and just six walks. Isola got the Wichita scoring started in the first inning when he drove in Seth Gray with a single. The Surge’s second run came on a wild pitch. In the seventh inning, Isola drove in Tanner Schobel with a single to make it 3-1. The Wind Surge added two insurance runs in the ninth inning. The first came when Yoyner Fajardo scored on a wild pitch. And, of course, it was Isola who drove in the team’s final run with another single to score Gray. So, Alex Isola went 3-for-5. Seth Gray was 2-for-4 with a walk. Jake Rucker went 2-for-5. Tanner Schobel walked three times. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 8, South Bend 4 Box Score The Kernels bats were back on Wednesday night. They had three innings in which they scored more than one run. However, let’s start on the mound. Andrew Morris improved to 4-1 since joining the Kernels. He gave up three runs on nine hits and a walk. He had a walk with two strikeouts. Jordan Carr gave up one run on two hits (one was a solo homer) over three innings. He had three strikeouts to drop his season ERA to 1.48. John Stankiewicz worked a perfect ninth inning to shut the door. The Kernels fell behind 3-0 after two innings. In the top of the third, Emmanuel Rodriguez drove in two runs with his eighth double. It’s been a tough year for the recently-turned-20 Jose Salas. He came into the season hitting just .167 this season with the Kernels. Recently, his 17-year-old brother Ethan, who signed with the Padres in January, was promoted to Double-A. Jose Salas remains a solid prospect. He is very young for the High-A level, and he is a prospect that fans should not give up on. In this game, he went 3-for-4 with his 10th and 11th doubles, and he also stole his 18th base. It would sure be nice for him to end the season strong. Kyler Fedko went 2-for-3 with a walk and his fifth double. He stole his fourth base. Noah Miller went 2-for-4 with a walk and his 17th double. As you know, we have a sister site called North Side Baseball which covers the Chicago Cubs organization. South Bend is the High-A affiliate of the Cubs. Here is a quick look at how the North Side Baseball Cubs Top 20 Prospects in this game did in this game. #3 Matthew Shaw - 1-for-3, HBP #5 Kevin Alcantara - 1-for-4, K #11 Moises Ballesteros - 1-for-4, K #12 James Triantos - 2-for-4, 2 RBI MUSSEL MATTERS Daytona 3, Fort Myers 1 Box Score There was a pitchers duel in Fort Myers on Wednesday nights. Through seven innings, the score was tied at 1-1. Unfortunately, the Tortugas scored single runs in the eighth and ninth innings. Jack Noble got the start and gave up one run on five hits over five innings. He walked two and struck out two batters. Sam Perez came on and struck out three batters over two scoreless, hitless innings. Juan Mendez pitched the final two innings and gave up those runs. He gave up four hits, walked two, and struck out five batters. The Mussels had seven hits and walked four times. Danny De Andrade went 2-for-4. He also stole his 16th base. Rafael Cruz was also 2-for-4 and drove in the Mussels’ lone run. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day – Kyle Garlick (St. Paul) - 5-for-5, 2B(17), 3 R, 2 RBI. Pitcher of the Day – David Festa (Wichita) - 5.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 7 K, 72 pitches, 48 strikes (66.7%) PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on the new Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Wednesday. #1 - Brooks Lee (St. Paul) - 2-for-5, 2 RBI, K #3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, BB, 2B(8), 2 RBI, 2K #6 - David Festa (Wichita) - 5.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 B, 7 K, 72 pitches, 48 strikes (66.7%) #7 - Austin Martin (St. Paul) - 0-for-3, 2 BB, R, SB(10) #8 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 0-for-2, 3 BB, R, #10 - Luke Keaschall (Ft. Myers) - 1-for-4, 3 K #13 - Kala’i Rosario (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-5, 2B(25), 3 K, OF Assist. #17 - Danny De Andrade (Fort Myers) - 2-for-4, R, K, SB(16) THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE AND PITCHING PROBABLES St. Paul @ Omaha (6:35 PM CST) - LHP Brent Headrick (4-2, 5.01 ERA) Wichita @ Arkansas (6:35 PM CST) - LHP Jaylen Nowlin (2-0, 2.08 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ South Bend (6:05 PM CST) - RHP Cory Lewis (4-1, 2.42 ERA) Daytona @ Fort Myers (6:00 PM CST) - RHP Miguelangel Boadas (0-2, 9.72 ERA) Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Wednesday’s games or any other Twins minor league topics! View full article

The Saints played Sunday’s latest game on the farm, and after each of the other three Twins affiliates lost, they came out with a victory. Louie Varland was great, and the power show continued. Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints TRANSACTIONS LHP Caleb Thielbar completed rehab assignment and was activated by Twins` SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 7, Toledo 2 Box Score Louie Varland toed the rubber Sunday for St. Paul and turned in the kind of outing everyone wants to see. He worked six innings allowing just a single run on two hits. The run came on a solo shot, and he allowed only a single walk. Varland struck out seven. St. Paul started the scoring when Trevor Larnach blasted his ninth homer of the year, scoring Anthony Prato, and making it 2-0 in the first inning. Kyle Garlick made it back-to-back jacks with a solo shot, his 11th. In the third inning St. Paul added again. This time Alex De Goti hit a three-run jack-job that brought in both Austin Martin and Ernie Yake. Up 6-0, the Saints were able to weather a pair of solo shots from Toledo. They got one of the runs back in the eighth inning when Garlick drove in Prato on a single. Six of the nine players in St. Paul’s lineup recorded a hit today, and each of them had exactly two hits. Prato, Larnach, and Garlick paced the top of the lineup. Mark Contreras added a pair from the middle, and Martin paired with De Goti for their two in the bottom half. With the victory, Toby Gardenhire gets his 200th win as the Saints manager. WIND SURGE WISDOM Frisco 8, Wichita 5 Box Score Wichita went with Jaylen Nowlin for the start on Sunday afternoon. He worked 3 2/3 innings of one-run baseball. He allowed only two hits, but did issue three free passes. Nowlin also struck out five during his outing. Frisco kicked the scoring off with a run during the third inning and Wichita responded when Yoyner Fajardo homered in the bottom of the fourth inning. The teams traded runs in the fifth inning with Aaron Sabato singling home Yunior Severino to knot things up. The RoughRiders pulled away with a three-spot in both the sixth and eighth innings, and Wichita didn’t have enough of an answer. Brooks Lee singled with the bases loaded to drive in Sabato, Fajardo, and Severino, but they still came up three short. Severino’s home run streak came to an end at five games, and Lee may find a plane ticket in his locker in the coming days. Lee and Sabato both had two hits while Fajardo recorded three. KERNELS NUGGETS Wisconsin 4, Cedar Rapids 0 Box Score The Kernels went with Andrew Morris Sunday afternoon, and he had traffic on the bases often. With four runs scoring on 10 hits, he did his best to work around baserunners allowing no walks. Morris did strike out a pair. Wisconsin did most of their damage during a three-run fourth inning, and then added another run during the fifth inning. Cedar Rapids managed just two hits on the day, one each coming from Andrew Cossetti and Dalton Shuffield. MUSSEL MATTERS Palm Beach 5, Fort Myers 2 Box Score Jack Noble drew the start Sunday for Fort Myers and he worked 4 2/3 innings allowing two runs on four hits and a pair of walks. Noble was good at putting hitters away registering seven strikeouts on the afternoon. The sides matched zeroes through the first four innings before Palm Beach grabbed a pair in the fifth inning. Fort Myers had gotten on base with both Ricardo Olivar and Rafael Cruz drawing walks, but they ended the sixth inning with no hits. Palm Beach added another three runs in their half of the seventh inning, and they nearly made it through the bottom half with the no-hitter intact. Instead, Cruz blasted his sixth homer and put Fort Myers on the board with their first hit and run. Cruz homered for the second time on the afternoon, hitting another solo shot in the ninth inning, but that was the extent of the Mighty Mussels comeback. Cruz was the lone batter with multiple hits for Fort Myers. