Rochester Wrap

Toledo 7  Rochester 5  (27-38) Monday

Rochester 12  (28-38)  Toledo 6  Tuesday

• The Red Wings split a couple games the last couple days with Toledo as they continued their hot streak at the plate as they scored 17 runs in the two games and continued their hot streak as they have now won four of their last five games.  On Monday night the Red Wings blew a 4-2 lead going into the 5^th inning as they went down 7-5 to Toledo.  Jeff Manship got the start on Monday night and was not very good in this one.  Manship went five innings and gave up six runs on 10 hits along with a walk and a strikeout and two homeruns allowed to raise his era on the year to 4.43 and drop his record on the year to 3-3.  Pat Neshek then came on and pitched two innings and gave up a unearned run on one hit along with a walk and two strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 3.00.  Kyle Waldrop pitched a perfect inning of relief on one strikeout to lower his team leading era down to 1.19.  On Tuesday night the Red Wings got great offense and just enough pitching to bounce back with a 12-6 victory over the Mud Hens.  Ryan Mullins got the start for the Red Wings and he was ok as he kept the Wings in the game.  Mullins went five innings and gave up four runs on six hits along with a  walk and a strikeout to improve his record on the year to 4-5 and drop his era to 5.37.  Brad Hennessey then came on and worked two innings and gave up two runs on two hits along with a strikeout to lower his era on the year to 5.40.  Anthony Slama pitched two scoreless innings of relief with two walks and four strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 1.64.

• The Red Wings had a nice game offensively on Monday night, but were unable to get the big hits when they needed them.  Rochester scored five runs on 12 hits along with drawing two walks and leaving 10 guys on base in the loss.  Yancarlos Ortiz committed his first error since his promotion in the loss.  The Red Wings were led offensively in this game by Brian Dinkelman who went 2-5 at the plate with his 15^th double of the year and brought his average up to .286.  Jose Morales went 2-4 at the plate to bring his average up to .262.  Matt Macri continued his hot streak by going 2-4 at the plate to bring his average up to .302.  Brock Peterson went 2-4 at the plate along with 33^rd rbi of the year and brought his average up to .260.  Dustin Martin went 1-5 at the plate with his 13^th double of the year.  Jason Repko, Wilson Ramos, and Toby Gardenhire each contributed a base hit in the loss for the Red Wings.  Last night the Red Wings offense continued their hot string and this time it was too much for Toledo to overcome.  Rochester had 12 runs on 14 hits along with drawing six walks and leaving nine guys on base.  Brian Dinkelman committed his fifth error of the year in the winning cause.  The Red Wings were led offensively by Brian Dinkelman who went 3-6 at the plate with two doubles to bring his season total up to 17 and also had three rbi’s to bring his season total up to 29 and his average up to .291.  Dustin Martin went 2-5 at the plate with his 14^th double and fourth triple of the year along with his 47^th rbi to bring his average up to .294.  Brock Peterson went 2-4 at the plate with his 34^th and 35^th rbi’s of the year and brought his average up to .265.  Jose Morales went 1-5 at the plate with his sixth double and 10^th rbi of the year.  Yancarlos Ortiz went 1-5 at the plate with his first double and also scored three runs.  Jason Repko, Wilson Ramos, and Matt Macri each contributed a base hit in the winning cause for the Red Wings.

• Tonight, the Red Wings begin a home stand with a series against Charlotte as Anthony Swarzak gets the start for Rochester.  Gametime is at 6:05 at Frontier Field in Rochester.

New Britain Business

Harrisburg 5  New Britain 1  (17-46)

·        For the first six innings of this one it looked like a pitchers duel as they were tied at one and Deolis Guerra was pitching a gem.  However by the end of the 7^th inning the Rockcats were behind 5-1 and Deolis Guerra was out of the game trying to figure out what went wrong in the Harrisburg 5-1 win over the Rockcats.  Deolis Guerra got the start and even though his line does not look great he pitched way better than his line would indicate.  In all Guerra went 6.2 innings and gave up five runs on eight hits along with two walks and five strikeouts to raise his era on the year to 3.07 and dropped his record with the Rockcats to 1-3.  Mike Mccardell made a rare relief appearance and went 1.1 innings and gave up just one hit along with a strikeout to lower his era on the year to 4.50.  Chris Province then came on and pitched the last inning with a walk to lower his era to 6.10.

·        The Rockcats offense could not do anything against Harrisburg pitching in a game that must of seemed like many others.  New Britain scored just one run on eight hits along with drawing a walk and leaving six guys on base.  The Rockcats were led offensively by Brandon Roberts who continued his hot streak by going 2-3 at the plate along with a walk to raise his average on the year to .330.  Juan Portes went 2-4 at the plate with his seventh double of the year to bring his average up to .187.  Jair Fernandez went 1-4 at the plate with his fourth double of the year and his fifth rbi.  Ben Revere went 1-1 a the plate with his 21^st stolen base of the year and improved his average on the year to .307.  Chris Cates and Mark Dolenc each contributed base hits in the losing cause for the Rockcats.

·        Tonight, the Rockcats take on Harrisburg in a double header with Tyler Robertson getting the start in game one and Kyle Gibson getting the ball for game two.  First pitch is at 4:05 with the second game about a half an hour after the first.

Fort Myers Minutes

Palm Beach 8  Fort Myers 5  (26-35)

Palm Beach 11  Fort Myers 9  (26-36)

• The Miracle got off to a bad start to the unofficial second half of the season even though they still got about 8-9 games officially in the first half.  They got two bad pitching performances as the offense did their job, but when you get bad pitching performances it is hard to win.  On Monday night the Miracle battled back to take a 5-4 lead before Miracle closer Billy Bulluck gave up a grand slam in the bottom of the 9^th to lose the game.  Adrian Salcedo got the start for the Miracle and was ok in this one.  Salcedo went the first 6.1 and gave up three earned runs on 10 hits along with a walk and three strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 6.26.  Blake Martin then came in and went 1.2 innings of scoreless ball along with two walks and three strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 5.03.  Billy Bulluck then came on and was not very good in this outing.  Bulluck went one inning and gave up four runs on three hits along with a walk to raise his era on the year to 4.02 and drop his record  to 0-4.  On Tuesday night the Miracle got a terrible pitching performance out of Shooter Hunt before battling back to tie the scored and losing 11-9.  Shooter Hunt got the start and was not very good in this one as he didn’t even get out of the first inning.  Hunt went 0.2 innings and gave up six runs on six hits along with two walks and two strikeouts to raise his era on the year to 6.07.  Andrei Lobanov then came on and worked 3.1 innings and gave up a run on three hits along with a walk and two strikeouts to lower his era on the year 2.29.  Joe Testa then came on and went three innings and gave up two runs on four hits along with two walks and four strikeouts to lower his era to 4.05.  Steve Blevins then worked the last two innings and gave up two runs on three hits along with three strikeouts to take the loss and move his record to 1-2 and raise his era on the year to 6.64.     

