Twins Video
TRANSACTIONS
There were no moves made on Sunday.
Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 4, Syracuse 7
Box Score
Scott Blewett: 3 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
HR: Yunior Severino (10), Michael Helman (10)
Multi-hit games: Michael Helman (3-for-4, HR, 2B, R, 3 RBI, Yunior Severino (3-for-5, HR, R, RBI), Will Holland (2-for-3, 2B)
The Saints banged out 12 hits but could not make them count on Sunday.
It took until the fourth pitcher of the game before Toby Gardenhire found a hurler capable of keeping runs off the board. Starter Scott Blewett couldn’t do it, Jordan Balazovic wasn’t the right man either, and Josh Winder allowed a flurry of hits during his time on the mound. By the time Jeff Brigham and Kody Funderburk blanked the Mets, seven runs were on the board, and the damage was too serious for St. Paul’s bats to overcome.
But they tried. They sure tried. Former Twins first-rounder Tyler Jay started for Syracuse and allowed a homer to deep center by Yunior Severino.
Michael Helman followed with a shot off Jon Duplantier.
But, the runs nearly ceased there. Helman came back to drive in a run with a later double; every other inning was a series of frustration and emptiness, with runners reaching base and subsequently jogging back to the dugout before they could touch home. The Saints loaded the bases in back-to-back innings and failed to score a single run.
Once again, St. Paul threatened with some action in the 9th, but—in a continuation with Sunday’s theme—Patrick Winkel could not keep the threat alive, and he whiffed on three pitches to strand a pair of runners.
When asked about Matt Wallner and Edouard Julien, Toby Gardenhire stated that "[b]oth those guys are kind of searching right now, they're trying to figure it out. It's tough. You know, you go up to the Big Leagues [where] they've had success. And then they come down and right now it's just they're trying to work through some stuff. They're both really good players, and they're both really good hitters the big thing is just for them to keep getting in the work because eventually we know both those guys will be back."
(Quote via our on-hand journalist, Theo Tollefson.)
Luisangel Acuña—the brother of some famous baseball player; the name will come to me eventually—is the 5th-ranked prospect in the Mets system. He walked and struck out twice in five plate appearances.
WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 2, NW Arkansas 3
Box Score
Zebby Matthews: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K
HR: Jeferson Morales (3)
Multi-hit games: Jeferson Morales (2-for-3, HR, R, 2 RBI, BB)
The Wind Surge were walked off in tragic fashion.
Daniel Zebulon Matthews yet again graced the mound with his presence on Sunday. The righty from North Carolina is essentially royalty at this point; his 2024 ERA is 1.38, he’s walked just two batters all season, and his WHIP is 0.69. By themselves, these would be impressive stats. When combined, they are simply Zebby.
And he did what he does. Twins Daily's May MiLB Starting Pitcher of the Month diced up the Naturals, breezing through seven frames of shutout ball with just 87 pitches. No runner sniffed second base. He whiffed eight. At this point, his utter dominance and cartoonish numbers are as assumed and consistent as the moving of the seasons.
Unfortunately, regality wasn’t in the cards for the Wind Surge lineup (save for Jeferson Morales). Wichita put together so little that it could have easily been interpreted as nothing: their lone runs came when Morales delivered a two-run homer over the left field wall.
A lead, for a time. But Wichita’s bullpen had to get involved. Taylor Floyd quickly surrendered the advantage, and John Stankiewicz—one of the few men Ramon Borrego could trust in a time like this—handed over the walk-off the following frame.
Second baseman Peyton Wilson serves as the Royals’ 22nd-ranked prospect. He walked once in four trips to the plate.
KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 9, Great Lakes 6
Box Score
Jordan Carr: 5 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
HR: Agustin Ruiz (3), Nate Baez (4)
Multi-hit games: Agustin Ruiz (2-for-5, HR, 2 R, RBI), Rayne Doncon (4-for-5, 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI), Jose Salas (3-for-5, R, RBI), Nate Baez (3-for-4, HR, 2B, R, 4 RBI)
The Kernels built a major comeback on Sunday.
Agustin Ruiz hit a 1st inning homer. Then, the trouble began.
The Loons—evidently annoyed at their immediate deficit—responded with a three-spot in the bottom half of the frame, putting starter Jordan Carr on the ropes quickly. To his credit, he responded about as well as a hurler could: he allowed just one more run before calling it a day after the 5th. The lefty whiffed five and walked one.
Cedar Rapids scored as well, keeping the game within striking distance before the bats fell dormant for the entirety of the second act.
Hope was hard to find at the start of the 8th; the Loons carried a 6-3 advantage, and outs became precious. There was no breathing room. Any rally needed to be efficient and decadent. That’s when the **** hit the fan: the Kernels loaded the bases, and Rayne Doncon partly cleared them with a two-run single, setting the stage for precisely the kind of late-game heroics needed in a moment like this. Jose Salas singled in the tying run and swiped second. Nate Baez—with two strikes and two outs against him—cracked the heartbreaker, a go-ahead double that plated an insurance run for good measure. Doncon added on with an RBI knock in the 9th. Mike Parades held on to carry the game to a victorious ending.
Thayron Liranzo, the Loons 1st baseman, is the 6th-ranked player in the Dodgers system, and he singled twice in four at-bats. Also, the Great Lakes’ leadoff man may have looked familiar: Noah Miller—once a 1st round pick for the Twins—singled and walked over five plate appearances.
MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 4, Tampa 8
Box Score
Spencer Bengard: 3 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
HR: Brandon Winokur (5)
Multi-hit games: Brandon Winokur (3-for-4, HR, R, RBI, BB)
Fort Myers lost handily on Sunday.
Brandon Winokur was the star of the show offensively. The lanky 19-year-old out of Huntington Beach reached base four times, cracking a pair of singles, walking once, and blasting an opposite-field homer to give him a potent all-around performance. It was the third time in his professional career totaling six bases in a game.
The good news ended somewhere around there, though, as only one Mighty Mussels pitcher knew how to keep runs off the board. Spencer Bengard—so brilliant in May—labored through three inefficient innings before giving way to an ineffective combined bullpen effort. Everyone outside of Danny Moreno probably wished they didn’t pitch that day. It was just one of those games.
And the bats outside of Winokur likely felt spurned and disappointed as well; Fort Myers struck out 15 times and totaled just five hits, not a great ratio. The offense beyond the Payton Eeles, Walker Jenkins, and Winokur top three accounted for 13 of those Ks and just one hit.
Jenkins is slashing a lopsided .222/.391/.278 in five games since rejoining the Mighty Mussels.
Tampa DH Roderick Arias is the Yankees' 4th-ranked prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. He doubled and walked twice on Sunday.
TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Zebby Matthews
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Brandon Winokur
PROSPECT SUMMARY
Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:
#1 - Walker Jenkins (Fort Myers) - 1-4, RBI, BB
#9 - Luke Keaschall (Wichita) - 1-3, R, BB, K
#10 - Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) - 3-for-4, HR, R, RBI, BB
#12 - Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) - 1-3, BB
#13 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 0-3, BB, 2 K
#14 - Zebby Matthews (Wichita) - 7 IP, 3 H, 0 BB, 0 ER, 8 K
#18 - Yunior Severino (St. Paul) - 3-for-5, HR, R, RBI, K
#20 - Ricardo Olivar (Cedar Rapids) - 1-3, 2 R, 2 BB
MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
DSL Phillies Red @ DSL Twins (10:00 AM) - TBD
FCL Braves @ FCL Twins (11:00 AM) - TBD
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