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Louie Varland (St. Paul) - 6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K Hitter of the Day – Rafael Cruz (Fort Myers) - 2-3, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 HR(7), BB, K PROSPECT SUMMARY We will again keep tabs on the Twins top prospects. You’ll probably read about them in the team sections, but if they aren’t there, you’ll see how they did here. Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed: #1 - Brooks Lee (Wichita) - 2-5, 3 RBI #5 - Matt Wallner (Minnesota) - 1-3, R, RBI, HR(5), K #8 - Austin Martin (St. Paul) - 2-4, R #10 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 0-4 #16 - Kala’i Rosario (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, 3 K #17 - Yunior Severino (Wichita) - 1-4, R, BB, 3 K TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Columbus (6:05PM CST) - TBD Tulsa @ Wichita (7:05PM CST) - TBD Lansing @ Cedar Rapids (6:35PM CST) - TBD Fort Myers @ Dunedin (5:30PM CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Sunday’s games! View full article

"Walks will Haunt." So do home runs, and errors and several other things. Wednesday was a tough afternoon for pitchers throughout the Twins organization. But several hitters had huge days. Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge (photo of DaShawn Keirsey) You may notice a theme throughout the Twins organization. First, they all played Wednesday afternoon games which is unusual. But more so, I’m referring to the fact that pitching was not a strength for Twins pitchers on Wednesday. The Twins gave up a ton of runs. And the affiliates gave up a bunch of runs too. Here are the records of the Twins and their six affiliates through games on Wednesday. Minnesota Twins: 54-50 St. Paul Saints: 57-40 Wichita Wind Surge: 37-54 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 57-35 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 45-47 FCL Twins: 16-19 DSL Twins: 8-26 Let’s get to the report. As always, please feel free to discuss and ask questions. TRANSACTIONS The Twins optioned RHP Oliver Ortega and recalled Josh Winder. The Saints activated catcher Mark Kolozsvary from the Developmental List. Infielder Dalton Shuffield was activated from the Fort Myers Injured List and assigned to Cedar Rapids. Following their Wednesday afternoon game, the Twins made a trade. They sent RHP Jorge Lopez to the Miami Marlins in exchange for RH RP Dylan Floro . SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 9, Toledo 7 Box Score Brent Headrick made the start in this game. He gave up three runs in the top of the first inning and another in the third. In total, he gave up four runs on three hits. All three hits were home runs. He also walked four batters and struck out two. Patrick Murphy came on and gave up one run on five hits and a walk over 2 1/3 innings. He struck out two batters. Austin Brice got four outs, all on strikeouts. Ronny Henriquez got four outs, but he gave up two runs on two hits and a walk. The Saints found themselves down 4-1 heading to the bottom of the sixth inning. In that inning, Andrew Stevenson, Jorge Polanco, and Kyle Garlick singled, the third driving in the inning’s first run. Next, Chris Williams doubled to score two more runs. After two outs, Williams scored on an Anthony Prato single to give the Saints a 5-4 lead. However, the Mudhens tied it in the top of the seventh inning. The bottom of the seventh inning started with walks to Alex De Goti and Andrew Stevenson. Jorge Polanco singled to load the bases. Kyle Garlick followed with a grand slam to give the Saints a 9-5 lead. Tyler Nevin hit a two-run homer in the top of the ninth. Henriquez then hit a batter and gave up a double to put runners on second and third base. However, a hard-hit line drive was caught in center field by Mark Contreras to end the game. Garlick went 3-for-4 with five RBI. He hit his 11th double and 10th home run. Stevenson went 3-for-4 with a walk and his 17th double. Polanco has two hits in five at-bats. Anthony Prato was 2-for-4. He also stole his eighth base. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 10, Frisco 19 Box Score With winds blowing out early in the game, runs piled up quickly. And they just kept piling up, higher, and higher, and high… you get the picture. In the top of the first inning, David Festa gave up a two-run homer to Thomas Saggese. The bottom of the first started with singles from Brooks Lee and DaShawn Keirsey, the latter driving in the former to put the Wind Surge on the scoreboard. Two batters later, the second run scored on a Patrick Winkel sacrifice fly. Then Jake Rucker connected for his seventh homer of the season to give the Surge a 3-2 lead after one frame. Unfortunately, the second inning didn’t go well for Festa at all. He gave up a grand slam to Evan Carter. Wind may have been a factor, but two walks before it didn’t help either. Things went quiet in the bottom of the second and the top of the third. But in the bottom of the third, Keirsey hit his 13th homer of the year and cut the deficit to 6-4. Festa went just 2 2/3 innings and was charged with six runs on seven hits and two walks. He had four strikeouts and all six runs came on the two homers he allowed. Hunter McMahon was next up for the Wind Surge. He was charged with five runs (4 earned) on four hits and a walk. Isaac Mattson gave up an unearned run over 1 1/3 innings. Taylor Floyd tossed three scoreless innings. Things had kind of settled down. In the ninth, catcher David Banuelos came on to pitch. It didn’t go well. He gave up seven runs on six hits and a walk. Four of the hits were home runs. He got just two outs. Will Holland got the third out. The top two batters in the Wind Surge lineup provided most of the offense. Brooks Lee went 4-for-6 with three runs scored. He hit his 11th home run of the season, a two-run blast, in the ninth inning. DaShawn Keirsey went 5-for-6 with three runs scored. He hit his fifth triple and the 13th home run of his season in the game. Third-place hitter, Yunior Severino, became the first player in the Twins organization to his 20 home runs this season. Holland went 2-for-4 with a walk and his ninth double. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 7, Wisconsin 8 Box Score Speaking of strong first innings, the Kernels jumped on the Timber Rattlers with a six-run top of the first inning. With one out, Emmanuel Rodriguez and Kala’i Rosario walked before Jorel Ortega hit an infield single to load the bases. Misael Urbina walked in a run. Next, Andrew Cossetti cleared the bases with his 10th double since joining the Kernels. Following a strikeout, there was a pitching change. Jeferson Morales welcomed Miguel Guerrero with a two-run homer to make it 6-0. In the top of the second, Emmanuel Rodriguez lined to right field, but an error allowed him to reach third base. Kala’i Rosario drove him in with a sacrifice fly to make it 7-0. With C.J. Culpepper on the mound, one could think that would be enough run support. However, with some really rough defense in the bottom of the second inning, Wisconsin scored five runs, and just one of them was earned. There were two Catcher’s Interference calls, and one what could have been a double play, a throwing error meant three additional runs scored. CJ Culpepper’s day ended after just 1 1/3 innings. He gave up five runs (1 earned) on four hits and two walks. Matthew Swain came in and gave up a run on two hits over 1 2/3 innings. Alejandro Hidalgo came in to start the fourth inning. He gave up one run on two hits over 2 1/3 innings. He walked three and struck out four batters. Niklas Rimmel walked three batters but gave up no runs on no hits over the next 1 2/3 innings. John Wilson gave up one run on one hit, one walk and one hit batter in the eighth inning to take the loss. Andrew Cossetti led the offense. He went 2-for-4 with his 10th double and three RBI. Jorel Ortega went 2-for-4 and was hit by a pitch. Kala’i Rosario and Emmanuel Rodriguez each walked twice. