What an interesting day in the Twins minor leagues on Saturday. While the Twins offense continues to struggle, the Saints scored double digits again. The Wind Surge hitters powered their way to a 16-run game. Even the DSL Twins scored 15. The Kernels and Mussels just earned regular wins with normal amounts of runs. 

On Sunday, the attention may be turned to the mound where three of the new members of the Twins organization will make their Twins organization debut. 

TRANSACTIONS
Bailey Ober was activated from the Injured List on Saturday morning.

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 10, Toledo 4
Box Score
The Saints scored three runs in the first and second. Then they took an inning off before scoring a single run in the next four innings. And then they hung on for the 10-4 win. 

Luke Keaschall led off the game with a triple. With one out, Kyler Fedko was hit by a pitch. Payton Eeles drove in both runners with another triple. Gabriel Gonzalez drove in the third run with a sacrifice fly. 

The second inning began with a single. Johnny Pereda walked. Nine-hitter Aaron Sabato drilled a three-run homer to make it 6-0. 

In the fourth inning, Pereda tripled and scored on a Keaschall sacrifice fly. 

The fifth inning began with Fedko walking, stealing second, and going to third on a balk. Eeles was hit by a pitch. Fedko scored on a double play ground ball by Gonzalez. 

With two outs in the sixth inning, Aaron Sabato hit his second homer of the game. 

Fedko led off the seventh inning with his first Saints double. He went to third on a groundout and scored the 10th run on a single by Gonzalez. 

Trent Baker made the start for the Saints. He tossed four innings and issued one walk while striking out six batters. He gave up no runs, and no hits. Jarret Whorff came in and gave up one hit, one walk and hit one batter over two scoreless innings. He gave up the first hit to the Mudhens in the sixth inning. 

Kyle Bischoff gave up two runs on two hits and two walks over two innings. Cole Percival gave up two runs on three hits and a walk. 

Aaron Sabato went 2-for-4 with his sixth and seventh homers and drove in four runs. Keaschall went 2-for-3 with a walk and a triple. Fedko went 2-fo-3 with a walk, his first Triple-A double, his first Triple-A triple, and his first Triple-A stolen base. Gonzalez was 2-for-4 with two RBI. Eeles hit a triple and drove in two runs. Perada hit a triple and walked. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 16, Amarillo 11
Box Score
In a game with 27 runs and 34 hits and six errors and six wild pitches and a hit batter, the Wind Surge scored in each of the first eight innings. The Sod Poodles scored in six of nine innings. A six-run sixth inning gave the Wind Surge a lead that they were able to hold onto. 

Wichita got off to a fast start in the first inning. Kaelen Culpepper and Walker Jenkins each singled. With one out, Ricardo Olivar drilled a three-run homer to give the team the lead. 

In the second inning, Ben Ross drilled a solo homer to make it 4-1. 

In the third inning, newcomer Hendry Mendez drove in Kala’i Rosario with a sacrifice fly. 

With one out in the third inning, Ross singled. He advanced on a throwing error on a pickoff attempt and then scored on a wild pitch. Next, Jose Salas singled. Culpepper and Jenkins walked to load the bases. Salas scored on a Kala’i Rosario fielder’s choice to make it 7-4. 

Mendez singled to start the fifth inning. He stole second and went to third on a throwing error. He scored on a Rubel Cespedes single to tie the game at 8-8. 

But the Wind Surge broke things open with a six-run sixth inning. With one out, Walker Jenkins singled. With two outs, he stole second. Andrew Cossetti walked. After a pitching change, Mendez singled to load the bass. Nate Baez cleared the bases with a double to make it 11-9. 

Rubel Cespedes doubled to drive in Baez. Finally, Ben Ross hit his second homer of the game, a two-run shot to make it 14-9. 

In the seventh inning, Andrew Cossetti homered to make it 15-10. 

In the eighth inning, Jenkins homers to make it 16-11. 

To the pitching. Alejandro Hidalgo made his first Double-A start and gave up four runs (2 earned) on three hits and three walks. He had four strikeouts. Jaylen Nowlin pitched one inning and gave up four runs on two hits and three walks. Darren Bowen came out of the bullpen and gave up three runs on six hits and a walk in 2 2/3 innings. Eston Stull got the next four outs, two on strikeouts. Hunter Hoopes pitched a quiet ninth. 

All 10 Wind Surge batters had at least one hit. Three players had two hits, and four hitters had three hits. The three hitters that had one hit also had one walk. 

