On the Pond Daily (6/21): Sano Hits Another, Pitching MIA
By Wally Fish
Wins were hard to come by in the Twins system on Friday, June 21st. As a whole the system went 2-5 as only Cedar Rapids and the GCL Twins managed to emerge victorious. The DSL Twins had a scheduled off day and as a result were unable to add to either side of the ledger. The biggest positive to take away from yesterday is that all eight of the teams in the organization are finally playing games.
Deduno wasn’t at his best but he still had one of the better starts in the system on Friday. (Photo Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports)
Minnesota Twins (33-37): 5-1 loss to Cleveland (37-35)
RHP Sam Deduno (6.0 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO) gave up more than two earned runs for the first time in nearly a month and still turned in the second best start in the organization on Friday. Unfortunately it really didn’t matter as the Twins couldn’t break through, or draw a walk, against Scott Kazmir.
2B Brian Dozier hit a solo shot in the 6th to give him a HR in three straight and four in his last five games. 3B Trevor Plouffe (2-3), C Joe Mauer (1-4, SO) and SS Jamey Carroll (1-2) all hit doubles.
Mauer now has 23 doubles on the season putting him on pace to hit 53 and break the team’s single season record. Mickey Vernon currently holds that record with 51 back in 1946.
Rochester Red Wings (37-39): 3-0 loss to Louisville (37-38)
As has become the norm since joining Rochester, RHP Cole De Vries (5.0 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO) had another rough outing. He’s allowed 59 hits in 32.2 innings pitched and has allowed more hits than innings pitched in every single one of his seven Triple-A starts. De Vries was relieved by RHP Luis Perdomo who pitched 3.0 shutout, hitless innings while walking one and striking out three.
Perdomo’s impressive relief efforts were all for naught however since the Red Wings offense could muster only two hits in the game. Those hits came off the bats of 1B Chris Colabello (1-2, 2 BB, 1 SO) and DH Jeff Clement (1-4, 2 SO).
New Britain Rock Cats (34-38): 13-4 loss to Akron (35-37)
RHP Tom Stuifbergen‘s (3.1 IP, 8 H, 8 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO, 2 HR) third start with New Britain was strikingly similar to his first. He now has an 11.68 ERA, 1.70 WHIP and 4 HR allowed in 12.1 innings and that counts his fantastic start on June 15th. RHP B.J. Hermsen (1.2 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO) was also knocked around in his relief appearance.
For the third time in four games, 1B Reynaldo Rodriguez (2-4) went deep and added a triple as well to push his SLG up to 0.861 in his last 10 games. RF Daniel Ortiz (3-4, R, 2B, RBI), LF/2B Nate Hanson (3-5) and SS Danny Santana (2-4, RBI) each had multiple hits in the game but as will surely be the case until he moves on, all eyes were on Miguel Sano. New Britain’s 3B did not disappoint as he hit his 2nd home run since joining New Britain and went 1-3 for the third game in a row.
Fort Myers Miracle (46-23): 8-3 loss to Jupiter (37-33)
RHP Tyler Duffey (5.1 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO) faced 7 batters in the first inning but held the Hammerheads to just one run. From there he settled down and worked through the 2nd, 3rd and 4th innings allowing just two baserunners to reach. He wobbled again in the 5th giving up another run and Jupiter was able to knock him out of the game in the 6th with 4 runs.
1B Kennys Vargas (2-3, R, RBI, BB) and C Matt Koch (2-4, 2B) accounted for more than half of the team’s 7 hits in the game. In doing so, both continued their hot stretches. For Vargas it was his fourth straight multi-hit game while Koch has 16 hits in his last 10 (0.421/476/.737) with 6 2B and 2 HR.
Cedar Rapids Kernels (42-28): 5-3 win over Wisconsin (29-38)
LHP Josue Montanez (3.0 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO, 1 HR) started the game but the story on the mound was RHP Tim Atherton who threw 4.0 shutout innings of relief while striking out 3 and allowing just 2 hits.
The Kernels offense had a respectable seven hits in the game but they added an additional 10 baserunners by way of nine walks and a hit batter. 1B Dalton Hicks (2-5, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 SO) had the only multi-hit game and C Tyler Grimes (1-4, R, HR, RBI, BB, 2 SO) hit the team’s only home run. Max Kepler was on base twice with a double and a walk in five trips to the plate and Travis Harrison was on base three times thanks to getting plunked and two walks.
CF Byron Buxton (1-3, R, 2 BB, SO, 2 SB) had another solid night as he continues to wait for his promotion to Fort Myers.
Elizabethton Twins (1-1): 4-2 loss to Bristol (1-1)
Bristol got to RHP Josh Burris for 3 runs in the first inning and while only one of those runs were earned, it was his own error that led to the other two crossing the plate. In all he lasted 4.0 innings with 5 H, 0 BB and 4 SO.
RHP Kuo Hua Lo followed Burris and threw 3.0 shutout innings with 4 H and 1 SO.
Elizabethton was limited to just 3 hits on the night and those came off the bats of DH Brian Santy (1-4, 2 SO), RF Kelvin Ortiz (1-2, R, SB) and LF Jake Proctor (1-4, 3B, RBI, SO).
GCL Twins (1-0): 6-4 win over the GCL Red Sox (0-1)
Friday marked the start of the GCL Twins season and it was rather fitting that 17-year old lefty Lewis Thorpe took the mound to get things started. Signed out of Australia last July, Thorpe was making his professional debut. In 4.0 innings he allowed five hits, two runs and zero walks while striking out four.
At the plate it was 17-year old 3B Amaurys Minier who did most of the heavy lifting for the team with a 2-4 night that included a double, home run, two runs scored and three runs driven in. Minier was also making his professional debut after signing with the Twins last July out of the Dominican Republic.
For more on the initial roster of the GCL Twins, Seth Stohs provided a preview of the team yesterday over at Twins Daily.
DSL Twins (9-7): Scheduled Off Day
Other Transactions:
Fort Myers: sent RF Lance Ray to the GCL Twins on a rehab assignment
Assigned to GCL Twins: RHP Madison Boer, CF Chad Christensen, LHP Brandon Easton, LHP Stephen Gonsalves, RHP Josh Guyer, RHP Zach Hayden, CF Jason Kanzler, SS Amaurys Minier, SS Nelson Molina, C Brian Navarreto, LHP Derrick Penilla, OF Rick Schwarz, RHP Kohl Stewart, RHP Tyler Stirewalt, C Alex Swim, LHP Lewis Thorpe, OF Ryan Tufts and RHP Jared Wilson