TBD
vs
David Festa
Finally a pitching matchup that favors the Twins. Unless it's a nobody lefty. Festa had a no decision in his previous start against Detroit thanks to a bullpen meltdown.
They're looking for only their second series win of the season. They'll need a lot more of those to finish even .500 due to the having to play teams other than the White Sox.
COLUMBUS CLIPPERS 3, ST. PAUL SAINTS 2 IN COLUMBUS (GAME 1)
The Saints started the game with four consecutive singles, producing two runs. That was all the runs they would get, and for six innings it looked like that would be enough. But Scott Blewett came in to pitch the seventh and, well, he blew it. A walk, a double, and a two-run single by Angel Martinez tied the game, and an RBI double by Will Wilson walked it off for Columbus. Saints starters still had not allowed a run through four games.
Batters: Mike Ford was 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Austin Martin was 2-for-3 with a walk and a run.
Pitchers: Marco Raya struck out five in 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up five hits and a walk. Kody Funderburk struck out three in 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk.
Opposition: Angel Martinez was 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Bradley Hanner pitched two shutout innings, giving up two hits and a walk.
ST. PAUL SAINTS AT COLUMBUS CLIPPERS (GAME 2)
The Saints trailed Columbus 11-1 through five innings at press time. Luke Keaschall was 2-for-3 with a double. David Festa ended the scoreless streak by St. Paul starters, allowing six runs (five earned) on ten hits and two walks. He did strike out four in 3.1 innings. For Wichita, Christian Cairo was 4-for-4 with two doubles and four RBIs. Will Wilson hit a two-run homer. Kolby Allard struck out five in four innings, giving up one run on three hits and a walk.
WICHITA WIND SURGE AT SPRINGFIELD CARDINALS
Rained out. Will be made up as part of a doubleheader Sunday.
CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 4, WISCONSIN TIMBER RATTLERS 1 IN WISCONSIN
It was scoreless through three, but Billy Amick singled home a run in the fourth, Brandon Winokur doubled one home in the sixth, and Caden Kendle hit a two-run double in the seventh. Wisconsin did not get on the board until the ninth. There were thirty strikeouts in the game, with Cedar Rapids pitchers striking out thirteen and Wisconsin pitchers fanning seventeen.
Batters: Gabriel Gonzalez was 2-for-4 with a double. Caden Kendle was 1-for-4 with two RBIs. Kyle DeBarge was 1-for-4 with a walk and two runs.
Pitchers: Charlee Soto struck out five in four shutout innings, giving up two hits and three walks. Spencer Bengard struck out six and walked one in four shutout innings of relief, allowing no hits.
Opposition: Manuel Rodriguez struck out eleven in 4.1 innings, giving up an unearned run on three hits and a walk. Aidan Maldonado struck out four in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.
Record: 1-0, tied for first.
PALM BEACH CARDINALS 8, FORT MYERS MIGHTY MUSSELS 2 IN PALM BEACH
Palm Beach scored two in the third to open the scoring and led all the way. Jefferson Valladares singled home in the run to cut the lead to 2-1 and a wild pitch scored a run in the seventh to cut the margin to 4-2, but the Cardinals scored one in the seventh and three in the eighth to put it out of reach.
Batters: Kevin Maitan was 2-for-4.
Pitchers: Starter Eli Jones pitched 4.1 innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on seven hits and a walk and striking out one.
Opposition: Luis Pino was 2-for-2 with two RBIs. Jonathan Mejia was 2-for-4 with two triples, a walk, and two runs. Cade McGee was 2-for-4 with a double and a run. Christian Martin was 2-for-4 with a triple, a double, a run and an RBI. Jose Suarez was 2-for-5 with an RBI. Anyelo Encarnacion was 1-for-2 with a home run, two walks, and three runs. Leonel Sequera pitched 3.2 innings, giving up a run on three hits and a walk and striking out two. Michael Watson struck out three and walked one in two shutout innings.
Record: Fort Myers is 0-1.
TODAY'S TILTS
1:10 Cedar Rapids (Alejandro Hidalgo) at Wisconsin (Bishop Letson)
3:05 St. Paul (Randy Dobnak) at Columbus (Ryan Webb, 0-0, 2.25)
5:00 Fort Myers (Dasan Hill) at Palm Beach (TBD)
6:05 Wichita (Trent Baker) at Springfield (Max Rajcic)
I don't know how much I'll do with this feature this season. It would not be accurate to say that I'm busier in retirement than I was when I was working, but the thing is that I'm busy with different things, and for the most part, those different things don't involve sitting in front of a computer screen.
So, there will be days when the feature does not appear at all. There will be other days when it only covers some of the games, rather than all of them. We'll see.
I hope you'll read it when it's here, but the truth is that I really do this for myself more than you. I like keeping up with the Twins' minor league teams, and this is a way for me to do it. I hope you'll enjoy it, too, when it's here.
And now, on to the game.
ST. PAUL SAINTS 11, INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS 0 IN ST. PAUL
It's hard to open better than that. The Saints scored early and often, getting two in the third, one in the fourth, two in the fifth, three in the sixth, and three in the eighth. They did not hit any home runs, but the had eighteen hits, including four doubles and a triple. They also drew seven walks. Eight players had at least two hits. The pitching was equally impressive, with four pitchers throwing a combined four-hit shutout.