• The Miracle offense had a good series of games, but the pitching would not allow them to win any of those games.  On Monday, Fort Myers scored five runs on 10 hits along with drawing seven walks and leaving 11 guys on base.  Nick Romero committed his fifth error of the year in the loss for the Miracle.  The Miracle were led offensively by Esterlin De Los Santos who went 3-4 at the plate with his fourth and fifth rbi’s of the year to bring his average up to .304.  Dan Rohlfing went 2-4 with two runs scored and a walk to raise his average on the year to .247.  Evan Bigley went 1-4 at the plate with his 15^th double of the year.  Brian Dozier, Nathan Hanson, Nick Romero, and Jonathan Goncalves each contributed a base hit in the losing cause.  On Tuesday night the Miracle had a big night offensively, but it was not quite enough to get the job done.  Fort Myers scored nine runs on 14 hits along with drawing six walks and leaving 10 guys on base.  The Miracle were led offensively by Joe Benson who went 4-4 at the plate with three doubles to bring his season total up to 11 with the Miracle and brought his average up to .294 on the year.  Esterlin De Los Santos had another big game going 3-5 at the plate and 6-9 in the last two games.  He also had his third double and his sixth rbi to bring his average up to .321.  Chris Hermann went 2-2 at the plate along with three walks and his 11^th double and three rbi’s to bring his season total up to 17 and his average up to .233.  Brian Dozier went 2-3 at the plate with three rbi’s to bring his total up to 12 and his average up to .225.  Jonathan Goncalves went 2-5 at the plate to bring his average up to .303.  Nick Romero also contributed a base hit in the losing cause for the Miracle.

• Tonight, the Miracle continue their series with Palm Beach as Liam Hendriks gets the start for Fort Myers.  Gametime is at 6:05 as the Miracle try to bring their three game losing streak to an end.

Beloit Beat

Beloit 8  (33-31)  Cedar Rapids 6

• Say what you want about the Beloit Snappers, but they are not going quietly into the night as they won once again this time over first place Cedar Rapids by a score of 8-6 as they won their sixth game in their last seven.  Miguel Munoz got the start for the Snappers and was pretty good in this one.  Munoz went five innings and gave up two runs on seven hits along with two walks and five strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 5.65.  Chris Armstrong then came on and was not very good in this one.  Armstrong only got two outs and gave up three runs on four hits along with a strikeout to raise his hefty era from 18.00 to an even higher 27.00.  Eliecer Cardenas then came on and put out the fire going 2.2 innings and giving up a run on no hits along with two walks and three strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 2.55.  Kane Holbrooks came on and got the last two outs along with two walks to pick up his ninth save of the year and lower his era to 1.72.

• The Snappers continued their hotstreak at the plate as they beat up on some good Kernel pitching.  Beloit scored eight runs on 11 hits along with drawing five walks and leaving seven guys on base.  Miguel Munoz committed his second error of the year while Chris Armstrong committed his first as a Snapper.  The Snappers were led by James Beresford who continued his phenomenal month of June by going 3-4 at the plate with his eighth double and eighth stolen base and drove in two runs to bring his season total up to 24 and his average up to .271.  Aaron Hicks went 3-5 at the plate with his 16^th and 17^th doubles of the year to bring his average up to .257.  Angel Morales went 1-4 at the plate with his seventh triple of the year and his 36^th rbi.  Wang Wei Lin went 1-4 at the plate with his sixth stolen base of the year.  Reggie Williams, Anderson Hidalgo, and Michael Gonzalez each contributed a hit in the winning cause for the Snappers in this one.

• Today, the Snappers continue their series with first place Cedar Rapids as Brad Stillings gets the start for Beloit.  Gametime is at 12:00 in Cedar Rapids as the Snappers try to continue the ride.

After missing a week I am back with another edition of the Twins Minor League Pitcher and Hitter of the week at every level.  Every Monday or Tuesday I will look at each of the affiliates and who has been good the last week to 10 days.  I welcome your comments and you can leave a comment in the comment box or shoot me an email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Rochester Red Wings

• Hitter of the Week: Matt Macri- The grizzled veteran had quite the week for the Red Wings as the Red Wings won three games in a row this week and Macri was the catalyst as he hit .389 on 14 for 36 along with five doubles and a homerun with four rbi’s.  Macri had two walks while striking out nine times.  Macri had a very good .421 on base percentage with a very good .611 slugging percentage for a 1.032 OPS.  Matt Macri started the season the disabled list, but has been very good since coming off the DL to get his average above .300 on the year.  The 27 year old from Des Moines, Iowa is so versatile as he can play anywhere on the infield and the outfield to help the team.  He probably won’t see the field with the Twins after they took him off the 40 man roster last year, but he is a very good AAA player and every organization needs a guy like Matt Macri.

• Pitcher of the Week: Kyle Waldrop- Kyle Waldrop continued his miraculous season on the mound with another stellar week.  In his last 10 ball games Waldrop is 2-0 with a miniscule 0.47 era in 19.1 innings of work.  In those 19.1 innings Waldrop has only given up one run on only 11 hits.  In that stretch he has walked only four batters while striking out 12.  The most impressive thing about Waldrop is he had a 5.29 groundball to fly out rate the last 10 days.  I know I could go on and on about how impressed I am with Waldrop, but he really deserves it after coming off of shoulder surgery in 2008 he has come all the way back and is now one of the top relief prospects in the Twins organization.  The 24 year old out of Knoxville, Tennessee is someone all Twins fans should keep an eye on because he will be with the Twins sometime this season.

New Britain Rockcats

• Hitter of the Week: Brandon Roberts- The 25 year old out of Bakersfield, California had a nice stretch for the Rockcats.  I am sure he is disappointed that he is spending his 4^th straight year in New Britain, but he is not showing it on the field.  In his last 10 games Roberts is hitting .14 for his last 34 for a .412 batting average along with three doubles and drove in five runs.  He walked six times while only striking out five times.  He also stole three bases the last 10 games in three attempts.  Most impressively Roberts has a .524 on base percentage in this stretch along with a very nice .500 slugging percentage for a great 1.024 OPS.  Roberts has really gotten it going in a time the Rockcats were missing Ben Revere and Rene Tosoni so he kept them in some games with his strong offensive output.  Roberts needs to get to AAA soon if he wants to get a cup of coffee with the Twins and if that is not what the Twins are thinking they should do whats best for the both of them and give him his release so he can look for a job with another team.