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 7, Palm Beach 5 (10 innings) Box Score Through four innings in this game, the score was just 1-1. However, in the top of the fifth frame, Palm Beach scored three runs. Things stayed quiet until the bottom of the ninth. Down 4-1, Kyle Schmidt was hit by a pitch to lead off the ninth. Yohander Martinez ran for him. With one out, Alec Sayre reached on an error. Then Gregory Duran ripped a double down the right field line to score two runs. He went to third on a throwing error. Maddux Houston lifted a ball to center field, deep enough to drive in Duran and tie the game. Unfortunately, Palm Beach scored three runs in the top of the 10th inning. Jose Olivares started for the Mussels. In 4 2/3 innings, he gave up four runs on six hits and a walk. He had five strikeouts. Ricardo Velez came on and gave up just one hit over 2 1/3 scoreless innings. Wilker Reyes came in and put zeros on the board in the eighth and ninth. He started the 10th inning but gave up two runs (1 earned, the other the Manfred Man) on two hits and a walk. Gabriel Yanez came on and allowed an inherited runner to score and one more run on three hits before getting the three outs in the 10th inning. The Mussels scored one run on a passed ball in the bottom of the 10th, but that was it as they fell 7-5 in this game. Gregory Duran went 2-for-4 with his ninth double and three RBI. Kyle Schmidt went 2-for-3 with his fourth double and was hit by a pitch. Ricardo Olivar added his 18th double. COMPLEX THOUGHTS from BOCA CHICA DSL Twins, DSL Reds The DSL Twins were supposed to be making up a game that was supposed to be played two weeks ago. It was again postponed due to weather. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Co-Hitter of the Day – DaShawn Keirsey, Jr. (Wichita) - 5-for-6, 3B(5), HR(13) 3 R, 2 RBI, K. Pitcher of the Day – Taylor Floyd (Wichita) - 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K. PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on the new Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Wednesday. #1 - Brooks Lee (Wichita) - 4-for-6, HR(11), 3 R, 2 RBI #3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-3, 2 BB, 2 R, RBI, K. #5 - Matt Wallner (Minnesota) - 2-for-4, 2-HR(4), 2 RBI, K #7 - David Festa (Wichita) - 2 2/3 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 64 pitches, 37 strikes (57.8%) #15 - Jordan Balazovic (Minnesota) - 1 1/3 IP, 1 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, K, 32 pitches, 19 strikes (59.4%) #16 - Kala’i Rosario (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-2, 2 BB, R, RBI, SF, K #17 - Yunior Severino (Wichita) - 1-for-5, BB, HR(20), R, 2 RBI, K, CS(4) #19 - Brent Headrick (St. Paul) - 4 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 2 K (3 HR), 72 pitches, 43 strikes (59.7%) THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE AND PITCHING PROBABLES Toledo @ St. Paul (7:07 PM CST) - RHP Simeon Woods Richardson (3-5, 6.18 ERA) Frisco @ Wichita (7:05 PM CST) - RHP Pierson Ohl (1-3, 4.89 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Wisconsin (6:40 PM CST) - RHP Zebby Matthews (3-1,5.02 ERA) vs rehabbing Brandon Woodruff Palm Beach @ Fort Myers (6:00 PM CST) - LHP Jarret Whorff (2-1, 2.54 ERA) FCL Twins @ FCL Braves (11:00 AM CST) - TBD DSL Dodgers @ DSL Twins(10:00 AM CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Wednesday’s games or any other Twins minor league topics! 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The Minnesota Twins, who have been desperate for runs this season, scored seven times and lost for the second-straight game Wednesday. Joe Ryan had a short and laborious start. Down in the minors, Jorge Polanco was tested at third base for the Saints but passed. Kyle Garlick hit a go-ahead grand slam for St. Paul. Yunior Severino hit his 20th home run of the season for Wichita while Wind Surge teammate Brooks Lee also homered in a four-hit game. All that and more in tonight's Twins System Recap. View full video

There weren't a lot of runs scored throughout the Twins organization on Thursday, but there were a couple of really nice wins. Image courtesy of Jean Pfiefer (aka, go4twinkies on Instagram) TRANSACTIONS C Tony Wolters activated from IL for St. Paul RHP Austin Schulfer placed on Development List by St. Paul C Mark Kolozsvary placed on Development List by St. Paul OF Luis Baez was placed on Ft. Myers' 7-Day Injured List with a left hand fracture. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 3, Iowa 5 Box Score Kyle Garlick gave the Saints a 3-1 lead in the third inning when he hit a long, three-run homer, but that was it, and it wasn't enough to hold off the Cubs. Blayne Enlow started and gave up four runs on six hits and a walk over five innings. He struck out four. He was hurt by the long ball. Matt Mervis hit a solo homer in the first inning, and Nelson Velazquez his his 12th home run, a three-run shot that put the Cubs back on top for good. Josh Winder came on and gave up one run on four hits over 1 2/3 innings. He struck out three batters and, more important, walked none. Kody Funderburk got the final four outs, two on strikeouts. Andrew Stevenson led off the game with a single. Garlick's home run in the third inning was the team's second hit of the game. They then went hitless over the final six innings of the game. Two hits. However, they did take eight walks and hit by two pitches which presented them with some opportunities. Garlick went 1-for-2 with his ninth homer and two walks. Catcher Tony Wolters also had two walks in the game. The Iowa Cubs roster includes several of the Top 20 Cubs prospects at North Side Baseball: SP Jordan Wicks ranks as the Cubs #5 prospect. The team's first-round pick in 2021 from Kansas State made his second Triple-A start in this game. 1B Matt Mervis ranks as the Cubs #6 prospect. The slugger made his MLB debut earlier this season and has been up and down a couple of times, as recently as three weeks ago. Not bad for a guy drafted in the 39th round out of high school, who went to Duke and did not get drafted in 2020. And, just for fun: WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 8, Tulsa 2 Box Score Tied 2-2 through five innings, Wichita's offense surged with three runs in both the sixth and the seventh innings to take a commanding lead. The Wind Surge had just five hits in the game, but they showed patience and took 13(!) walks. Eight of the ninth batters in the lineup had at least one walk. A Patrick Winkel single drove in DaShawn Keirsey, Jr with the team's first run. Alerick Soularie hit a solo homer in the top of the fifth inning, his fifth homer of the year. Then came the sixth inning. The inning started with two walks. After a foul pop out, a third walk loaded the bases. After a pitching change, Soularie walked to put the team back on top 3-2. Will Holland followed with a single that scored Winkel and Seth Gray. In the seventh inning, Alex Isola led off with a solo homer, his 10th longball of the season. It was followed by a walk, a fielder's choice with an error, and another walk to load the bases. Winkel scored on a wild pitch, and Holland drove in another run with another single. Holland went 2-for-3 with a walk and three RBI to lead the way. Soularie walked twice to go with his home run. Isola and Winkel were each 1-for-3 with two walks, two runs scored and an RBI. Seth Gray reached three times with walks. Chad Donato was activated and tossed four shutout innings. He gave up two hits, walked none and struck out six batters. Jordan Brink came in and gave up two runs on three hits and a walk. He recorded just one out before being replaced by Hunter McMahon who stranded two runners. He went 2 2/3 perfect innings and struck out four of the eight batters he faced to earn the win. Denny Bentley then struck out three batters over the final two scoreless innings. