Elizabethton gives the Twins their only win. Apparently it rained in Florida yesterday.
SYRACUSE 6, ROCHESTER 4 IN SYRACUSE
The Chiefs scored all of their runs in the third inning. Pat Dean did well for two innings, but he did not get out of the third, going 2.1 innings and allowing six runs on ten hits and no walks with two strikeouts. D. J. Baxendale struck out three in 2.2 scoreless innings and dropped his ERA to 0.84. Ryan O'Rourke struck out two in two perfect innings and has an ERA of 1.93. Adam Brett Walker II was 3-for-4 with a triple. Tommy Field was 3-for-5 with a double. Byron Buxton was used as a pinch-runner.
JACKSONVILLE 3, CHATTANOOGA 0 IN CHATTANOOGA
The Suns scored one in the sixth and two in the seventh. Felix Jorge pitched 6.2 innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and a walk with two strikeouts. Zack Jones retired all four batters he faced, striking out three, and has an ERA of 1.74. The Lookouts had only five hits, all singles.
ST. LUCIE 1, FORT MYERS 0 IN FORT MYERS (GAME 1--7 INNINGS)
The lone run scored in the fourth on a double play. Keaton Steele pitched a seven-inning complete game, giving up one run on four hits and a walk with three strikeouts. The Miracle had only three hits, all singles.
ST. LUCIE AT FORT MYERS (GAME 2)
Rained out.
PEORIA 8, CEDAR RAPIDS 6 IN CEDAR RAPIDS
The Kernels led 5-2 through eight, but a six-run ninth gave the game to the Chiefs. The Kernels made four errors, so five of the eight Peoria runs were unearned. Brady Anderson pitched six innings, giving up an unearned run on five hits and four walks with two strikeouts. Luis Arraez was 3-for-6 with a double and is batting .346. Casey Scoggins was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk. Rainis Silva was 2-for-4 with a walk. Zander Weil hit a home run, his fourteenth. Nelson Molina was 1-for-5 and is batting .301.
ELIZABETHTON 6, DANVILLE 3 IN ELIZABETHTON
The Twins scored four in the second and led all the way from there. Tyler Wellls pitched six innings, giving up two runs on five hits and two walks with four strikeouts. Ben Rortvedt was 2-for-4. Alex Kirilloff was 1-for-4 and is batting .355. Ariel Montesino was 1-for-4 and is batting .324. Lewin Diaz was 1-for-4 and is batting .311.
GCL TWINS AT GCL ORIOLES
Rained out.
DSL DODGERS1 15, DSL TWINS 4 AT DODGERS1
The Dodgers1 scored three in each of the third, fifth, and sixth, and topped it off with six in the eighth. Edwar Colina lasted only 2.2 innings, allowing three runs on one hit and six walks with three strikeouts. Humberto Maldonado was 2-for-4 with a triple. Victor Tademo was 2-for-3 with a walk and is batting .324. Antonio Tovar was 2-for-4 with a walk. Edgar Herrera was 0-for-5 and is batting .318.
TODAY'S TILTS
9:30 DSL Twins at DSL Orioles2
10:00 GCL Orioles at GCL Twins
Game 2 GCL Twins at GCL Orioles
4:05 St. Lucie (Ben Griset, 4-2, 1.81) at Fort Myers (Randy LeBlanc, 4-5, 4.25)
Game 2 St. Lucie (Scarlyn Reyes, (7-10, 6.19) at Fort Myers (Sam Clay, 1-1, 4.15)
5:35 Rochester (Adalberto Mejia, 0-1, 2.57) at Syracuse (Austin Voth, 6-7, 3.45)
6:00 Kingsport (Sixto Torres, 0-2, 2.87) at Elizabethton (TBA)
What's a good ceiling for ABWII?
I suppose, if you want to be optimistic, you might say Dave Kingman. He hits the ball a long way when he hits it, but he strikes out A Lot. In his minor league career he's struck out about one in every three at-bats. Last year in Chattanooga his strikeout average was .388, and this year in Rochester it's .439. I have to think he's going to have to learn to make more contact if he's going to do much in the majors. I'd love to see him do it, but he'll turn twenty-five in October, so he's going to have to learn it pretty soon.
For comparison, the highest strikeout average Kingman ever had in the majors looks like it was .357, in 1973. B-r.com isn't letting me see his minor league stats right now for some reason.
Using the quick-n-dirty MLE calculator (thank you, Archive.org!) his stats this year translate to about...
.210/.268/.397 (17 HR, 175 K in 386 at bats)
I'm skeptical about how much use there is for a sub .700 OPS corner outfielder who strikes out nearly half the time. I guess I wouldn't be entirely surprised if he gets a shot at some point, though.
I agree. If he's going to have much of a major league career, he's going to have to improve.