Down on the Pond – 09APR2012 Recap

On Monday all four of the Twins minor league affiliates were in action. I was able to catch the radio broadcast of the Beloit game for the 2nd time this year and the offense in Beloit is as good as predicted, wowsers. I’ll be heading to Clinton, Iowa next week to catch a game between the Clinton LumberKings and the Beloit Snappers, pictures and analysis to follow. But for now let’s get a recap of what went down on Monday in the minor leagues.

AAA Rochester Red Wings (2-2) vs Buffalo Bison (New York Mets): 3 – 2 Red Wings
The Red Wings came into Monday’s game 2-2 having dropped the first two games of the four game set against the Buffalo Bison. Samuel Deduno took the mound for Rochester against Garrett Olson. Deduno pitched a 1-2-3 first inning and gave the Red Wings 5 innings of 2 run ball but left the game trailing 2-1.  Carlos Guiterrez came into the game and pitched 2 shutout innings giving up no hits and striking out 3 to earn the win on the back of a Brian Dozier 2-run homerun in the 7th. Tyler Robertson and Anthony Slama each pitched a scoreless inning of relief and the Red Wings got the W at home 3-2 over Buffalo to improve their record to 3-2.

Studs: Brian Dozier was 2 for 4 extending his hit streak to 5 with a home run a double and three RBI. Dozier is now 9 for 19 on the season with 3 walks and 4 XBH, good enough for a line of .474/.545/.789 (batting average/on base percentage/slugging percentage).
Red Wings Bullpen put in 4 innings of work between Gutierrez, Robertson and Slama giving up no hits and allowing only 2 walks during their evening of work.
Note: Matt Carson was 0 for 2 but took another 2 walks and has reached base in all 5 games this season.

Duds: Rene Rivera and Joe Benson both went 0 for 4 and neither was able to earn a walk. Rivera also struck out twice.

AA New Britain Rock Cats (3-1) vs Harrisburg Senators (Washington Nationals): 6 – 3 Rock Cats
New Britain took three of four from Richmond, including the first three, to start the season 3-1.  The Rock Cats welcomed the Harrisburg Senators to New Britain Stadium for the first of a three game series and walked away with a x-x victory/loss.  Alex Wimmers got the start against Mike Ballard and went… Wimmers gave up two hits in the first, a walk in the second and a home run in the third and another run in the 5th to finish the day w/ 4.1 innings pitched, 6 hits, 2 earned runs, 2 walks and 2 K’s. Deolis Guerra came into the game with the bases loaded and allowed 1 run to score before getting Destin Hood to ground into an inning ending double play.  When the dust settled on the 5th inning the score was 6-2 Rock Cats.  Harrisburg would score one more in the 9th off of Daniel Turpen, but the Red Cats earned the W to move to 4-1 on the season.  The bats were alive in New Britain on Monday, the Rock Cats scraped together 13 hits including a 4 run 3rd that included 4 hits and a HR from Aaron Hicks.

Studs: Aaron Hicks went 2 for 4 with a home run and 4 RBI.
Darin Mastroianni was 2 for 5 at the plate and stole 2 bases.
Deolis Guerra pitched 2.2 perfect innings in relief to get the win.

Duds: Chris Herrmann was the only Rock Cat not to get a hit in Monday evening’s game.

A+ Fort Myers Miracle (0-3) vs Jupiter Hammerheads (Miami Marlins): 3 – 1 Miracle
The Miracle were swept at home by the Charlotte Stone Crabs (Tampa Bay Rays) to start the season 0-3 and started off their second series of the year with a xxx over the visiting Jupiter Hammerheads. Adrian Salcedo took to the mound for his first outing of the season and was matched up against Grant Dayton of the Hammerheads. Salcedo got off to a good start with a 1-2-3 first inning but ran into some trouble in the third walking 2 and a single that would cost him a run.  Salcedo finished the night with a strong 4 inning, 1 run outing, allowing just 2 hits, but he did walk 3 to match his 3 K’s for the evening. Daniel Santana reached on an error in the first and came home to score to give the Miracle an early lead, 1-0. Edgar Ibarra, Ricky Brown and Bruce Pugh combined to pitch 5 scoreless innings and the offense added 2 more runs for their first victory of the year. The Miracle are now 1-3 on the season.

Studs: Adrian Salcedo, Edgar Ibarra, Ricky Bowey and Bruce Pugh combined to scatter 9 hits against the Hammerheads. Ibarra has yet to give up an earned run this season in 5.1 innings of relief.
Levi Michael was 3 for 4.

Duds: Oswaldo Arcia, Angel Morales, Danny Rams and Anderson Hidalgo and Andy Leer all went hitless tonight and of that group Leer was the only one to draw a walk.

A Beloit Snappers (1-2) at Kane County Cougars (Kansas City Royals): 9 -7 Snappers
The Snappers stole a game to avoid being swept in their opening series against the Peoria Chiefs (Chicago Cubs) and are now on the road to face off against the Kane County Cougars. Jason Wheeler took the mound to make his professional debut and although he gave up three hits and a run in the first inning he settled down to give Beloit 4.o innings of 1 run ball surrendering 5 hits, a walk and 3 K’s.  The Snappers chased Cougar starter Brooks Pounders in the fourth but didn’t do any real damage until later in the game. Matthew Tomshaw came into the game for Wheeler and gave up 3 runs on 5 hits and a walk before giving way to Bert Carter in the sixth, 4-2 Cougars.  The Snapper offense came alive in the top of the 7th to the tune of 5 runs thanks to a 3-run home run by Miguel Sano (off Andrew Stueve who would get the L) and took a 3 run lead into the bottom half of the inning, 7-4 Snappers. Things came apart for Carter in bottom of the seventh as he gave up 2 runs on a single and three walks to bring the score to 7-6.  In the 8th Sano again went deep to right field and gave the Snappers some breathing room, 9-6 Snappers. Michael Tonkin was brought into the game and put up 1.1 scoreless innings and started a nifty 1-3 double play in the bottom of the 8th. Corey Williams entered the game in the 9th and  gave up a triple and a run along with 2 K’s before recording the save to move the Snappers to 2-2 on the year.

Studs: Miguel Sano was 2 for 3 with 2 home runs (5 RBI) and 2 walks. Sano has 3 hits the season and they are all home runs (3 for 13).
Eddio Rosario went 2 for 4 with a walk and 2 stolen bases.
A.J. Pettersen, Minnetonka native and four year starter for the Golden Gophers, scored his first hit in the Mid-West League when he led off the 5th with a triple and later scored on a wild pitch to put the Snappers up 2-1. Peterson was 3 for 4 on the day with an RBI and a walk, 2 singles and a triple.

Duds: Matthew Tomshaw came in and pitched 1.2 innings giving up 3 runs, 5 hits, a walk and only 1 K.
Bert Carter gave up 2 runs on a single and 3 walks in his inning of work but still earned a W thanks to a 5 run 7th from the Snapper offense.
Wang-Wei Lin went 1 for 6 and is now 1 for 12 on the season with a walk and 2 K’s.

For the first time this season all four of the Twins minor league affiliates went home with a win.  Hard to find too much to complain about when that happens.  Unfortunately the guys up in Minnesota dropped the home opener to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 5-1.

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