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 9, Quad Cities 6 Box Score This was quite the back and forth affair. Through three innings, the teams were tied at 1-1. Both teams had four-run fourth innings. Quad Cities went ahead 6-5 in the top of the sixth, but the bullpen shut them down over the final three innings. The Kernels took the lead with two runs in the sixth inning, and then had single runs in the seventh and eighth frames. Tanner Schobel was named the Midwest League's Player of the Month for June earlier in the day on Thursday. He responded by going 3-for-3 with two walks, and his 13th home run of the season was a two-run shot that gave the team their 7-6 season in the bottom of the sixth. (since the Kernels don't post game video on Twitter, let's just take a fun look back at his first home run at Virginia Tech which includes a great home run celebration. Noah Miller went 2-for-5 with his third triple. Misael Urbina went 2-for-4 and drove in two runs. He also stole his fifth base. Kyle Jones started for the Kernels. He gave up five runs on five hits over four innings. Two of the hits were home runs. He walked one and struck out four batters. Matthew Swain came in and gave up one run on two hits and a walk over two innings. He had two strikeouts. Niklas Rimmel walked one over two scoreless innings. A.J. Labas gave up a hit and two walks in the ninth inning, but he didn't give up a run and recorded his second save since joining the Kernels about a week ago. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 1, Jupiter 4 Box Score The Mighty Mussels took the 1-0 lead in the second inning when Dylan Neuse singled in Rubel Cespedes. Unfortunately, that was the lone run for the team in the game and they dropped to .500 on the season for the first time in a long time, at 39-39. Jarret Whorff signed with the Twins in May out of the independent leagues and immediately assigned to the Mussels. He made his first start in this game and gave up one run on one hit over four innings. He walked four and struck out five batters. Fellow southpaw Zach Veen came in and gave up one run on one hit, a solo homer, over his two innings. He walked one and struck out two batters. Johnathan Lavallee gave up two runs on five hits over 1 1/3 innings. Develson Aria came in with the bases loaded in the eighth inning and got the final two outs, one via the strikeout. The Mussels had plenty of baserunners. They had seven hits and eight walks. Unfortunately, the team went 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position and left 13 runners on base. Cespedes led the way. He went 2-for-3 with two walks. Neuse had an RBI single and two walks. COMPLEX CHRONICLES FCL Twins 7, FCL Orioles 3 Box Score Matt Gabbert was on the mound for the Twins and he worked four innings while allowing three runs on five hits. Gabbert did give up five hits and three walks with four strikeouts. Down two after the top half, the Twins answered with a run in the bottom half. Byron Chourio doubled to score Isaac Peña and make it a 2-1 game. After giving up another run to the Orioles, Omari Daniel singled in Giovanny Rivero before Chourio drove Duncan Hewitt home with a single of his own. Leaving the fourth inning, things were knotted at three. Giovanny Rivero singled home Yasser Mercedes to kick off the seventh in and Daniel brought Andres Centeno across the plate. Now up 7-3, the Twins had this plenty in hand. Chourio grabbed three hits on the day with Daniel adding a pair of his own. DOMINICAN DAILY DSL Rockies 19, DSL Twins 8 Box Score Luis Rincon only last four outs today and the Dominican Summer League Twins dealt with a blowout. Despite scoring four runs, punctuated with a Ewing Matos triple, they were run off from that point forward. The Rockies tied things up in the second inning before adding two in the fourth inning. They scored another pair in the seventh inning while adding seven in the eight inning and another four in the ninth. The Twins were staring at a mess. Dameury Peña and Matos both recorded three hits during the game. Unfortunately, they couldn’t add more with their twelve hits and it wound up being the 16th loss on the season. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Chad Donato (Wichita) - 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K. 46 pitches, 33 strikes. Hitter of the Day – Tanner Schobel (Cedar Rapids) - 3-for-3, 2 BB, HR(13), R, 3 RBI. PROSPECT SUMMARY We will again keep tabs on the Twins top prospects. You’ll probably read about them in the team sections, but if they aren’t there, you’ll see how they did here. Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed: #1 - Brooks Lee (Wichita) - 0-for-4, BB, K. #3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, BB, RBI, 3 K. #9 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 0-for-4 #10 - Yasser Mercedes (FCL) - 0-for-4, 4 K, R #11 - Austin Martin (St. Paul) - 0-for-3, BB, played 2B, batted second. #12 - Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-3, BB, R, 2 K. #13 - Noah Miller (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-5, 3B(3), R, CS(1) #17 - Blayne Enlow (St. Paul) - 5.0 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, BB, HBP, 4 K. 83 pitches, 51 strikes (61.4%) FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Iowa (7:08PM CST) - LHP Dallas Keuchel (0-0, 1.08 ERA) Wichita @ Tulsa (7:05PM CST) - RHP Marco Raya (first AA start) Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids (6:35PM CST) - RHP C.J. Culpepper (0-0, 0.00 ERA) Fort Myers @ Jupiter (5:30PM CST) - RHP Jack Noble (0-1, 3.60 ERA) FCL Red Sox @ FCL Twins (DH at 9:00AM CST) - TBD, TBD DSL Twins @ DSL Cardinals (10:00AM CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Thursday’s games! View full article

The Minnesota Twins were off but there was still plenty to go over in the minor leagues tonight. Kyle Garlick mashed another lefty for the Saints. Alerick Soularie showed off his incredibly streamlined swing on a homer for Wichita while Hunter McMahon showed how to pitch smarter not harder. In Cedar Rapids, Tanner Schobel -- Midwest League Player of the Month for June -- stayed hot. He was 3-for-3 with a homer and a pair of walks. One of his singles came on a nine-pitch at-bat. View full video

It is rare the full-season minor-league affiliates play on Mondays. They did this week. Find out about a couple of exciting transactions, and six ballgames. Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge (photo of Yoyner Fajardo) A couple of top Twins prospects were movin’ on up on Monday. The Saints offense was playing in a bizarro world through the first five innings on Sunday, but a couple of big leaguers powered them to another win, their sixth straight. The organization’s home run leader is now in Wichita. Cedar Rapids finished a series filled with nothing but one-run games in Peoria. Here are the records of the six Twins affiliates through games on Monday. St. Paul Saints: 49-31 Wichita Wind Surge: 32-42 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 45-30 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 37-38 FCL Twins: 10-11 DSL Twins: 6-15 Let’s get to the report. As always, please feel free to discuss and ask questions. TRANSACTIONS Austin Martin was activated from the 7-day injured list and joined the Saints. RHP Marco Raya has been assigned to the Wichita Wind Surge. To make room, Jose Bravo has been placed on the Wind Surge Development List. