Pond Performers (6/20): Logan Darnell Dazzles

For the Minnesota Twins farm system Thursday’s games were headlined by solid pitching performances at nearly every level. Collectively the teams allowed just 8 runs in the 6 games played which resulted in a 5-1 record on the day. Throw in the parent club’s 8-4 win over the White Sox at Target Field and it’s hard to find a rain cloud in the sky.

Chris Herrmann and the rest of the Twins organization had plenty to smile about on Thursday. (Photo Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports)

Rochester Red Wings (37-38): 5-2 Win over Scranton/Wilkes Barre (32-40)

Plenty of fans are clamoring for RHP Kyle Gibson to get his shot in the Twins rotation and while I’ve been largely on the fence about that, his start yesterday has nudged me closer to the collective. In 7.0 innings of work he gave up 5 hits, 1 walk  and an unearned run while striking out 6. Through 92.2 innings with Rochester he now boasts a 3.01 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 2.88 SO/BB and 7.7 SO/9.

1B Chris Colabello hit his 15th home run for Rochester and had a pair of singles to finish the day 3-5 with a run and 2 driven in. LF Chris Herrmann (2-4), SS Doug Bernier (2-4) and 2B Ray Olmedo (2-3) also had multi hit games. Everyone in the Red Wings lineup had a hit with the exception of DH Jeff Clement (0-3).

New Britain Rock Cats (34-37): 2-0 Win over Erie (37-33)

LHP Logan Darnell dominated en route to a complete game 4-hit shutout. He walked one while striking out nine. The team’s 2010 6th round pick has a 2.61 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 3.35 SO/BB and 7.2 SO/9 in 96.2 innings and is in the midst of his best season on the mound since he was with the E-Twins in 2010.

It was a good thing Darnell didn’t need a lot of support from his offense as the Rock Cats managed just 4 hits in the game. Two of those came off the bat of Kyle Knudson (2-3) and Miguel Sano (1-3, BB, SO) accounted for another.

The big hit came from 1B Reynaldo Rodriguez (1-3, R, HR, RBI, BB, SO). His solo HR (9) in the 2nd inning was all the team needed thanks to Darnell’s superb pitching. The overall numbers don’t jump out at you but Rodriguez has really picked up of late hitting 0.353/.395/.765 with 4 HR in his last 34 at bats.

Fort Myers Miracle (46-22): 5-2 Win over Jupiter (36-33)

RHP Matthew Summers (5.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO) continued to steadily go about his business. He’s not putting up flashy, dominant numbers but he’s allowed more than 3 earned runs in a game just one time in 14 starts. After 72.2 innings of work Summers had a 3.59 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and 2.36 SO/BB.

RHPs Adrian Salcedo and Zach Jones each threw a pair of hitless, shutout innings while striking out a combined 5 in relief.

1B Kennys Vargas (3-4, R, SO) had his third straight multi-hit game and is now hitting 0.344/.462/.563 in his last ten. LF Jonathan Murphy and 2B Candido Pimentel each had a pair of hits and 2 RBI. Pimentel’s double was the lone extra-base hit for the Miracle.

OF Wilkin Ramirez kicked off his rehab assignment and went 0-3 with a walk, strikeout and run scored.

Cedar Rapids Kernels (41-28): 3-1 Win over Wisconsin (29-37)

RHP Christian Powell (7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO): In his first start of the season, the 21-year old gave up 6 runs in 5.0 innings back on June 7th. Since then he’s thrown back-to-back starts allowing just a single run in each.

3B Travis Harrison (2-4, 2 R,2B, HR, 2 RBI) had the big night at the plate with his 19th double and 12th home run of the season. In his last three games he’s gone 5-11 and has started to even out his SO-to-BB rate recently as well.

SS Niko Goodrum and OF J.D. Williams each added a pair of singles while Byron Buxton had a rare off night going 0-4 with a strikeout.

OF Max Kepler made his Midwest League debut and went 0-3 with a R, BB and SO.

Elizabethton Twins (1-0): 3-0 Win over Bristol (0-1)

Thursday marked the start of the E-Twins 2013 season and they kicked it off in style with four pitchers (Felix Jorge, Tim Shibuya, Dallas Gallant and Luis Nunez) combining on a two hit shutout. Shibuya allowed both hits in his 4.1 innings of work.

C Bo Altobelli: 2-3, R, 2B, SO

GCL Twins: Season Starts June 21st

DSL Twins (9-7): Lost 4-3 to the DSL Orioles1 (8-8)

17-year old RHP Carlos Aponte made just the second start of his professional career and went 4.0 innings allowing just 1 H, 1 ER and 0 BB with 5 SO. Coupled with his appearance on June 14th, he’s allowed just 3 H and 1 ER with 6 SO in 7.1 IP. He’s quickly dropped his ERA down to 7.50 and has struck out a batter per inning (12 in 12.0).

OF Jet Hernandez: 2-4, R, 2B, SO

Other Transactions:

Assigned to Elizabethton: RHP Brandon Peterson, RHP Tanner Mendonca, OF Zach Granite, SS Carlos Avila, 2B Tanner Vavra, LHP Brandon Bixler, RHP Ethan Mildren, RHP C.K. Irby, RHP Brian Gilbert, C Stuart Turner, SS Ryan Walker, C Mitch Garver