Down on the Pond – Easter Sunday Recap

Sunday morning I brought you the news and results from opening weekend for the Twins minor league affiliates, and what a weekend it was.  Baseball is back across the nation and #hope springs eternal in Twins territory and beyond.  Despite a tough series sweep of the Twins at the hands of the Orioles Twins fans should keep their heads up, the season is long and an opening weekend a season does not make.

All of the Twins minor league affiliates were inactive on Easter Sunday w/ exception of the Rochester Red Wings who faced off against the Buffalo Bison (New York Mets) in the 2nd game of a 3 game series

AAA Rochester Red Wings (2-2):
Easter Sunday Recap: Cole DeVries started the game out with a walk and 2 singles in the first inning but was able to work himself out of the jam and escape the inning without allowing a run. After the early trouble Devries mowed down  1o Buffalo batters in a row before getting himself into trouble again in the 4th.  Heading into the 4th Rochester was up 1-0 thanks to Rene Rivera‘s first home run of the season. DeVries walked the second batter in the bottom half of the inning and then gave up back to back jacks (Adam Loewen, Matt Tuiasosopo) before being pulled in favor of Jeff Manship. In his second outing of the season Manship continued to look good this spring retiring all 10 Bison he faced and recording 4 K’s along the way before handing off the ball to fellow reliever Casey Fien in the top of the 8th with the score tied 3-3.  The Red Wings used a little 2-out magic in the home half of the 6th inning to scratch 2 runs across on a couple of 2 out singles and a walk to bring the score even at 3. Fien worked quickly getting the first two outs of the inning before giving up a HR to Valentino Pascucci. Fien would give up two more hits before escaping the inning.  The Red Wings went down in order in the 8th and Fien gave up another 3 singles and a run in the 9th before watching the Red Wings fail to produce the 2 runs needed to extend the game.

Studs: Jeff Manship pitched 3.1 perfect innings of relief with 4 K’s in his second appearance of the year.
Rene Rivera was 2 for 3 in the game with a home run and a single before he was pinch run for in the 7th.

Duds: Cole DeVries only gave up 4 hits, but two of those were long balls.
Casey Fien gave up three hits and a run in each of his 2 innings.
The Red Wings offense was 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position.

Game Notes:  Brian Dozier was 1 for 3 and has a hit in each of the teams first four games.
Matt Carson was 0 for 3 but did get himself a free pass and like Dozier, he has been on base each game this season.

The Red Wings now sit at 2-2 and look to earn back to back W’s to scratch out a series split in their home opening series. Check back tomorrow for results from today’s games as all four of the Twins full season minor league affiliates are in action.

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