• Pitcher of the Week: David Bromberg- After getting off to a little bit of a rough start to begin the year Bromberg has been pretty good lately.  The 32^nd round draft pick by the Twins in the 2005 draft out of Santa Monica, California came into the season with much pub after winning the Twins minor league pitcher of the year in 2009.  He has improved as the season has gone on and the 22 year old righty has hit his stride the last three starts.  In those starts Bromberg has gone 2-1 with a 2.95 era in those starts.  He has worked 18.1 innings which is a little over 6 innings a start for the big righty.  In those starts he has six walks and 10 strikeouts.  The main reason for concern for Bromberg is that he is walking to many batters this year as he has walked 31 batters in 68.2 innings of work in 2010.  That is the main thing that will keep him from pitching with the Twins, but I have no doubt that he will work through it because he has too much god given talent and he works too hard for him not to work it out.

Fort Myers Miracle

• Hitter of the Week: Esterlin De Los Santos- It is pretty obvious that De Los Santos was not quite ready to move up to AA and he is only 22 years old he is fine to be in Fort Myers.  He struggled in AA hitting only .170 in 29 games, but was then demoted back down to Fort Myers and has been very good since his demotion.  De Los Santos the last 10 games has been especially hot for the Miracle.  In his last 10 games he is hitting .343 on 12 for his last 35 along with a double and triple and four rbi’s.  He drew six walks while striking out seven times and stole two bases.  He had a very good .429 on base percentage along with a .429 slugging percentage for a .857 OPS.  I don’t think it will be long before De Los Santos is back up in New Britain after spending some time in New Britain.  He quite possibly could be the shortstop of the future for the Twins as he is a young guy that reminds some of a young Christian Guzman so the future is very bright for Esterlin De Los Santos.

• Pitcher of the Week: Liam Hendriks- Liam Hendriks continued his unbelievable season this week by continuing his dominance on the mound.  In his last three starts he has been even better as he went 2-0 with a ridiculious 0.38 era in 24 innings he only gave up one earned run.  He held opponents to a .226 opponents batting average.  Hendriks has really been awesome this year and he kept it up lately.  He has a good future in the Twins organization and it will be interesting to see how he does as he goes forward in the organization.

Beloit Snappers

• Hitter of the Week: Angel Morales- Angel Morales was good pretty much the whole first half but the last 10 games he was red hot.  He is that type of hitter as he will go in stretches where he is awful and then he will go on stretches where you can’t get him out.  In his last 10 games Morales is 18 for his last 37 a .486 average along with five doubles, two triples, and a homerun with 12 rbi’s.  Morales walked 10 times while striking out 10 times and stole four bases.  Morales had a .596 on base percentage along with a incredible .811 slugging percentage for a 1.407 OPS.  Angel Morales had done everything that is possible to do in Beloit I believe it is time for the Twins to move Morales up to Fort Myers as he is definitely ready for the move.

• Pitcher of the Week: Michael Tonkin- There was some doubt how Tonkin would do when he got up to Beloit as he was in the GCL last season and the thought was he would just move up to Elizabethton.  He was pushed and so far he has done great.  In his last three starts he is 0-3 with a very good 2.04 era, he has three losses because the Snappers have not scored any runs.  In 17.2 innings he has given up only four earned runs on 11 hits.  He has walked 6 while striking out 10.  Tonkin held opponents to a .229 batting average.  Michael Tonkin has earned the right to stay in Beloit even though there are some that think he should go back to Elizabethton, but I think he should stay in Beloit.

Toledo 8, Rochester 3  (27-37)

• The Red Wings had their season high three game winning streak come to an end with a bad loss to Toledo last night by the score of 8-3 in Toledo as the Red Wings got a bad pitching performance from Matt Fox and not enough hitting.  Fox got the start and was not very good in this one only lasting 4.2 innings and gave up six runs on eight hits including an incredible seven walks and six strikeouts.  It was just a bad inning for Fox as he gave up a five run 2nd inning to the Mud Hens that put the game away.  The thing that concerns me about this start from Fox as he is a strike thrower as he only had 14 walks in just over 48 innings of work so it was a shock seeing him walk 7 guys.  Hopefully, this was just a one start thing and he will go back to putting zero’s on the board next time out.  With the six runs allowed it raised his era on the year to 3.52 and dropped his record on the year to 4-4.  Jose Lugo then came on and really was not that bad  for the Red Wings.  Lugo gave them some innings though going the last 3.1 innings and giving up two solo homeruns along with a walk and five strikeouts.  With the two runs allowed Lugo’s era dropped to 6.28 on the year.  It was only a baby step, but hopefully this is the start of a better second half for the Red Wings lefty.

• The Red Wings offense just really could not get anything going against Toledo pitching.  Rochester scored three runs on eight hits along with drawing two walks and leaving seven guys on base.  Jose Morales committed his third error of the year on a bad throw.  The Red Wings were led offensively by Jason Repko who continued his strong season for the Wings by going 2-4 at the plate along with a walk to raise his average on the year to .301.  Matt Macri went 2-4 at the plate to bring his average up to .296.  Brian Dinkelman went 1-4 at the plate with his fourth homerun of the year and his 25th and 26th rbi’s of the year.  Jose Morales went 1-3 at the plate with his first triple of the year along with a walk.  Yancarlos Ortiz and Toby Gardenhire each contributed a base hit in the loss for the Red Wings.

• Tonight, the Red Wings continue their series with Toledo as Jeff Manship gets the start for Rochester.  Gametime is at 6:00pm in Toledo as the Red Wings try to get back on track after their loss last night.

Altoona 6,  New Britain 5 (17-45)

• The Rockcats suffered another tough loss to Altoona last night as they let another game slip away.  The Rockcats could not finish the game as they left the tying run on base in the loss.  Carlos Gutierrez got the start for the Rockcats and wasn’t really very good in this one.  Gutierrez went 7.2 innings and gave up six runs on 10 hits along with two walks and a strikeout to raise his era on the year to 4.67 and drop his record on the year to 2-5.  I am sure there had to be some rust after being skipped his last start in order to keep his innings down, but he needs to pitch better than this.  Loek Van Mil then came on for the Rockcats and got one batter out along with a hit and a strikeout to lower his era on the year to 1.93.

• The Rockcats had a good day offensively in this one, but it was not quite enough to pick up the victory.  New Britain scored five runs on 13 hits which should be good enough to win most days.  They also drew one walk by Ben Revere and left 10 guys on base and that is the main reason they lost as you can’t afford to leave that many guys on base in a close game and expect to win.  The Rockcats were led offensively by Jair Fernandez who continued his hot streak by going 3-5 at the plate to bring his average up to .295 on the year.  In his last three full games Fernandez is 8 for his last 14 with two doubles a .571 average.  Mark Dolenc went 3-4 at the plate with his sixth double of the year and 2 rbi’s to bring his season total up to 15 and his average up to .267.  Yangervis Solarte went 2-5 at the plate with his 9th double of the year and his 19th rbi to bring his average up to .282.  Chris Parmelee went 2-5 at the plate to bring his average above the Mendoza line to .207 on the year.  Juan Portes went 1-3 at plate with his sixth double of the year to raise his average on the year to .180.  Chris Cates and Ben Revere each contributed a base hit in the losing cause for the Rockcats.

