On the Pond Daily (6/22): Chris Parmelee Powers the Twins

On Saturday, June 22nd the Twins organization went 5-3. They played in three extra inning games winning one in convincing fashion and losing two. The big stars came from relatively unlikely sources with Vance Worley boasting the best pitching performance of the day and Chris Parmelee nearly powering the major league squad past the Indians.

Parmelee made a strong case for more playing time on Saturday. (Photo Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports)

Minnesota Twins (33-38): 8-7 Loss to Cleveland (38-35)

When are four doubles and four home runs not enough? On Saturday at least, the answer is when P.J. Walters is on the mound. The 28-year old righty failed to make it out of the 1st inning and allowed Cleveland to answer Minnesota’s 2 run top of the inning with a 6 run bottom. For Walters it was the 5 walks that sealed his fate.

With 8 extra-base hits in the game, the lineup did their part and there were several strong performances but none were bigger than RF Chris Parmelee’s 3-5 night at the plate. Making his first start in nearly a week he hit a double (8th) and two home runs (6th and 7th).

Rochester Red Wings (38-39): 2-1 Win over Louisville (37-39)

RHP Vance Worley threw his third complete game in six starts with the Red Wings. He allowed just two hits and an unearned run while walking one and striking out five.

With Worley cutting through the Bats lineup with ease, he didn’t need much support from the offense. SS Doug Bernier and RF Chris Colabello accounted for four of the team’s six hits and both of the extra-base hits. Bernier hit his 11th double and Colabello hit his 16th home run with Rochester.

New Britain Rock Cats (35-38): 12-7 Win over Akron (35-38) in 11 innings

RHP Virgil Vasquez (5.2 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO) made his first start with the Rock Cats after being bumped down from Rochester last Wednesday. For someone with 546.0 innings of Triple-A experience and 61.1 major league innings on his resume, he was far from impressive.

The bats of the Rock Cats pounded out 12 runs and 17 hits, but were unable to push across a run in the first seven innings off Akron starter Toru Murata. Once Murata was out of the game, however, the bats came alive. They scored three runs in the 8th, four in the 9th and then five in the 11th.

SS Danny Santana and 2B Eddie Rosario each went 3-6 with 2 runs and a strikeout with Rosario also adding a pair of RBI and a SB. Reynaldo Rodriguez, Miguel Sano and Daniel Ortiz  combined to go 6-18 with a pair of hits for each. Rodriguez had a double and home run, Ortiz had a double and Sano added a triple.

Fort Myers Miracle (47-23): 7-1 Win over Jupiter (37-34)

LHP Taylor Rogers continued to roll along. In his latest start he allowed just one earned run and four hits in 6.0 innings pitched. He did allow four walks while striking out just two but it’s easy to give him a pass since he hadn’t walked more than two hitters in any of his previous 12 FSL starts.

SS Aderlin Mejia went 4-5 with an RBI in the leadoff spot and 1B Kennys Vargas had his 5th straight multi-hit game thanks to his 2-5 effort.

Both of RF Mike Kvasnicka‘s hits went for extra bases (2B and HR) and he finished with 4 RBI. His HR was the first in the Florida State League.

Cedar Rapids Kernels (43-28): 8-3 Win over Wisconsin (29-39)

LHP Brett Lee (5.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO) got the start and was provided plenty of support by the Kernels offense that scored three in the 1st and another run in the 2nd. Lee was steady but it was RHP Alex Muren that stood out. He didn’t allow a single runner to reach base in his 3.0 innings of work.

The Kernels offense was popping (sorry – I know it’s not original but I can’t resist) on Saturday. All nine members of the lineup contributed at least one hit to their total of 18 on the game. Byron Buxton, Adam Walker and Niko Goodrum took things a step further with two hits and they were outdone by Jorge Polanco and Dalton Hicks who each went 3-6 in the game.

Despite all the hits, the player of the game was, without question, 3B Travis Harrison (3-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI, BB, SO). His three hits pushed him to 8-16 in his last four games.

Elizabethton Twins (2-1): 6-2 Win over Bristol (1-2)

19-year old RHP Yorman Landa has put up solid numbers in his first two seasons in the Twins organization with the notable exception of his walk rate. If his Saturday start, his first in the Appalachian League, is any indication, he’s improved significantly in that area. In 5.0 innings of work Landa walked just one while striking out eight. Bristol scored just once while he was on the mound by way of five hits.

Fresh off being selected in the 2013 draft, RHPs Ethan Mildren (12th round) and Brandon Peterson (13th) each pitched a scoreless inning of relief in their professional debuts.

Seven members of the E-Twins lineup had a hit off White Sox pitching but it was RF Kelvin Ortiz (2-3, 2 R, 2B, RBI, BB, SO) that had the game of the night.

GCL Twins (1-1): 5-4 Loss to GCL Red Sox (1-1) in 11 innings

RHP Fernando Romero started and went 3.0 innings without allowing a hit but did allow two unearned runs thanks to a pair of walks and a hit batter. He also struck out four batters.

For the second straight day, Amaurys Minier led the way on offense. He was 2-3 with a 3B and 2 BB and has hit for the cycle in 7 AB. LF Chad Christensen also had multiple hits on Saturday with a 2-5 performance that included a 2B, R, RBI and SO.

DSL Twins (9-8): 5-4 Loss to DSL Orioles1 (9-9) in 10 innings

Eduardo Del Rosario (2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 0 SO) and Elias Villasana (3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 SO) had things on the right track and the Twins were up 4-1 after six innings. The Orioles proceeded to score one run in four straight frames to escape with the win in the 10th.

Everyone in the lineup managed to reach base via hit or walk with the exception of DH Luis Gonzalez who went 0-5 with 3 SO and is now just 2-26 (0.077) on the season. LF Jorge Parra (1-5), 1B Eddy Concepcion (1-4) and C Jhonathan Alvarez (1-4) each hit a double accounting for all of the Twins extra-base hits in the game. CF Dubal Baez (2-5) had the lone multi-hit game but also struck out three times.

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New Britain: RHP Bruce Pugh sent on a rehab assignment to GCL Twins