Batters: Emmanuel Rodriguez was 3-for-4 with a double, a walk, and two RBIs. Jair Camargo was 3-for-5 with two doubles, two runs, and two RBIs. Ryan Fitzgerald was 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, and two RBIs. Jeferson Morales was 2-for-4 with a triple, a walk, two runs, and three RBIs. Armando Alvarez was 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs. Austin Martin was 2-for-5 with a walk. Yunior Severino was 2-for-5. Luke Keaschall was 2-for-6.
Pitchers: David Festa pitched five shutout innings, giving up three hits and no walks and striking out four. Scott Blewett struck out two and walked one in two shutout innings. Kyle Bischoff pitched a perfect inning with one strikeout. Kody Funderburk struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk.
Opposition: Hunter Stratton pitched a scoreless inning despite giving up three hits.
Record: St. Paul is 1-0 and tied for first.
Next game: 2:07 Indianapolis (Mike Burrows) at St. Paul (Andrew Morris)
Harry Lord (1882)
Pat Flaherty (1897)
Bobby Goff (1902)
Pete Fox (1909)
Ray Mueller (1912)
Al Gionfriddo (1922)
Carl Furillo (1922)
Jim Bouton (1939)
Jacques Doucet (1940)
Dick Allen (1942)
Jim Rice (1953)
John Butcher (1957)
Mark Salas (1961)
Lance Barksdale (1967)
Mike Moriarty (1974)
Juan Encarnacion (1976)
Hines Ward (1976)
Tommy Pham (1988)
David Festa (2000)
If you have a few minutes to spare, I would very much recommend reading Harry Lord’s biography at baseball-reference.com.
Pat Flaherty pitched in the minors from 1917-1921. He also played in the NFL from 1923-1928, was a major in the Air Force, and appeared in about 250 movies from 1934 to the 1950s.
Bobby Goff played in the minor leagues for nineteen years, 1923-1941. He also was a minor league manager and general manager and a major league scout, remaining in baseball until 1972.
Jacques Doucet was the French-language play-by-play announcer for the Montreal Expos from 1972 until the team left.
Lance Barksdale has been a major league umpire since 2000.
NFL star Hines Ward was drafted by the Florida Marlins in 1994, but did not sign.
Valente Bellozo
vs
David Festa
Festa first two games: 10.80 ERA and 7.06 FIP.
Festa in 11 games since: 3.60 ERA and 3.28 FIP.
At least something has gone right over the past month.
Because this has not:
BATTING
GAMES
Yunior Severino, 128
DaShawn Keirsey, 111
Diego Castillo, 110
AT-BATS
Severino, 489
Keirsey, 443
Castillo, 385
RUNS
Keirsey, 71
Severino, 66
Anthony Prato, 60
HITS
Keirsey, 133
Severino, 124
Castillo, 100
DOUBLES
Castillo, 22
Keirsey, 22
Severino, 21
TRIPLES
Keirsey, 7
Prato, 6
Payton Eeles, 4
HOME RUNS
Severino, 21
Matt Wallner, 19
Chris Williams, 17
RBI
Keirsey, 81
Severino, 79
Castillo, 54
WALKS
Prato, 67
Severino, 67
Castillo, 60
STRIKEOUTS
Severino, 154
Keirsey, 116
Williams, 106
STOLEN BASES
Keirsey, 36
Eeles, 20
Castillo, 13
Will Holland, 13
AVERAGE
Brooks Lee, .308
Keirsey, .300
Holland, .299
Eeles, .299
ON-BASE
Holland, .428
Eeles, .419
Edouard Julien, .395
SLUGGING
Lee, .606
Holland, .556
Wallner, .544
OPS
Holland, .984
Lee, .974
Eeles, .919
PITCHING
GAMES
Hobie Harris, 44
Ryan Jensen, 44
Diego Castillo, 40
STARTS
Caleb Boushley, 26
Randy Dobnak, 24
Louie Varland, 16
INNINGS
Boushley, 134.1
Dobnak, 133.1
Varland, 83.1
WINS
Dobnak, 12
Boushley, 7
Adam Plutko, 6
SAVES
Castillo, 8
Harris, 5
Josh Winder, 4
HOME RUNS ALLOWED
Boushley, 22
Dobnak, 14
Nick Wittgren, 14
WALKS ALLOWED
Dobnak, 63
Jensen, 50
Varland, 32
STRIKEOUTS
Dobnak, 136
Boushley, 108
Varland, 96
ERA
Ronny Henriquez, 3.44
Andrew Morris, 3.48
Scott Blewett, 3.79
WHIP
Plutko, 1.10
Morris, 1.13
David Festa, 1.36
AVERAGE AGAINST
Morris, .218
Jensen, .221
Plutko, .227
That concludes Minor Details for another season. Thanks for reading, if, in fact, anybody did. I enjoyed it, and I hope you did, too.
Chris Sale
vs
David Festa
On the plus side, the last week plus of games have all been winnable. The down side is not many of them have actually been won. 30 games left to decide whether the team actually makes the postseason.
Saturday game, in progress
Gavin Williams
vs
Simeon Woods Richardson
Sunday
Tanner Bibee
vs
David Festa
David Festa
vs
Kyle Hendricks
Game in progress!
The Twins continue their quest to beat all of Chicago by taking it to Chicago and playing an actual MLB team. Neither starter has been good this year; both have an ERA very close to 7. Festa at least has the shine of a prospect that he could halve his ERA while Hendricks, does not.
Day game alert!
Aaron Nola
vs
Steven "David Festa" Okert
Welcome back David Festa. Hope you learned a few things in your brief time across the river. Phillies counter with their other ace, Nola. No big deal. Also the Royals have caught up and are effectively tied with the Twins with one more win and loss to their record.