• The Rockcats have today off before beginning a series with Harrisburg in New Britain as the Rockcats will try to continue their recent success against Harrisburg when they start their series on Tuesday night.

• The Miracle finished off their all-star break and will begin the second half of their schedule tonight as they welcome in Palm Beach into Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers.  Gametime is at 6:05 as Bruce Pugh is scheduled to pitch for the Miracle tonight.

• The Snappers saw their season high four game losing streak come to an end last night in a well pitched game to Bowling Green by the score of 3-1.  Both pitchers pitched very well, but Bowling Green’s was just a little bit better.  Michael Tonkin was very good in this one except he was a little wild so that limited his innings.  Tonkin went 5 innings and gave up only two runs on five hits along with a season high five walks and three strikeouts.  With the two runs allowed Tonkin’s era on the year is now 2.77 and lowered his record on the year to 0-5.  The 0-5 record should not fool you as Tonkin has pitched very well for the Snappers.  Dakota Watts then came on and pitched one inning and gave up a run on a hit along with a walk and a strikeout to raise his era on the year to 2.54.  Jhon Garcia then came on and pitched two shutout innings on one hit along with a strikeout to lower his era to 3.28.  Kane Holbrooks then pitched a scoreless inning of relief on one hit along with a strikeout to lower his era on the year to 1.75.

• The Snappers could not do anything offensively against Bowling Green pitching in the loss for the Snappers.  Beloit scored only one run on only two hits along with drawing three walks and leaving three guys on base.  Angel Morales committed his third error of the year while Michael Tonkin committed his first in the losing cause.  The only offense the Snappers could muster was out of Angel Morales who went 2-3 at the plate with his 13th double and 6th triple of the year to bring his average up to .290.  Angel Morales has been on quite the hot streak as of late as he has hit .486 in his last 10 games with an OPS of 1.407 in those games for the Snappers.

• The Snappers have today off before making their last stand as they travel to Cedar Rapids to take on the Kernels.  The Snappers trail second place Quad Cities by 6 games with 7 games to play so they need to sweep the series.

Rochester Wrap

Rochester 10 (27-36), Toledo 6

The Red Wings won their third straight game as they attempt to get back into playoff contention after a terrible start to the season. Last night they beat Toledo 10-6 as they put on one of their most complete offensive games of the season and got some good relief pitching to help Glen Perkins in the Red Wings’ victory.

Perkins had been very good as of late, but in this one he was not very solid. It is possible the extra day that he got in between starts messed up his timing, but for whatever reason he couldn’t get guys out as easily as he could in the past. Perkins only lasted 4.1 innings and gave up six runs on eight hits along with two walks and two strikeouts while giving up three homeruns in his 4.1 innings. With the six runs allowed it increased Perkins ERA on the year to 7.76.

Rob Delaney then came on and had a great outing in relief. Delaney had really been struggling as of late as he had given up 10 runs in his last 9 innings of work. However, in this one Delaney was awesome, pitching 3.2 scoreless innings on only one hit along with an impressive six strikeouts. With the 3.2 scoreless innings Delaney had his ERA on the year drop to 4.79 along with picking up the win to move his record on the year to 7-3.

Anthony Slama then came in and pitched a scoreless 9th inning on one hit to lower his ERA on the year to 1.73.

The Red Wings were all over Toledo pitching in this game and that is the main reason they got the win. Rochester scored ten runs on an awesome 15 hits along with drawing four walks and leaving a much-too-many 11 men on base in this game.

The Red Wings were led offensively in this one by Brock Peterson who went 3-5 at the plate with his 11th homerun along with his 12th double and drove in his 32nd RBI of the year. With the three hits he improved his average on the year to .260.

Yancarlos Ortiz went 2-4 at the plate with 4 RBI to bring his total since his promotion to six and brought his average up to .444. Dustin Martin went 2-4 at the plate with his 11th and 12th doubles of the year and his 45th RBI of the year and his average up to an even .300. Toby Gardenhire went 2-4 at the plate along with three runs scored to bring his average on the year to .227. Jose Morales went 2-5 at the plate along with his ninth RBI and his two hits brought his average on the year up to .250. Wilson Ramos went 2-5 at the plate with his 17th RBI and brought his average up to .234. Matt Macri went 1-5 at the plate with his 13th double of the year. Jason Repko also contributed a base hit in the winning cause for the Red Wings.

Tonight, the Red Wings continue their series with Toledo as Matt Fox gets the start for Rochester. Game time is at 5:30 p.m. in Toledo as the Red Wings try to extend their winning streak to four games.

New Britain Business

New Britain 8 (17-44), Altoona 7

The Rockcats nearly had an historic collapse in this game against first-place Altoona. For eight innings they had a great game before everything fell apart in the 9th. The Rockcats had an 8-1 lead going into the bottom of the 9th thanks to good hitting and a great pitching performance from David Bromberg.

However, as been the case all year long, if something bad can happen to the Rockcats it usually does.

The Rockcats’ bullpen gave up six runs in the 9th inning and had the tying run on third base before Matt Williams recorded a strikeout to put the game away. It should not take away from the wonderful pitching performance from Bromberg, who had it all working last night. Bromberg went seven innings and gave up one run on only five hits along with two walks and three strikeouts to lower his ERA on the season to 3.54 and improve his record to 4-4.

This year has not been easy on Bromberg, the reigning minor league pitcher-of-the-year, as he has not lived up to expectations, which might have been a little bit unrealistic for the big righty. However, by most standards he has had a good year and I expect a big second half from Bromberg.

Cole DeVries then came on and was not very good again for the Rockcats. DeVries went 1+ inning and gave up three runs on four hits along with a strikeout to raise his ERA on the year to 6.30.

Matt Williams finished the game, and nearly lost the game for New Britain. Williams also went 1+ innings and gave up three runs on three hits although only one of them was earned along with a strikeout to raise his ERA on the year to 4.35.

The Rockcats' offense had their best offensive day of the season and it turned out they needed every run. New Britain scored eight runs on a season high 18 hits along with leaving eight guys on base. Chris Parmelee committed his fourth error of the year in the victory. The Rockcats were led offensively by Jair Fernandez who went 3-5 at the plate with his 2nd and 3rd doubles of the year and three RBI to bring his season total to four and his average up to .256.

