Pond Performers (6/19): Pat Dean and Doug Bernier Shine

For the Minnesota Twins, Wednesday, June 19th was both a good day and a bad day. It all depends on which area of the organization you choose to focus on. At the major league level home runs from Brian Dozier and Justin Morneau and a solid start from Kevin Correiaresulted in a 7-5 victory over the White Sox. Also landing on the positive side of the ledger was the signing of Kohl Stewart and several other of the team’s 2013 draft picks.

On the field down in the minor leagues, however, the four teams that were in action all lost and quality pitching was in short supply. On the transaction front, Max Kepler – the team’s #10 prospect according to Baseball America – was assigned to Cedar Rapids and should make his 2013 debut in short order.

Here’s a rundown of some of the notable minor league performances in the Twins system on Wednesday.

Hendriks was back on the mound on Wednesday but has quite a bit of rust to knock off after missing a month. (Photo Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports)

Rochester Red Wings: 10-7 Loss

RHP Liam Hendriks was activated from the 7-day disabled list and took the mound for the first time since May 9th. It was obvious right off the bat that he was going to have a rough day as he surrendered 6 runs in the first inning and made it through just 4.0 innings on the day. His final stat line (4.0 IP, 9 H, 7 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO, 2 HR) was a tad unsightly but it was his first start back and he should get a bit of a pass as he knocks off the rust.

SS Doug Bernier continued his recent stretch of hot hitting going 3-5 with a triple and 4 RBI on the day. He has five hits in the last two days and a slash line of 0.382/.447/.765 in his last 10 games.

New Britain Rock Cats: 2-1 Loss

New Britain may have lost the game but it was through no fault of their pitching staff. LHP Pat Dean had the start of the day allowing 6 hits and 2 runs in 6.2 innings of work. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out 3. Wednesday’s start marked the fourth time in his last five that he’s allowed two or fewer earned runs.

Dean was followed by RHP Matt Hauser who struck out 4 in 1.1 innings of work. He allowed a hit and a walk but kept Erie from scoring.

Offensively the Rock Cats lone run came off the bat of Miguel Sano. His 17th home run on the season was his first since being promoted to Double-A. SS Danny Santana, who went 2-4 with a triple had the team’s only other extra base hit. After four straight multi-hit games 1B Nate Hanson went 0-4.

Fort Myers Miracle: 8-5 Loss

LHP Jason Wheeler hadn’t allowed more than 3 earned runs in a start since April 21st – a run of nine starts. Unfortunately that streak came to an abrupt end with this pitching line: 4.1 IP, 7 H, 8 R (6 ER), 2 BB, 1 SO , 2 HR.

LHP Jose Gonzalez: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO

1B Kennys Vargas: 2-4, R, 2B, 2 RBI (hitting 0.313/.436/.656 in his last 10 games)

Cedar Rapids Kernels: Day Off

Elizabethton Twins: Season Starts June 20th

GCL Twins: Season Starts June 21st

DSL Twins: 7-6 Loss

SS/2B Manuel Guzman: 3-4, 2 R, 3B, 2 RBI – 2nd game in the DSL

CF Dubal Baez: 2-3, 2 R, BB (hitting 0.323/.488/.452 with 9 BB, 6 SO and 7 SB in his last 10)

Other Transactions:

Rochester: RHP Virgil Vasquez (31) was assigned to New Britain

Cedar Rapids: sent RHP Dallas Gallant to Elizabethton on a rehab assignment and also assigned Tim Shibuya to Elizabethton

Assigned to Elizabethton: Josh Burris, Kelvin Ortiz, Romy Jimenez, Felix Jorge, Austin Malinowski, Dereck Rodriguez, Yorman Landa, Carson Goldsmith, Javier Pimentel, Andre Martinez, Randy Rosario, Jake Proctor, Kuo Hua Lo, Logan Wade