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 6, Gwinnett 4 Box Score Things were looking a little bleak on Monday night in St. Paul. The team had scored ten or more runs in five consecutive games. In this game, the Saints did not have a hit through the first five innings and found themselves down 4-0. However, Alex De Goti led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a single which was followed by a bunt single by Andrew Stevenson. After a strikeout and a fielder’s choice, Trevor Larnach singled in De Goti to put the Saints on the board. Kyle Garlick followed with his eighth homer, a three-run shot that tied the game at four. That’s how the score remained until the bottom of the eighth. With no one on and two outs, Matt Wallner walked. It was followed by a long home run off the bat of Trevor Larnach. A no-doubter. Louie Varland made his second start of the week. He gave up three runs on seven hits over five innings. He walked none and struck out five batters. He also kept the ball in the ballpark. Cody Laweryson came on to start the sixth inning,and he gave up a leadoff homer. He got Jesus Aguilar out, but then the rains came. It began again about an hour later with Michael Boyle on the mound. He gave up two hits and two walks over 1 2/3 scoreless innings. He struck out three batters. Kody Funderburk came on and struck out two batters over two perfect innings to take the Win. The Saints had just six hits in the game. Trevor Larnach and Kyle Garlick were both 2-for-4 with three RBI each. In his Triple-A debut, Austin Martin played second base and batted second. He went 0-for-3 with a walk. He was also caught stealing. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 6, NW Arkansas 7 Box Score This game went back-and-forth with teams exchanging runs. Through seven innings, the game was tied 2-2. Lefty Aaron Rozek was on the mound for the Surge. He gave up two runs on five hits. Both runs scored on solo homers. He walked one and struck out three batters. Hunter McMahon came on and tossed scoreless innings in the sixth and seventh innings. However, he was charged with three runs on two hits and a walk (intentional). Francis Peguero came in and allowed an inherited runner to score the third run of the inning. Down 5-2 going to the bottom of the eighth, Wichita’s offense “Surged” ahead and scored four runs to take a 6-5 lead. With one out, DaShawn Keirsey, Brooks Lee and Alex Isola hit back-to-back-to-back singles to score the first run. Will Holland came in to pinch run for Isola, but I’m pretty sure Isola could have jogged around the bases along with Lee on Yunior Severino’s three-run blast that gave the Wind Surge the 6-5 lead. To the ninth inning… Peguero was able to get the first two batters out. Unfortunately, he gave up a double which was quickly followed by a two-run homer by Tyler Tolbert that gave NW Arkansas the 7-6 lead. After another double, Alex Scherff came on and got a strikeout to end the half-inning. The Wind Surge tried to put together one more comeback in the bottom of the ninth. Jake Rucker readed on an error and stole second base. Yoyner Fajardo walked. But then #OldFriend Steven Cruz got a strikeout and two infield pop outs to end the game. Severino had a walk to go with his 17th home run. In the third inning, Fajardo hit his third homer of the season. Aaron Sabato hit his ninth double. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 2, Peoria 3 Box Score In this series with a lot of close, low-scoring game, it’s only appropriate that the final game was a one-run game in extra innings. The only negative was that the Kernels came up on the short end this time. This time, it was the Kernels who had to mount a comeback. They were down 2-0 heading into the ninth inning. Tanner Schobel led off the inning with a double. With one out, Kala’i Rosario drove in Schobel with a single. Noah Miller pinch ran for Rosario. Two batters later, Jose Salas singled to score Miller and tie the game at two a piece. It sent the game to extra innings. Back to the mound. Lefty Christian MacLeod gave up two runs on four hits and two walks in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out seven batters. Niklas Rimmel came on with the bases loaded and got out of the inning without another run scoring. He struck out two batters over 1 1/3 perfect innings. Lefty John Wilson struck out two batters over two perfect innings. In the 10th inning, three Kernels batters each struck out. Miguel Rodriguez came into the game for the Kernels. He has been terrific this season. After a fly out, the Kernels decided to walk a batter to set up a potential inning-ending double play. Unfortunately, the man who knows the strike zone best, Alex Iadisernia, singled to center which scored the winning run for Peoria. Overall, the offense was pretty quiet. They had six hits in total, just three before the ninth inning, and three walks. No one had more than one hit. Schobel’s double was his eighth of the season. Jorel Ortega added his third double since joining the Kernels. Earlier, I pointed out that this series was a matchup of two very closely-matched teams. Here’s how close: Game 1: Cedar Rapids 7, Peoria 6 Game 2: Cedar Rapids 2, Peoria 3 Game 3: Cedar Rapids 2, Peoria 1 Game 4: Cedar Rapids 2, Peoria 1 Game 5: Cedar Rapids 2, Peoria 3 Game 6: Cedar Rapids 2, Peoria 3 Wins: Cedar Rapids 3, Peoria 3 Runs: Cedar Rapids 17, Peoria 17 MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 4, Lakeland 5 Box Score Rains have wreaked havoc on a few Mussels games of late. In this game, Jose Olivares was only able to complete two innings before the rains caused a long rain delay. He gave up a run on three hits. Tigers prospect Jackson Jobe started for Lakeland. He gave up two hits in a scoreless first inning but the rains came before he could work a second frame. Lefty Wilker Reyes gave up two hits and two walks, but he struck out two batters over three shutout innings. Develson Aria came out of the bullpen and gave up two runs on two hits and two walks in 1 1/3 innings. He struck out… You guessed it, two. Johnathan Lavallee gave up two runs (1 earned) on two hits and two walks over two innings. Zach Veen recorded the final two outs, one on a strikeout. It wasn’t a pretty game. The Mussels had three errors in the game. They also had seven hits and walked nine times. Unfortunately, they went just 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position and left 13 runners on base. Frustrating when you look back, and the score and see a one-run loss. Dylan Neuse went 2-for-3 with two walks and stole his 10th base. Gregory Duran and Kamron Willman both walked twice. Danny De Andrade drove in two runs. He had a single and a walk. Dillon Tatum also had a single and a walk. Recently-signed Carson McCusker went 2-for-5, but he helped keep the game close by throwing out two runners at the plate. COMPLEX THOUGHTS from FLORIDA FCL Twins 2, FCL Braves 7 (6) Box Score The game had to be cut short after six innings because of lightning rolling into the Fort Myers area. Most likely, the Twins would have found a way to make up the five-run deficit over the final three innings and won, but that’s OK. Jose Rodriguez had two of the team’s six hits including his fifth double of the season. Jankel Ortiz came on as a pinch hitter in the sixth inning and hit his first professional home run. Andres Centeno had a single and a walk in the game. Cesar Lares made the start and it didn’t go well for the southpaw. In just 2/3 of an inning, he gave up four runs on four hits and two walks. Both outs he recorded were on strikeouts (gotta find the positives, right?). He also had two balks and a wild pitch before Yon Landaeta came in with two runners on and got out of that inning without any further damage. However, in the second inning, he was charged with three runs (2 earned) on five walks. He recorded just one out before Juan Mercedes came on with the bases loaded and somehow managed to allow only one inherited runner to score. Mercedes was quite good. In 4 1/3 innings, he gave up no runs and no hits. He walked one and struck out six batters. Miguel Olivares came on and got a strikeout to end the sixth inning. COMPLEX THOUGHTS from BOCA CHICA DSL Twins 2, DSL Cardinals 6 Box Score A couple of two-run homers led the Cardinals to a win against the Twins on Monday. Eduardo Soriano started for the Twins. He was charged with two unearned runs over four innings. He gave up six hits and struck out six batters without issuing a walk. Gerardo Abrego came on and gave up two runs on three hits in the fifth inning. He gave up a home run to Bracewell Taveras. Reynel Garcia worked the next three innings. He gave up a two-run homer to Hancel Almonte, but nothing more (though he did walk three batters. Oscar Paredes then struck out three batters in a scoreless ninth inning. Dameury Pena led the offense. He went 2-for-4 with his sixth double and the team’s lone RBI. Jayson Bass was also 2-for-4. He stole his 10th base of the year. Ariel Castro went 1-for-1 with three walks. