Levi Michael comes through for Fort Myers. Matthew Summers tosses a gem for Beloit. The GCL Twins just hope to get to play again.
LEHIGH VALLEY 10, ROCHESTER 3 IN LEHIGH VALLEY
Batting stars: Matt Carson was 3-for-4. Pedro Florimon was 2-for-3 with a triple.
Pitching stars: Bobby Lanigan threw two shutout innings, giving up a hit and two walks. Caleb Thielbar struck out three in a scoreless innings, allowing one hit.
Opposition stars: Jason Pridie was 4-for-5 with a double and two triples. Kevin Frandsen was 3-for-5 with a double. Chase Utley, on a rehab assignment, was 2-for-5 with a home run.
Key inning: The first. Florimon led off the game with a triple and scored on a ground out. The IronPigs came back with five in the bottom of the first. An error, two singles, a walk, and three more singles produced the runs. The Red Wings were never in the game after that.
NEW BRITAIN 5, TRENTON 4 IN NEW BRITAIN
Batting stars: Aaron Hicks was 3-for-4 with a triple. Oswaldo Arcia hit a two run homer, his first.
Pitching stars: Dakota Watts struck out three in 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk. Bruce Pugh struck out two in a perfect inning.
Opposition stars: Luke Merton was 2-for-3 with a walk. Jose Pirela was 2-for-4. Preston Claiborne struck out two in two perfect innings.
Key inning: The fourth. The score was tied at three. Deibinson Romero and Matt Rizzotti opened the inning with singles. A force out put runners on first and third and a wild pitch put the Rock Cats ahead. Hicks then singled to give New Britain a 5-3 lead.
Other: The Rock Cats have won six consecutive games…Watts made his AA debut. He was called up to replace Luis Perdomo, who was promoted to AAA.
FORT MYERS 7, TAMPA 6 IN FORT MYERS (GAME 1—8 INNINGS—SCHEDULED 7 INNINGS)
Batting stars: Daniel Rams was 3-for-4. Daniel Santana was 2-for-4 and drove in two.
Pitching star: Ricky Bowen struck out three in two shutout innings, allowing a hit and a walk.
Opposition star: J. R. Murphy was 2-for-4 with a home run.
Key inning: The second. The Yankees scored once to take a 5-0 lead. In the bottom of the frame, the Miracle tallied five times. Singles by Josmil Pinto, Jairo Rodriguez, and Rams loaded the bases with one out. An error scored two and put runners on second and third. Santana singled in two more, stole second, and scored on a Levi Michael single.
Other: Michael drove in the winning run in the eighth, hitting a bases-loaded single.
TAMPA 6, FORT MYERS 5 IN FORT MYERS (GAME 2—SCHEDULED 7 INNINGS)
Batting stars: Anderson Hidalgo was 2-for-3 with a double. Daniel Santana and Levi Michael were each 2-for-4.
Pitching stars: A. J. Achter gave up a run on three hits in three innings.
Opposition stars: Ramon Flores was 3-for-4 with two home runs. Tyson Blaser was 3-for-3 with a triple and drove in three.
Key inning: The seventh. With the score tied at five, two out, and none on, Flores hit his second home run of the game to give the Yankees the lead.
BELOIT 8, KANE COUNTY 0 IN KANE COUNTY
Batting stars: Nate Roberts was 3-for-5 with a double and a home run, his third. Matthew Koch was 3-for-4 with a home run, his sixth. Jonathan Goncalves was 2-for-4 with a triple.
Pitching star: Matthew Summers threw a complete game, striking out five while allowing three hits and walking two.
Opposition star: Robinson Yambati gave up a run on three hits and two walks in 3.1 innings.
Key inning: The fourth. The Snappers were already ahead 3-0. Goncalves opened the inning with a triple and scored on a ground out. Koch was hit by a pitch. With two out, Roberts hit a two run homer to give Beloit a 6-0 lead and put the game out of reach.
ELIZABETHTON 9, BRISTOL 0 IN ELIZABETHTON
Batting stars: Stephen Wickens was 3-for-4 with a triple. Michael Quesada was 3-for-4 with a double. Adam Walker hit a home run, his first.
Pitching stars: Corey Kimes struck out five in five innings, giving up six hits. Steven Evans struck out three in two innings, allowing a hit and a walk. Brett Lee struck out four in two innings, giving up two hits.
Opposition stars: Joey DeMichele was 3-for-5 with a double. Eric Grabe was 2-for-4 with a double.
Key inning: The first. The Twins jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead. Candido Pimentel singled, Niko Goodrum walked, and Max Kepler singled in the first run. Rory Rhodes scored the second run on a sacrifice fly, and an error brought in the third run.
GCL TWINS V. ORIOLES (DOUBLEHEADER)
Rained out. The GCL Twins have not played since Saturday.
DSL REDS 7, TWINS 1 AT REDS
Batting stars: Francis Mateo was 1-for-2 with a double and a walk. Jonatan Ynojoso was 0-for-1 with two walks.
Pitching star: Sebastian Perez allowed a run on three hits and a walk in 3.1 innings.
Opposition stars: Ariel Baez was 4-for-5 with a double. Jonathan Suero was 2-for-4 with a double. Franderlin Romero struck out five in five shutout innings, giving up two hits and no walks.
Key inning: The third. Leading 1-0, the Reds used two singles, a bunt, two errors, and a sacrifice fly to tally three times.
Other: The Twins had four hits and made six errors. As we’ve seen before, this is rarely a winning combination.
TODAY’S TILTS
9:30 DSL Reds at Twins
11:00 GCL Twins at Rays
12:00 Beloit at Kane County David Hurlbut v. Angel Baez
5:35 Trenton at New Britain Brett Marshall v. B. J. Hermsen
6:00 Bristol at Elizabethton TBA v. TBA
6:05 Tampa at Fort Myers Sean Black v. Pat Dean
6:05 Rochester at Lehigh Valley Samuel Deduno v. Tom Cochran
Another pounding by Elizabethton. Their Pythagorean says they should be 7-1 instead of 5-3. If it were up to me, I would make sure every Twins minor leaguer went through Elizabethton. They play 66 games and they haven't won less than 40 since 2004 (38) and they haven't had a non-winning season since 1988. Just an amazing record of success for a short-season team with a ton of turnover.
My understanding is that the Twins tend to have an older team than average.