Parmelee went 3-5 at the plate to bring his average up to .198. Mark Dolenc went 2-4 at the plate with his 4th and 5th doubles of the year to bring his average up to .253. Brandon Roberts went 2-5 at the plate with his fourth double of the year and his 10th RBI to bring his average up to .338. Yangervis Solarte went 2-5 at the plate with his eighth double of the year to bring his season average up to .277.

Erik Lis went 2-2 at the plate before leaving the game due to injury to bring his average up to .301. Juan Portes went 2-4 at the plate to bring his average up to .177. Ben Revere and Steve Singleton each contributed a base hit in the winning cause for the Rockcats.

Tonight, the Rockcats finish off their series with Altoona as Carlos Gutierrez is scheduled to take the hill for New Britain. Game time is at 5 p.m. in Altoona as the Rockcats try to follow a good win with another tonight.

Fort Myers Minutes

The Miracle continued their All Star Break this week. Even though the team was inactive, Fort Myers had a couple players participate in the annual North vs. South All Star Game in the Florida State League. Chris Hermann went 0-1 at the plate. Billy Bulluck pitched an inning and gave up two runs on three hits in his outing.

The Miracle will begin the second half of their season Monday night at home against Palm Beach as they try to improve on a disappointing first half, where they went 26-33 and finished in fifth place in the FSL South division.

Beloit Beat

Beloit 14 (32-30), Bowling Green 1

The Snappers continue their late run at possibly making the playoffs as they won their fourth straight game against Bowling Green in a blowout of 14-1 in Beloit last night. It is probably too late for the Snappers to make the playoffs as they trail Quad Cities by 5 games with 7 games to play for the final playoff spot. However, it is a good thing going into the 2nd half as the Snappers have played very well except a couple week slump that took them out of contention.

In this matchup Edgar Ibarra got the start for the Snappers and was excellent. Ibarra went seven innings and only gave up an unearned run on five hits along with two walks and 10 strikeouts to lower his ERA on the year to 4.50 and improved his record on the year to 4-6.

Eliecer Cardenas then came on and pitched a scoreless inning of relief on a hit along with a walk and two strikeouts to lower his ERA on the year to 2.45. Matt Tone then came on and pitched a perfect ninth along with a strikeout to lower his ERA on the year to 3.90 on the year.

The Snappers went crazy offensively in this one as they put up season highs in both runs and hits. Beloit scored a season high 14 runs on 15 hits along while drawing seven walks and leaving six guys on base.

Danny Rams had his second passed ball of the year in the win. The Snappers were led offensively by James Beresford who went 3-5 at the plate with his 21st and 22nd RBI of the year and brought his average up to .267. Aaron Hicks went 2-4 at the plate with his 14th and 15th doubles of the year along with 2 RBI to bring his season total up to 20 and his average up to .252.

Angel Morales went 2-3 at the plate with his 12th double and 5th triple of the year along with 4 RBI’s to bring his season total up to 35 and brought his average up to .284. Steve Liddle went 2-3 at the plate with his 24th and 25th RBI of the year and his average went up to .237. Danny Rams went 2-5 at the plate to bring his average up to .228.

Reggie Williams went 2-3 at the plate with his third homerun of the year and three RBI’s to bring his season total up to 21 along with scoring three runs. With the two hits Williams is now hitting .226 on the year. Michael Gonzalez and Daniel Santana each contributed a base hit in the winning cause for the Snappers.

Tonight, the Snappers finish off their series with Bowling Green as Michael Tonkin gets the start for Beloit. Game time is at 4 p.m. in Beloit as the Snappers try to extend their winning streak to five games and attempt to close in on Quad Cities in the playoff race.

Rochester Wrap

• The Red Wings had another tough outing against Columbas last night, as they not only could not get Matt Laporta out for Columbus, but they also could not hit the ball. Ryan Mullins got the start in this one and, quite frankly, was not very good. Mullins only lasted five innings and gave up six runs on eight hits along with a walk and a strikeout. He gave up three homeruns. By giving up five earned runs Mullins raised his ERA to 5.20 on the year and saw his record drop to 3-5. Mullins has been pretty solid so far this year and I feel like this start was an anomaly. Next time out he will give the Red Wings a better chance to win. Jose Lugo then came on and pitched the last three innings and gave up two runs on three hits along with a walk and an impressive five strikeouts. With the two runs allowed Lugo raised his ERA on the year to 6.35. I am very surprised how poor of a start to the season that Lugo has had as I was expecting some impressive pitching. He really has not lived up to expectations. Hopefully, Lugo can improve and help the Red Wings in the second half of the year.
  
  
• The Red Wings' offense did nothing at the plate in this game against the Carlos Carrasco, a super pitching prospect for Cleveland. Rochester did not score a run and tallied just four hits along with one walk and left four guys on base. Brock Peterson committed his fifth error of the year in the loss for the Red Wings. Trevor Plouffe led the offense by going 1-4 at the plate. Brian Dinkelman, Jacque Jones, and Matt Macri each contributed base hits in the losing cause for the Red Wings.
  
  
• Tonight, the Red Wings continue their series with Columbus as Anthony Swarzak takes the hill for Rochester. Gametime is at 6:05 p.m. in Columbus as Rochester tries to win the series.

• The Rockcats suffered their second consecutive loss to Richmond last night. They got a great pitching performance out of Deolis Guerra, but just could not do anything against Richmond pitching. Guerra got the start for New Britain and was excellent. Hurling a complete eight-inning game for the Rockcats, Guerra gave up two unearned runs on three hits along with four walks and three strikeouts to lower his ERA on the year to 2.41 and drop his record to 1-2. After spending a couple weeks in Rochester, Guerra returned to New Britain and really got back on track. I don’t expect Guerra to spend the rest of the year for New Britain as I think he will be back in Rochester before the end of the year.

• Although the pitching was steller, New Britain's offense could not do anything in this game as Richmond pitchers really shut them down. The Rockcats only scored one run on nine hits. They left six guys on base. Erik Lis committed his 6th and 7th errors of the year in the loss for the Rockcats. New Britain was led offensively by Brandon Roberts, who went 3-4 at the plate with his third double of the year to bring his average up to .319. Yangervis Solarte went 1-4 at the plate with his 17th RBI of the year. Mark Dolenc, Lis, Steve Singleton, Yancarlos Ortiz, and Chris Cates each contributed a base hit in the losing cause for the Rockcats.

• Tonight, the Rockcats continue their series with Richmond as Tyler Robertson gets the start for New Britain. Gametime is at 6:05 p.m. in Richmond as the Rockcats try to snap out of their two-game losing streak to Richmond.

