Minnesota Twins Daily Morning Dip for July 15th, 2017

Minnesota Twins Daily Dip, July 15th, 2017

Welcome to the July 15th edition of the Daily Dip, your daily piece of news and notes here on Puckett’s Pond. You’ll find the scores and a quick summary of every level of the Minnesota Twins organization and links to any information you need to know to follow the Minnesota Twins here every morning!
We’ll start with the news and notes portions and work our way through each level of the system!

News and Notes

Houston Astros 10, Minnesota Twins 5

After Jose Berrios was tagged early on, a surprisingly excellent performance by the Twins bullpen gave the offense a chance to rally. The bats had plenty of chances, loading the bases in three straight innings, and going 1-13 with runners in scoring position. Berrios went 1 2/3 innings, allowing 7 runs (2 earned) on 4 hits and 3 walks, striking out 1. Brian Dozier had a big day at the plate, leading off the game with a home run and smacking a double to drive in 4 runs total.

July 15th Probable Starter: Ervin Santana @ Houston Astros 6:10PM CT

Rochester Red Wings 4, Lehigh Valley IronPigs 1

The Red Wings got excellent performances from rehabbing pitchers on Friday as Justin Haley and Craig Breslow opened the game with 6 scoreless innings, combining for just 3 hits and no walks given up, striking out 2. J.B. Shuck had a double and a single. Edgar Corcino had a triple, and Matt Hague had a double.

July 15th Probable Starter: Dillon Gee @ Lehigh Valley, 5:35PM CT

Chattanooga Lookouts 5, Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 4

The Lookouts offense backed another chapter in the resurgence of Kohl Stewart on Friday night. Stewart went 6 innings, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits and a walk, striking out 7. Max Murphy had the big night at the plate, finishing a home run short of the cycle. Jonathan Rodriguez had a double and two singles. T.J. White had a home run and a single. Travis Harrison had a double.

July 15th Probable Starter: Dereck Rodriguez vs. Jacksonville, 6:15PM CT

Charlotte Stone Crabs 4, Fort Myers Miracle 3

Fort Myers jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, but a 3-run 4th inning by Charlotte knotted the game, and it’d stay that way until Charlotte walked off in the bottom of the ninth with a 4-3 win. David Fischer went 4 innings, allowing 3 runs on 2 hits and 4 walks, striking out 3. Mitchell Kranson and Sean Miller each had a solo home runs. Tanner English had a double. Jermaine Palacios stole a base.

July 15th Probable Starter: Cody Stashak vs. St. Lucie, 5:05PM CT

West Michigan Whitecaps 3, Cedar Rapids Kernels 0

Cedar Rapids ran into a buzz saw as Gregory Soto struck out 11 Kernels over 6 innings for West Michigan en route to a shutout win. Clark Beeker started for Cedar Rapids, going 5 innings, allowing 3 runs (1 earned) on 4 hits and 2 walks, striking out 5. Lewin Diaz had one of the Kernels’ three hits, smacking a double.

July 15th Probable Starter: Griffin Jax @ South Bend, 6:05PM CT

Burlington Royals 5, Elizabethton Twins 3

The Twins had a 3-2 lead entering the bottom of the 8th inning, when the bullpen gave up 3 runs to drop the game. Charlie Barnes had a very good start, allowing an unearned run on 3 hits and 3 walks, striking out 5. The Twins only managed two hits. Colton Waltner had a double and a walk. Mark Contreras had a single, a walk, and a stolen base.

July 15th Probable Starter: TBD @ Greeneville, 5:00PM CT

GCL Red Sox 9, GCL Twins 2

The Twins played sloppy baseball on the day, committing 5 errors, including 2 from top draft pick Royce Lewis, as they lost the game to the Red Sox. Petru Balan started the game and went 3 innings, allowing 2 unearned runs on 4 hits and 2 walks, striking out 5. Humberto Maldonado had a pair of hits, including a double. Roni Tapia also added a double.

July 15th Opponent: @ Red Sox 9:00AM CT

DSL Phillies Red 9, DSL Twins 4

The Twins scored 2 in the bottom of the first to take the early lead, but the Phillies Red squad came back to take the win. Luis Bellorin went 2 1/3 innings, allowing 5 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks, striking out 5 in his worst start of the year. Steven Cruz threw 3 scoreless innings of relief, allowing just one walk, striking out 2. Samuel Vasquez and Juan Martinez each had a pair of doubles. Agustin Marte, Alberoni Nunez, and Yeremi De La Cruz each had a pair of hits.

July 15th 3pponent: Off Day

Minor League Pitcher/Hitter Of The Day

Pitcher: Justin Haley, Rochester – 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
Hitter: Max Murphy, Chattanooga – 4-5, R, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI

Next: John Sickels Interview

One Last Thing

I found drawing 9 walks a high number (it’s really not, surprisingly), and drawing that many while only scoring 5 runs rather odd (it is, kind of). In doing a play index on Baseball Reference, I found that The Twins had drawn 9 or more walks 141 times in the team’s history. The most in any one game was in 1969 against the Seattle Pilots with famous future baseball writer Jim Bouton on the mound. He only had two walks in 3 2/3 innings, but his team allowed 18 total in an 11-7 loss.

I took it the next step and looked for games with 9 or more walks with 5 or less runs and was surprised to find 41 such games. The lease amount of runs scored when drawing 9 or more walks was in 1998 against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, a game the Twins lost 4-1. Current Twins manager Paul Molitor was the DH in that game, and he drew one of the 11 walks the team had, yet they could only manage one run, in spite of 5 hits and 11 walks.