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitters of the Day – Trevor Larnach (St. Paul) - 2-for-5, 2B(13), HR(12), R, 3 RBI Pitcher of the Day – John Wilson (Cedar Rapids), Kody Funderburk (St. Paul) - 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 6 batters faced. PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on the new Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Wednesday. (Note - our next prospect rankings update will come after the draft.) #1 - Brooks Lee (Wichita) - 1-for-4, BB, R. #4 - Edouard Julien (Minnesota) - 1-for-2, HR(5), R, RBI. #9 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) -0-for-3, 2 R, BB, K. #11 - Austin Martin (St. Paul) - 0-for-3, BB, K, CS(1) #12 - Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, RBI, K, E(10). #13 - Noah Miller (Cedar Rapids) - R #14 - Jordan Balazovic (Minnesota) - 1/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, 6 pitches, 4 strikes. #15 - Brent Headrick (Minnesota) - 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K (W, 2-0), 12 pitches, 12 strikes. #18 - Jose Rodriguez (FCL Twins) - 2-for-3, 2B(5), R. #19 - Yunior Severino (Wichita) - 1-for-3, BB, HR(17), 2 R, 3 RBI. TUESDAY’S SCHEDULE AND PITCHING PROBABLES St. Paul @ Iowa (7:08 PM CST) - RHP Randy Dobnak (4-3, 4.62 ERA) Wichita @ Tulsa (6:35 PM CST) - RHP David Festa (2-2, 5.24 ERA) Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CST) - RHP Zebby Matthews (1-1, 6.33 ERA) Fort Myers @ Jupiter (5:00 PM CST) - RHP Andrew Morris (2-1, 3.48 ERA) FCL Twins @ FCL Braves (9:00 AM CST) - TBD DSL Twins @ DSL Nationals (10:00AM CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Monday’s games or any other Twins minor league topics! View full article

The Twins reportedly had significant interest in the former MVP over the winter, but decided to go another direction. What could have been if the two sides had come to a deal? Image courtesy of Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports The Twins seemed like a natural fit as a landing spot for a right-handed bat with a proven track record over the off-season. Given the team’s need for a short-term deal and a relatively top-heavy free agent class, there wasn’t a plethora of options to play with. However, there were a handful of names that would have fit that mold. Near the top of that list was former National League MVP, Andrew McCutchen. I asked in January if he did anything for Twins fans, and the general consensus was that he could represent a modest improvement in a more-limited role. It turns out that the Twins agreed. According to Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News, the Twins had “heavy interest” in the veteran outfielder, but couldn’t promise the same playing time as he would get from the Pittsburgh Pirates. So McCutchen returned to the organization that drafted him on a reasonable one-year, $5 million contract. Instead, the Twins opted for a plan that included giving that starter’s share of starting opportunities to Joey Gallo, and a re-sign of Kyle Garlick to a guaranteed deal to avoid arbitration to fill the right-handed side of a platoon. Now, Gallo is once again in the middle of a brutal slump, and Garlick was just designated for assignment. McCutchen is currently performing at a level that the Twins desperately need from their corner outfielders. Through 62 games with the Pirates, he has a strong .264/.385/.425 (124 wRC+) slash line, with nine home runs, 24 RBI and seven stolen bases. All in all, Fangraphs pegs McCutchen’s performance worth 1.1 WAR, which would lead all Twins’ hitters. Sure, there’s no crystal ball that assures he would have performed at this level if he had signed with the Twins, but the point remains that McCutchen still possesses a potent bat in his age-36 season. Compare that to what the Twins have received from their corner outfielders, and the point really gets hammered home. McCutchen could have raised the tide with this offense with a modest investment. The Twins have the American League’s 4th-worst WAR total from their right fielders in 2023, and a combined OPS of just .699. McCutchen alone has an .810 OPS, which is more than 50 points higher than that of Gallo, 148 points higher than that of Garlick and 160 points higher than that of Max Kepler. Simply put, the plan that the Twins decided to go with has not panned out. It should be noted that McCutchen has played the bulk of his games this year as the Pirates’ DH, but there’s still reason to believe that he can be a strong defender in a corner outfield spot. He took the field in 53 games just last year, and he held his own with relatively neutral results when it came to Outs Above Average (0 OAA in 434 innings). He also still boasts above-average sprint speed (81st percentile), which is much faster than the three aforementioned Twins players. In terms of one of the team’s greatest weaknesses in 2023, McCutchen could have significantly improved the offense’s results with runners in scoring position. In those instances this year, the slugger has a whopping .901 OPS with just a 12.7% strikeout rate. His performance in those situations has been about 38% better than the league-average hitter. Again, there’s no promising that McCutchen would have been a vast improvement when compared to the options that the Twins are working with in their current corner outfield depth chart. But at this point, it’s hard to make the case against it. And for a team whose platoon-heavy game plan hasn’t mustered much firepower, the idea of having Cutch as a near-everyday regular sounds pretty refreshing. It’s easy to think about all the moves that haven’t gone the Twins’ way in recent years. From their disastrous free agent signings to their ill-fated trades at last year’s deadline. But what can drive people even crazier is thinking about all of the relatively-minor investment moves that could have paid off exponentially. McCutchen certainly fits that mold all too well. What do you think? Should the Twins have been more willing to promise significant playing time to McCutchen? Do you think he would have helped this offense that currently finds themselves in a tailspin? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below. View full article

It was a rough night for the affiliates. There was a solid sweep across the teams as all the teams fell to their opponents. While the scores show the games in the loss column, it wasn't for lack of trying. Most of the frustration came from leaving players on base and the opponents working deep into the bullpens to run up the scores. Image courtesy of Seth Stohs Twins Daily TRANSACTIONS Infielder Elliot Soto activated from the 7-day IL Infielder Hernan Perez placed on the 7-day IL with right knee sprain Right Handed Pitcher Gianluca Dalatri has been placed on the 7-day IL with a right forearm strain Right Handed Pitcher Niklas Rimmel has been activated off the Development List and is available immediately Saints Sentinel St. Paul 1, Buffalo 4 Box Score The Saints offense came out strong right away in the first inning, loading the bases with no outs. Buffalo pitcher Zach Thompson started out the inning with a single from Jose Miranda and then a hit batter and a walk to load the bases. As promising as the inning looked, Thompson settled in and provided three quick outs to end the inning and keep the Saints from scoring. Randy Dobnak was on the bump for the Saints in game four of six against Buffalo in hopes of another win. In another Dobnak "bumpdate", he announced via Instagram that he and his wife are expecting a baby in December 2023. Congrats to Randy and Aerial! Dobnak struggled to get out of the first inning giving the Bisons a chance to work up his pitch count. The