Fort Myers Minutes

Fort Myers 3 (26-33), Bradenton 2

• By throwing together a few hits behind a good pitching performance by Shooter Hunt, the Miracle defeated Bradenton last night by the score of 3-2. The big hit was an RBI single by Nick Romero. Hunt got the start for Fort Myers and was much better than his last start. Going six innings and giving up two runs on six hits, Hunt gave up a homerun while tallying three walks and five strikeouts. With the two runs allowed Hunt lowered his ERA on the year to 4.89. Twins fans need to be patient with Hunt as he has tons of talent, but right now he is going to be inconsistent on the mound and you can only hope that he has more good starts than bad starts. Jose Gonzalez then came on and pitched two shutout innings to pick up his first win of the year. In his two innings of work Gonzalez did not give up a hit along and struck out one batter. Billy Bulluck pitched a perfect ninth to pick up his 11th save of the year along with a strikeout to lower his ERA on the year to 2.97.

• The Miracle were not able to do much on offense in this game, but did just enough to pick up the win. The Miracle scored three runs on just six hits along with three walks, but left five guys on base. The Miracle were led offensively by Nick Romero who went 1-3 at the plate with a go-ahead RBI single. Deibinson Romero, Evan Bigley, Nathan Hanson, Allan De San Miguel, and Dan Rohlfing each contributed base hits in the Miracle's victory over Bradenton last night.

• Tonight, Fort Myers continues their series with Bradenton and finish the first half of the season. Michael Tarsi will take the hill for Fort Myers. Gametime is at 6:05 p.m. at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers as the Miracle try to end the first half on a winning note after having a disappointing first half.

Beloit 8 (29-30), Dayton 4

• The Snappers picked up a big win over Dayton last night, ending their disappointment about how their first half ended. Miguel Munoz got the start for the Snappers and was mediocre. Going six innings and giving up four runs on seven hits, Munoz allowed a walk and struck out three to lower his ERA on the year to 5.83 and improved his record to 2-5. Eliecar Cardenas then came on and worked two innings and gave up two hits along with a walk and a strikeout to lower his ERA on the year to 2.57. Matt Tone then came on and pitched a scoreless inning along with a strikeout to lower his ERA to 4.02.

• Beloit had a good night offensively in this game that was dominated by the offense. The Snappers scored eight runs on 12 hits along with drawing two walks and leaving 12 guys on base. Anderson Hidalgo committed his 9th error of the year in the win for the Snappers. Beloit was led offensively by James Beresford who went 2-4 at the plate with his second triple of the year along with his 17th and 18th RBI and his 6th stolen base. With the two hits Beresford is now hitting .254 on the year. Angel Morales went 2-3 at the plate with his fourth homerun of the year along with his 11th double and 2 RBI to bring his season total up to 27 and his season average up to .269. Michael Gonzalez went 2-4 at the plate with his third double of the year and brought his average up to .173. Wei-Wang Lin went 2-5 at the plate with his 10th RBI and is now hitting .197 on the year. Josmil Pinto went 1-4 at the plate with his 10th double of the year. Anderson Hidalgo and Reggie Williams each contributed base hits in the winning cause for the Snappers.

• Tonight, the Snappers continue their series with Dayton as Brad Stillings gets the start. Gametime is at 7 p.m. in Beloit as the Snappers try to keep the momentum rolling against Dayton.
  

Welcome back to another edition of the Minor League Stop, which is where I'll take a look at the Twins minor league affiliates. I am sorry that I haven’t been updating as much as I would have liked, but life beckoned and it was unavoidable. However, I am back and hope you enjoy. Feel free to leave any comments on the blog and let me know what you think.

Rochester Wrap

Rochester 7 (24-35), Columbus 5

• The Red Wings got a nice win last night against the first place Columbus Clippers behind good pitching and some excellent hitting. Jeff Manship got the start for the Red Wings and was nothing more than decent. Manship went 5.2 innings and gave up four runs on ten hits along with a walk and five strikeouts to raise his ERA on the year to 3.90. Manship has been very inconsistent this year as he will go from a good start to a not-so-good start. The Twins really need Manship to be a little bit more consistent on the mound. Jose Lugo then came on and pitched 1/3 of an inning and gave up a run on two hits with a homerun to raise his ERA on the year to 6.38. That is when the real aces of the Red Wings' bullpen entered the game. First it was Kyle Waldrop who went 1.2 innings and did not give up a run on three hits along with a strikeout to lower his team leading ERA to 1.28 along with improving his record on the year to 2-0. Anthony Slama got the last four outs for his 12^th save of the year. He gave up a walk and had a strikeout to lower his ERA on the year to a very good 1.89.

• The Red Wings' offense had a big game, which was really the catalyst behind the Wings' win. The Red Wings put up seven runs on ten hits along with drawing five walks and leaving eight guys on base. The Red Wings were led offensively by Matt Macri who went 3-3 at the plate along with his 10^th and 11^th doubles of the year and his 11^th RBI. With the three hits Macri is now hitting .283 on the season. Brock Peterson went 2-4 at the plate with his 9^th homerun of the year along with his 9^th double and drove in two runs to bring his RBI total on the year to 29. With the two hits Peterson is now hitting .250 at the plate. Jason Repko went 1-4 at the plate with his seventh double of the year. Brian Dinkelman went 1-4 at the plate with his 22^nd and 23^rd RBI of the year along with his second stolen base. Wilson Ramos, Jose Morales, and Toby Gardenhire each contributed a base hit in the winning cause.

• Tonight, the Red Wings continue their series with Columbus as Ryan Mullins takes the hill for Rochester. Gametime is at 6:05 p.m. in Columbus as the Red Wings try to win consecutive games on the roadtrip.

New Britain Business

Richmond 6, New Britain 2 (15-42)

• The Rockcats saw their miserable season continue as they tacked another loss to their record. Against Richmond, the Rock Cats displayed a combination of bad pitching and bad hitting, which earned them their 42nd loss of the season. Mike McCardell got the start for New Britain and was not very good in this one. Going 5.1 innings, McCardell gave up six runs on nine hits along with four strikeouts. What really did him in was the fact that he gave up three gopher balls in this game. With the loss McCardell’s record on the year dropped to 0-6 and his ERA rose to 4.58. Cole DeVries came on and worked 1.2 innings and gave up no runs on two hits along with a strikeout to lower his ERA on the year to 5.59. Michael Allen finished the gamot give by going the last inning and ning up a run on a hit along with a strikeout to lower his ERA on the year to 6.43.

• The Rockcats' offense continued to do a lot of nothing as that has been the problem pretty much all season. In this game the Rockcats scored two runs on only six hits and left three men on base. New Britain was led offensively by Erik Lis who went 1-4 at the plate with his fourth double and his 21^st RBI. Steve Singleton went 1-4 at the plate with his 16^th double of the year. Ben Revere went 1-1 at the plate before having to leave due to an injury. Yancarlos Ortiz, Brandon Roberts, and Chris Cates each contributed a base hit in the losing cause for the Rockcats.

