On Friday, July 5th the major league club continued to stumble and dropped to 11 games under but the rest of the Twins system is in good shape. The organization was 4-3 on the day as Rochester’s win got them back to the 0.500 mark. That win leaves New Britain as the only affiliate currently under 0.500 and the Rock Cats, at 42-44, aren’t far off.
Dozier singles in the first inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre. (Photo Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports)
Minnesota Twins (36-47): 4-0 loss to Toronto (42-44)
RHP Kevin Correia (6.0 IP, 10 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 3 SO) did his best to battle the Blue Jays but couldn’t keep runners off base. His only 1-2-3 inning came in the 5th and by that point Toronto had already built up their 4-run lead. Correia’s latest start pushed his season ERA up to 4.19 and dropped his ERA+ under 100 to 99. Near league average performance through 17 starts still makes him a relative bargain with a $4.5 million salary but Minnesota desperately needed a win yesterday and have now lost 9 of 11 and 6 in a row.
Rookie Ryan Pressly pitched a pair of clean, hitless innings and appears to have bounced back from a rough four game stretch at the end of June.
2B Brian Dozier and LF Oswaldo Arcia each went 2-4 but the lineup as a whole was unable to do much off Mark Buehrle. Dozier’s 10th double was the Twins only extra-base hit and they didn’t draw a single walk all game.
Rochester Red Wings (45-45): 1-0 win over Pawtucket (52-35) in 10 innings
Friday’s start marked the first time all season that RHP Liam Hendriks (6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 SO) didn’t give up at least two runs. Coupled with his previous start, which was his previous best, he’s given up 10 hits, 4 walks and 2 runs in his last 14.0 innings of work.
RHP Shairon Martis (3.0 IP, 1 H, o ER, 1 BB, 3 SO) and RHP Michael Tonkin (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO) kept Pawtucket off the board after Hendriks was out of the game. Martis has had a rough year but Tonkin has been fantastic since joining the Red Wings. He’s now logged 13.2 IP with the Red Wings and has a 1.32 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and 15-3 SO-to-BB.
CF Antoan Richardson‘s (1-4) triple was the only extra base hit of the day for Rochester. Chris Colabello (1-3, 2 BB, SO , SB) reached base three times and has a modest 5-game hitting streak underway. 2B James Beresford (2-4, SO) scored the only run and is hitting 0.407/.414/.444 in his last 10 games.
New Britain Rock Cats (42-44): 7-5 win over Portland (44-40)
LHP Pat Dean (6.1 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 1 HR, BB, 0 SO) was back to getting roughed up after his complete game shutout on the 29th.
The top of New Britain’s order did most of the damage as SS Danny Santana (2-4, 2 R, 2B, 2 RBI, BB), 2B Eddie Rosario (3-5, 2 R, 2B, RBI) and LF Nate Hanson (2-4, 2 RBI) drove in five of the team’s seven runs.
Fort Myers Miracle (53-27): 7-3 win over Bradenton (31-51)
RHP Kyle Davies (5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO)
CF Byron Buxton (2-5, R, 2 RBI) hit his first Florida State League home run but Mike Kvasnicka did him one better. The team’s right fielder went 2-3 with two runs, two home runs, four RBI, a walk and a strikeout.
2B Levi Michael (2-4, R, SB) is showing signs of life of late. He’s 5-12 in his last three and is hitting 0.290/.333/.387 in his last ten.
Cedar Rapids Kernels (52-31): 8-7 loss to Wisconsin (35-45)
LHP Brett Lee (5.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO) turned in another solid start but this one was sabotaged by his bullpen that gave up five runs in 3.1 innings.
CF Max Kepler (4-5, 2B, 2 RBI, SO) had the second four-hit day of his young career.
LF J.D. Williams (3-5, 3 R, 3B, HR, 3 RBI, BB, SO) hit his 6th triple and 7th home run of the season and is now hitting a robust 0.515/.590/.909 in his last ten games.
Elizabethton Twins (11-3): 5-2 win over Bluefield (10-4) in 13 innings
RHP Josh Burris (4.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO) made his third start for Elizabethton and for the third time he allowed only one earned run.
The E-Twins offense went 16-52 in the came as five players had multi-hit games. CF Zack Granite (3-7, R, RBI, SO), 3B Bryan Haar (3-6, R, 3B, RBI, BB) and 2B Tanner Vavra (3-4, R, BB, SB) led the way with three hits each.
GCL Twins (6-6): game against GCL Red Sox (6-4) not yet completed
DSL Twins (14-15): 9-8 loss to the DSL Padres (11-18)
RHP Jose Ramirez (3.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO)
LF Frank Encarnacion (3-3, 3 R, HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB, SB)
Transactions:
Fort Myers activated RHP Kyle Daviesfrom the 7-day disabled list
Fort Myers placed LHP Taylor Rogers on the 7-day disabled list
New Britain activated RHP D.J. Baxendale from the 7-day disabled list