right-hander saw six batters in the first inning, giving up two hits and walking one. After the bases were loaded, he got out of the inning with a strikeout. The Bisons got on the board first with a solo home run from Tanner Morris in the third inning while the Saints continued to battle for a place on the board. Thompson kept the offense from making any progress toward closing the gap until the sixth inning when Kyle Garlick hit a homer to put the Saints on the board and within a run. The bullpen for the Saints was unsuccessful at keeping the Bisons at two runs. Austin Schulfer gave up a double to the Blue Jays 39th prospect, Cam Eden, and a ground rule double to Rafael Lantigua, that scored Eden to pull ahead again of the Saints. Despite their best efforts, the Saints were able to get on base, but were unable to overcome the Bisons defense, stranding six players on base. Jose Miranda went 2-for-4. In his first rehab game, Trevor Larnach went 0-for-2 with a walk and two strikeouts. Wind Surge Wisdom Wichita 1, Tulsa 9 Box Score The Wind Surge were in a rain delay as quickly as it started. Prior to the rain delay, Tulsa got on the board with two runs off of Travis Adams in the top of the first inning. Three batters into the bottom of the first inning, mother nature opened up the skies and rain delayed the game. The rain made way for the game to start again, and the Surge replaced their starting pitcher, Travis Adams with Hunter McMahon at the top of the second inning coming back from the delay. Tulsa scored one in the second inning and then scored three innings in the fifth and in the sixth inning to put the game out of reach. Four relievers worked a combined seven innings out of the bullpen. The in the top of the ninth, outfielder Will Holland came on and got three ground ball outs quickly. McMahon, Denny Bentley, Francis Peguero, and Michael Boyle. Boyle worked two scoreless innings. The offense did very little. Yoyner Fajardo had two-hits in the game including a ninth-inning,, two-out, RBI singled to score Alerick Soularie, Fajardo also stole his 16th and 17th bases. DaShawn Keirsey walked twice. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 2, Lansing 3 Box Score The Kernels started out game four against Lansing striking blood first. Kala’i Rosario hit a two-run home run to set the tone early in the game. After scoring 24 runs on Thursday night, the Kernels were hoping for a repeat performance to run up the score on Lansing. Starting pitcher Marco Raya pitched another three inning game. Raya’s outing was a good one, striking out four and only giving up a run after not giving up any during the month of May. Unfortunately, the one hit was a solo home run by Euribiel Angeles. Raya has been consistent in his appearances, continuing to improve after being on the IL early in the season with shoulder tightness. The tone of the game quickly went deaf when the Lugnuts went ahead in the third and fourth innings and stayed there through the end of the game. Alejandro Hidalgo replaced pitcher Marco Raya in the fourth inning. Brian Dinkelman also replaced Jose Salas, who left with an injury after his plate appearance, with Ernie Yake. Hidalgo came to the Twins as part of the Gio Urshela trade with the Angels. He has appeared in eight games for the Kernels, and Friday night marked his second loss. The 20-year-old prospect has only given up seven earned runs in his 27 1/3 innings this season. In this game, Hidalgo gave up one hit, but two earned runs with a two-run home run from Daniel Susac that scored Max Muncy, and gave the Lugnuts a one-run lead. Jordan Carr finished out the game, not allowing any more runs, but the damage was already done. The Kernels offense struggled to manufacture any runs after the first inning and fell to the Lugnuts 3-2. Kala'i Rosario had two of the team's four hits. Mussels Matters Fort Myers 0, St. Lucie 1 Game 1 A classic pitchers duel took place in the day's first game in St. Lucie. It certainly was not for lack of trying. Power hitter Jorel Ortega had one of two hits against St. Lucie on Friday night with his 16th double of the season. Luis Baez hit a line drive to left-field in the third inning and a stolen base gave hope to the Mussels, but that hope was quickly dashed with a pop-up to center field to end the inning. St. Lucie's Karell Paz put a ton of pressure on Mussels starter Andrew Morris, stealing two bases in a row and scored on a throwing error. Paz scored the lone run of the game. Morris had a good outing. He pitched five innings and only allowed the one run. He struck out four batters. Lefty Gabriel Yanez came in to relieve Morris and kept the game at 1-0. The Mussels had just two hits in the game. They weren't able to walk and struck out 12 times. Fort Myers 4, St. Lucie 9 Game 2 (Make up from 5/31) Cory Lewis started game two. Lewis struggled right away, walking three, giving up a run and only striking out one. Lewis was replaced with two outs and the bases loaded in the first inning by Danny Moreno who came in and managed more potential damage so early in the game. Lewis faced just six batters and needed 37 pitches. St. Lucie gave the Mussels a rough time in the third inning, running up the score with five runs to open up the score to 6-0. The Mussels were finally able to string together a few hits to at least get on the board to bring the game within a grand slam (6-2). With plenty of game left, it was on the pitching staff to control the remainder of the innings and give the offense a chance to generate more runs. Rubel Cespedes had a good game, knocking a two-run homer in the fifth inning. It brought the Mussels to within two, but the Mets immediately answered at the top of the next inning with three runs to drive the run differential to 9-4. The Mets worked their way through the Mussels bullpen exhausting six pitchers. The Mussels stranded 12 hitters on base. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Will Holland (Wichita Wind Surge) - 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB Hitter of the Day – Rubel Cespedes (Fort Myers Mighty Mussels) - 1-for-2, 1 R, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 0 K PROSPECT SUMMARY The Twins Prospect Tracker is the best way to see how each of the Twin's top prospects performed during their games, but in case you wanted a quick look, Here is how each of the top 20 performed today: #1 - Brooks Lee (Wichita) - 0-for-5 #2 - Royce Lewis (Minnesota) - 0-for-4 #3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-2, 2 BB, R, K #4 - Edouard Julien (Saint Paul) - 0-for-2, 2 BB, K #6 - Marco Raya (Cedar Rapids) - 3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K #9 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 0-for-3, 1 K #12 - Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-2, K (left game with injury) #13 - Noah Miller (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, K #19 - Yunior Severino (Wichita) - 1-for-3, BB SATURDAY SCHEDULE AND PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Buffalo (5:05 PM CST) - RHP Simeon Woods Richardson (0-5, 7.79 ERA) Drillers @ Wichita (6:35 PM CST): RHP Christian MacLeod (0-0, 27.00 ERA) Wisconsin @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CST) - RHP Christian MacLeod (0-0, 27.00 ERA) Fort Myers @ St. Lucie (5:00 PM CST) - TBD (as of 10:00pm 6/2) Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Friday's games! 