• Tonight, the Rockcats continue their series with Richmond as Deolis Guerra gets the start for New Britain. Gametime is at 6:05 p.m. in Richmond as the Rockcats try to bounce back from a tough loss last night.

Fort Myers Minutes

Lakeland 9, Fort Myers 1 (25-33)

• The Miracle suffered a rough loss last night as they not only did not pitch well, but also could not hit very well. Adrian Salcedo got the start for the Miracle and had his worst start of the year. Salcedo only lasted 2.1 innings and gave up seven runs on seven hits along with a walk to raise his ERA on the year to 6.86 and drop his record to 1-3. Besides this start, Salcedo has been much better than I expected he would be with Fort Myers. He probably belongs in Beloit, but he really hasn't done that bad in Fort Myers. I still expect him to go down to Beloit when Elizabethton and the GCL begin their seasons in a few weeks, but if they chose to keep him in Fort Myers I don’t think it would be the worst thing in the world. Blake Martin then came on and went 2.2 innings and gave up a run on three hits along with three walks and a strikeout to raise his ERA on the year to 5.26. Steve Blevins then came on and pitched two innings and gave up a run on three hits along with a strikeout to raise his ERA to 6.23. Joe Testa finished the game by pitching a shutout inning along with a strikeout to lower his ERA to 3.38 since his arrival in Fort Myers.

• The Miracle could not do anything offensively in this game. The Miracle scored only one run on only five hits along with drawing four walks and leaving seven guys on base. The Miracle were led offensively by Nathan Hanson who went 2-4 at the plate to raise his average up to .219. Esterlin De Los Santos, Nick Romero, and Chris Parmelee each contributed a base hit in the losing cause for the Miracle.

• Tonight, the Miracle go home and begin a series with Bradenton as Shooter Hunt gets the start for Fort Myers. Gametime is at 6:05 p.m. at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers as the Miracle try to get things back on track.

Beloit Beat

Dayton 5, Beloit 2 (28-30)

• The Snappers saw their recent struggles continue as they lost again this time to Dayton by the score of 5-2. Snappers' starter Michael Tonkin was not as bad as his line looked like, but the offense could not do anything and they went down for the 12^th time in 13 games. Tonkin got the start for Beloit and went seven innings and gave up four runs -- though only two of them were earned -- on nine hits along with five strikeouts to drop his record on the year to 0-4 and actually saw his ERA on the year drop to 2.65. Kane Holbrooks then came on and went an inning and gave up a run on a hit along with two walks and a strikeout to raise his ERA on the year to 1.60. Peter Kennelly then came on and pitched the last inning and did not give up a run along with a strikeout to lower his ERA on the year to 5.81.

• The Snappers could do nothing offensively to support Tonkin which is why they have been losing. Beloit scored just two runs on five hits in the game along with drawing a walk and leaving three runners on base. Daniel Santana and Michael Gonzalez each committed their 6^th errors of the season. The Snappers were led offensively by James Beresford who went 1-4 at the plate with his seventh double and 16^th RBI and sixth stolen base of the year. Reggie Williams went 1-2 at the plate with his fourth stolen base. Angel Morales went 1-3 at the plate with his 17^th stolen base. Danny Rams and Wang-Wei Lin each contributed a base hit Snapper's loss.

• Tonight, the Snappers continue their series with Dayton as Miguel Munoz gets the start for Beloit. Gametime is at 7 p.m. in Beloit as the Snappers try to bring their record back to the .500 mark.
  

Rochester Wrap

Rochester 9 (21-33),  Norfolk 0

• The Redwings won their second consecutive game with a great performance by Wings starter Jeff Manship and a nice performance by the offense. Yesterday was the kind of performance that you would expect from a guy like Manship as he has way too much talent to be struggling in the minor leagues. I fully expect him to be battling Kyle Gibson for the 5th starter job out of spring training next spring and I would probably make him the favorite to win that job just because he has a little more experience under his belt. Yesterday, Manship had his best performance of the season, which is hopefully a precurser of things to come for the righty. Manship went all 9 innings and did not give up a run on only four hits along with six strikeouts. He only needed 92 pitches to pitch the complete game which makes it all the more impressive. With the win Manship improved his record on the year to 3-2 and lowered his ERA to 3.64. It was a big outing for Manship and hopefully he can keep it up because the Twins will need him in the second half of this year.

• Not only did the Red Wings get a big performance by Jeff Manship, but they got a great performance by the Red Wings' offense in this game. The Red Wings scored nine runs on a whopping 16 hits and three walks. The game would have been way more lopsided if it were not for the 11 guys left on base. As the Red Wings go forward if they want to get back into playoff contention they need to cash in on some of these chances they put together.  Matt Macri committed his first error of the year, while Toby Gardenhire committed his fourth. The Red Wings were led offensively by Wilson Ramos, who went 5-5 at the plate with his fifth and sixth doubles of the year, along with two RBI to bring his season total up to 12. With the five hits Ramos is now over the Mendoza line and is hitting a still-dismal .205 on the season. Wilson Ramos has been an enigma so far this season. As you know, he can be a monster but just has not done it so far this season. I don't know if he thinks he should be in the big leagues, or what, but the quickest way to get back with the Twins is to smash the ball like he is capable so the Twins won't have a choice but to call you up.  Jacque Jones went 2-4 at the plate along with his second stolen base of the year to bring his average up to .314.  Brock Peterson went 2-5 with his seventh double of the year along with his 24th RBI to bring his average up to .250. Toby Gardenhire went 2-4 at the plate with his second RBI of the year to bring his average up to .250. Trevor Plouffe went 2-5 to bring his average up to .281 on the year. Matt Macri went 1-4 at the plate with his first stolen base of the year. Brian Dinkelman and Dustin Martin each contributed a base hit in the winning cause for the Red Wings.

• Tonight, the Red Wings begin a series with Toledo as Ryan Mullins returns from a spout of arm trouble to make his way back in the rotation and get the start tonight. Gametime is at 6:05 p.m. at Frontier Field in Rochester as the Red Wings try to extend their winning streak to three games.

New Britain Business

Altoona 5, New Britain 4 (14-39) - 10 innings

• The Rockcats saw their miserable season continue yesterday with the latest in a long line of heartbreaking losses. They fell to first-place Altoona by a score of 5-4 in 10 innings. The Rockcats had a chance to tie it in the 10th inning, but Yangervis Solarte flew out to left with the tying run at second base to lose the game. Mike McCardell got the start for the Rockcats and was very good in this one for New Britain. McCardell went eight strong innings and gave up only one earned run on six hits along with a walk and three strikeouts to lower his ERA to 4.13. McCardell had probably his best start of the season for the Rockcats and heres hoping he can build on that as he did not have a very good May. Matt Williams then came on and was fine in the 9th inning but then got drilled in the 10th to take the loss. Williams went two innings, giving up three runs on four hits along with three strikeouts and a homerun to raise his ERA on the year to 5.17 and lowered his record to 1-2.

• The Rockcats could not do much offensively until the 10th inning and by that time it was just too little too late for New Britain. The Rockcats scored four runs on 10 hits along with drawing three walks and leaving seven guys on base in this one. Mike McCardell committed his second error of the season on an errant pickoff attempt for the Rockcats. The team was led offensively by Erik Lis, who went 2-5 at the plate with his fifth homerun of the year and two RBI to bring his total up to 16 since his arrival in New Britain. With the two hits Lis improved his batting average on the year to .274 for the Rockcats. Mark Dolenc went 2-5 at the plate to bring his average up to .277 on the year. Juan Portes had his best game in a while going 2-2 at the plate along with a sacrifice bunt to bring his average up to .188.  Ben Revere went 0-4 along with a walk and his 20th stolen base of the year. Rene Tosoni, Yangervis Solarte, Danny Lehman, and Brandon Roberts each contributed a base hit in the losing cause for the Rockcats.

• Tonight, the Rockcats begin a weekend series with Binghamton. Tyler Robertson gets the start as he tries to rebound from his last start that was really a disappointment. Gametime is at 5:35 p.m. in New Britain as the Rockcats try to put this series with Altoona behind them and get back on the right side of things.

Fort Myers Minutes

Dunedin 4, Fort Myers 0 (23-30)

• The Miracle almost had their slim playoff chances ended last night as they lost a pitchers duel to Dunedin by a score of 4-0. Miracle starter Adrian Salcedo was very good once again, but the Miracle could not figure out Dunedin starter Chad Beck and four relievers as the Miracle were only able to muster three hits in the game. Adrian Salcedo got the start and went the first five innings, giving up only one run on four hits along with two walks and four strikeouts. His only blemish came on a homerun. After the night, Salcedo lowered his ERA on the year to 4.34 and dropped his record to 1-2. Salcedo is unbelievable as he is probably two levels ahead of where he should be and he is not sinking in the least. He seems to be getting better and better with every start he makes. The 19-year old out of the Dominican Republic has so much upside it is unbelievable. He should be in EST and getting ready to go to E-Town, but instead he is doing very well in Ft. Myers so I take that as a sign that he is a future star for the Twins and is showing how good of a prospect he is. Andrei Lobanov then came on and pitched two innings against Dunedin, giving up one earned run along with five hits and three strikeouts to raise his ERA on the year to a very good 2.02. Tony Davis pitched the last 2 innings and gave up a run on a hit along with two walks to raise his ERA on the year to 3.07.

• The Miracle did absolutely nothing against Dunedin pitchers in this one and when that happens your chances of winning are pretty slim. The Miracle scored no runs on only three measly hits along with drawing four walks and left 9 guys on base. In a game like this you need to take advantage of the few opportunities you do have and the Miracle could not do that in this game. Chris Hermann committed his fifth error of the year on a catcher's interference call for the Miracle. The Miracle were led offensively by  Esterlin De Los Santos who went 1-4 at the plate. Chris Parmelee and Brian Dozier each contributed base hits in the losing cause for the Miracle.

• Tonight, the Miracle continue their series with Dunedin. Shooter Hunt will make his second start of the year as he tries to make his way back to respectability. Gametime is at 6:05 p.m. at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers as the Miracle try to finish the first half on a good note and build for the second half of the season.

Beloit Beat

Lake County 12,  Beloit 6  (26-28)

• It is unbelievable how far the Snappers have fallen in such a small amount of time. The Snappers have now lost 12 of their last 13 games to completely fall out of contention for a playoff berth. In this series against Lake County, Beloit got dominated worse than the scores would indicate. In this one Miguel Munoz got the start and was putrid for the Snappers. Munoz only lasted three innings and gave up seven runs on eight hits along with two walks and three strikeouts and a homerun to raise his ERA on the year to 5.81 and see his record drop to 1-5. Eliecer Cardenas then came on and pitched 2.2 innings, giving up two runs on five hits along with three walks and a strikeout to raise his ERA to 2.95. Jhon Garcia then came on and pitched 1.1 innings of relief and gave up three runs on three hits along with two walks to raise his ERA to 3.38. Matt Tone pitched a scoreless 8th inning along with a walk and a strikeout to bring his ERA to 3.77.

• The Snappers did some good things offensively, but it was not enough in a game when the pitching staff provided no help the Beloit batters. The Snappers scored 6 runs on 10 hits along with drawing five walks and 11 guys on base so this was a game the Snappers could have won if they had gotten better clutch hitting. Steve Liddle committed his fourth error of the year in the loss for the Snappers. The Snappers were led offensively in this one by Danny Rams who went 2-4 at the plate with his second and third homeruns of the year along with three RBI to bring his season total up to 15 and his batting average up to .221. Liddle went 3-5 at the plate with his sixth double of the year and his 20th RBI to bring his average up to .216. Angel Morales went 2-4 at the plate with a walk and three runs scored along with his 15th stolen base of the year to bring his average up to .253. Reggie Williams went 1-5 at the plate with his first triple of the year. Michael Gonzalez and Daniel Santana each contributed a base hit in the losing cause for the Snappers.

• Tonight, the Snappers begin a series in Fort Wayne as Brad Stillings gets the start for Beloit. Gametime is at 6:05 p.m. in Fort Wayne as the Snappers try to break out of a four-game losing streak and get back on the right track.

First off, I want to introduce myself. My name is Travis Aune and I will be blogging here at the Minor League Musings page. You can also find me at travistalkstalks.blogspot.com. On most days I will be bringing you game recaps from the previous day in the minor leagues. Also, every Monday I will bring you a Pitcher and Hitter of the Week for every level in the Twins' system.  If you have comments on my opinions just leave them in the comment box or email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

I want to congratulate Danny Valencia for getting a promotion up to the Twins. It is much deserved in my opinion, as he is one of the top prospects in the whole organization. Valencia is hitting .292 with 24 RBI so far this year in Rochester, so he has had a quality year for the Red Wings. I hope his promotion is longer than a few days because I think the Twins really owe Valencia a legitimate shot in the majors, as I feel he is the 3rd baseman of the future.

I will write more later, but just wanted to introduce myself and congratulate Danny Valencia in accomplishing a life long dream. Get ready to bookmark this page because it should be a fun experience for us each to follow the future Minnesota Twins roster. Catch you on the flip side!!