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Rude of the Twins to soil an ode to Tina Turner like that. Image courtesy of Nick Wosika-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Louie Varland: 6 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 3 K Home Runs: None Bottom 3 WPA: Byron Buxton (-.177), Michael A. Taylor (-.175), Donavon Solano (-.142) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) There were inklings from the start. We should have known that this would be an atypical game—more than usual for baseball—from the opening frame of whimsicality. Odd and with a strange rhythm, the Blue Jays and Twins slowly descended into their melee, subtly altering the standard rules of engagement to treat the dual-citizen fans to a unique game. It started in the first: George Springer doubled, eventually finding himself standing on third base with just one out—a prime chance to score. A Vladimir Guerrero Jr. grounder appeared a tantalizing chance for the former Astro to plate a run, and Springer revealed his hand, taking off for home, although with uneasiness. Carlos Correa—undaunted; evidently footless, if news reports were to be believed—snagged the chopper, chased down his unsure victim, and then gunned down a greedy Guerrero at first base to end the inning. And so the game started. The Blue Jays—victims of circumstance, a good team trapped in a nightmare division—entered the match fresh off a brutal, deflating loss to an elite Tampa Bay team. The players decided a meeting was in order; no coaches were allowed. The team was good, yes, but their context was not an excuse to their players and their demands. The meeting appeared to work. Two scoreless innings begat a fruitful offensive explosion; Kevin Kiermaier blasted a solo homer in the third before Bo Bichette, flowing and smooth, shot a ball to deep center field, adding two more runs to Toronto’s total. It was the culmination of Louie Varland’s troubles on Friday night. The righty was fine, effective, only two lame pitches away from finding shutout success. But such is the life of a pitcher and Varland—although unharmed in any other frame—eventually exited his start with a trio of runs to his name over six innings of work. He struck out three. Unfortunately for the Twins, their challenge for the day was Kevin Gausman, an ace by every metric perfectly capable of dominating the strike zone with ease. Yet the day’s unusual nature extended beyond baserunning casualties and ninth-hitter homers: Kevin Gausman couldn’t find the zone. He did at times—earning eight strikeouts along the way—but Minnesota lived with the punch outs, fine with the trade-off causing Gausman to throw more pitches than he would like. They ended with five walks off the starter; he entered the day with 11 on the season in total. Gausman’s day ended when Kyle Garlick smoked an RBI double to plate Minnesota’s first run. All things couldn’t be happy, though, and the Twins extended their bases loaded struggles by coming up empty in two trips to the plate. Home plate umpire Bruce Dreckman aided, failing to restrain himself from calling a ball a strike against Michael A. Taylor, swinging the game from a 3-2 match with the potential for more to a 3-1 game with the dead weight of lost potential crushing Minnesota’s shoulders. So we entered a battle of relievers. Emilio Pagán carried Minnesota for two frames, allowing no runs or hits while punching out three batters; he needed just 21 pitches. Toronto selected from their assortment of pitchers as well, sending out arms unable to escape the walking curse of their brethren while ultimately exiting harmlessly with a few extra baserunners to their name. Byron Buxton threatened to inch the game closer with a warning track warning shot, but the Twins could find no fortune in the 9th, falling in the same fashion that cursed the team in every other inning on Saturday. Notes: Louie Varland has thrown at least five innings in five of six starts for the Twins in 2023. Kevin Gausman's five walks were the most for him since another five-walk start on June 29th, 2021. Christian Vázquez's last extra-base hit came on April 13th. Post-Game Interview: What’s Next? The Twins and Blue Jays will play game two of the series on Saturday; Pablo López will start opposite Chris Bassitt and first pitch is at 1:10 PM. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet View full article

The Minnesota Twins had a Giants bullpen game served up on a platter for them to take game one of the homestand. Instead the night was filled with an uncharacteristic opening for Bailey Ober and a non-existent offense which led to a Twins loss. Image courtesy of © Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports Box Score SP: Bailey Ober: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 K (76 pitches, 49 strikes (64.5%) Home Runs: Kyle Garlick (2) Bottom 3 WPA: Bailey Ober (-0.247), Kyle Farmer (-0.128), Michael A. Taylor (-0.123) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Before the game's first pitch, the Twins shared great news after a weekend filled with injuries. That news was that Byron Buxton would, in fact, be able to play Monday night in the series opener against the Giants. As the lineup struggles, it cannot afford to miss Buxton’s bat. Walks Will Haunt Over his first five starts, Bailey Ober has been very good at two things. He has limited walks and home runs. Coming into Monday’s game, Ober had allowed two home runs and seven walks to opposing batters, giving him a fantastic 1.78 ERA and making him a valuable part of the Twins starting rotation. It is those pristine numbers that made the sloppy first inning Monday so strange. Ober handed free passes to the first two batters, which set the table for J.D. Davis to double home the game's first run. In the next at-bat, Michael Conforto took Ober deep for a 3-run home run putting the Giants up 4-0 before an out was recorded. Haunts to Flaunts While the first inning was a nightmare, Ober deserves a truckload of credit for settling in and working quickly through the rest of his start. Over the next four innings, Ober only allowed one hit and no walks. The right-hander did great work at saving the bullpen and giving time for the offense to try and chip away at the lead. (More on that later.) Put Me in Coach… Edouard Julien was set to get time at second base and hit cleanup for the Twins. Well, he did play second base but never had the opportunity to hit. In the second inning, after the Giants pulled their right-handed opener John Brebbia and turned to left-hander Sean Manaea. Rocco Baldelli made his move. The Twins turned to Donovan Solano over Julien. While Solano got a base hit to lead off the inning, the Twins could not do anything with it. It is an interesting managing decision not to let a young hitter get any chance against a struggling Manaea, even if he's a left-hander. The Twins had a plan for pinch hitting against the Giants and stuck to it. Not only was Julien lifted early, but so was Alex Kirilloff in favor of Kyle Garlick. While we will focus mainly on the Twins plan for their own offense, credit to the Giants for their plan. The Giants had a clear blueprint to try and neutralize the Twins bench moves, and that plan was executed masterfully. There was quite a level of gamesmanship that went into the Giants plan. Dan Hayes offered up on Twitter that Manaea threw a bullpen session pre-game. A pre-game bullpen would cause any team to assume he wouldn’t be the long arm after the opener. Where’s the Offense? As has plagued the Twins all season long, the offense disappeared. What is most frustrating on a night like tonight is that they did so against a pair of pitchers that have performed more like replacement pitchers than anything. Manaea and Tristan Beck are the type of pitchers a competitive ball club should feast on, and the Twins did the exact opposite of that. Garlick did get Beck for a solo home run in the eighth inning in a righty vs. righty matchup. While the home run prevented the shutout, that was all it was good for. Injuries have certainly been an issue for the Twins, but even with the injuries, this lineup is talented enough to have put up crooked numbers against the pitchers they faced Monday. What’s Next? In the second game of the series the Twins will send Sonny Gray to the mound who is still carrying a 1.64 ERA this far into the season. The Giants will counter with their best starter as Alex Cobb takes the mound who has his own sub two ERA AT 1.94 nine starts into his season. Postgame Interviews Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet THU FRI SAT SUN MON TOT Jax 0 33 0 0 17 50 Sands 0 0 0 0 44 44 De León 0 0 0 31 0 31 J. López 0 0 19 12 0 31 Pagán 0 0 0 0 23 23 Durán 0 0 20 0 0 20 Stewart 0 11 5 0 0 16 Morán 0 0 9 0 0 9 View full article