Ben Ross was 3-for-5 with a walk, his seventh and eighth homers. He scored and drove in three runs. Jenkins went 3-for-5 with a walk and his fifth home run. In his first game in the Twins organization, Mendez went 3-for-5. Rubel Cespedes went 3- for-5. Richardo Olivar was 2-for-3 with his 12th homer and three RBI. Andrew Cossetti came in for him later in the game and he hit his 10th homer.       

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 6, Lansing 3
Box Score
The hometown Lugnuts scored a run in each of the first two innings. The Kernels scored two runs in the first and two runs in the second inning. From that point, the offense provided a little insurance and the pitching carried the day. 

In the first, Kyle DeBarge led off with a walk and stole second. In his first at-bat in the Twins organization, Eduardo Tait lined a single to center, hit too hard to score DeBarge from second. But, DeBarge scored soon after on a wild pitch. After Billy Amick walked, there was another wild pitch that allowed Tait to score. 

In the top of the second, Caden Kendle led off with his seventh home run of the season. It was followed by Poncho Ruiz’s first Kernels homer. 

Leading 4-3 in the top of the sixth, Brandon Winokur reached on an infield single and went to second on a throwing error. Danny De Andrade drove him in with a single to center. 

They added one more insurance run in the top of the ninth. With one out, Poncho Ruiz walked and went to third on a Maddux Houghton single. Kyle DeBarge flew out, but Ruiz was able to score. 

Jose Olivares was on the mound to start for the Kernels. He was charged with three runs on six hits. He walked three and had five strikeouts in five innings. Sam Perez came in and struck out four batters over two scoreless, one-hit innings. Paulshawn Pasqualotto threw the final two innings and allowed just one hit to record his eighth save. 

Winokur went 2-for-3 with a walk in the game. De Andrade was 2-for-4. DeBarge stole his 56th base. 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 3, Dunedin 2 (10 innings)
Box Score
Saturday was an intriguing match up between two of the top prep left-handed pitchers from the 2024 draft. The Twins used the 69th overall pick to select Dasan Hill from Grapevine High School in Texas. With the 95th overall, the Blue Jays took Johnny King out of Naples High School in Florida. Hill was committed to Dallas Baptist while King had committed to Miami. Hill got a $1,997,500 million bonus while King agreed to $1,247,500.

Safe to say that both did well in the matchup. Johnny King tossed five scoreless innings. He gave up two hits, walked two and had seven strikeouts. Dasan Hill went four shutout innings. He gave up just one hit, walked none, and had three strikeouts. 

Let’s keep going. Johnny King threw 65 pitches, 38% sinkers. His sinker averaged 93.4 mph with a max of 94.5 mph. Hill threw just 45 pitches. One-third of those pitches (15) were sliders. 14 more pitches were changeups. He threw eight pitches that were called sinkers and eight more that were called 4-seam fastballs. The average sinker was 95.5 mph and the average four-seamer was 96.1 mph. His maximum velocity on a pitch was 96.8 mph. 

But yes, other people played in the game too. There was no score in the game through six innings. Eli Jones worked four innings and gave up just a seventh-inning run. He gave up five hits, walked one and had a strikeout. 

Enrique Jimenez led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a single. With one out, Shai Robinson walked. With two outs, Marek Houston singled to center to drive in Jimenez with the game-tying run. 

That was it until extra innings. Dylan Questad pitched a scoreless ninth inning, and then he gave up a single run (the unearned Manfred run). 

Ryan Sprock began the bottom of the 10th inning on second base. He advanced to third base when Robinson grounded out to second base (#ProductiveOut). Next, JP Smith was hit by a pitch. Dameury Pena ran for him. 

That brought Houston back to the plate, and he came through with a single to right which scored Sprock with the tying run. Pena advanced to third. Houston went to second on defensive indifference. The rehabbing Khadim Diaw stepped up and lined a single to left field to score Pena with the game winner! 

The Mussels managed their three runs on seven hits and three walks. Houston went 2-for-4 with a walk and his first stolen base. He also drove in the game-tying run twice in the game. Diaw had the game-winning RBI and was also hit by a pitch. JP Smith had a single and was hit by a pitch.  

DOMINICAN DAILIES
DSL Twins 15, DSL Giants 6
Box Score
16-year-old Geremy Villoria made his first start in the Twins organization on Saturday afternoon. He came over from the Phillies side of their shared Dominican complex in Boca Chica following the trade that sent Harrison Bader to the city of brotherly love. The first inning went 1-2-3 with a groundout, a strikeout and a pop up that Villoria caught all by himself. 

In the top of the second frame, Joyner Perez and Jhomnardo Reyes doubled, the latter driving in the former with the game’s first run. Darwin Almanzar was hit by a pitch. The bases were loaded after a Dencer Diaz single. Aaron Salazar came up and lined a double that cleared the bases and put the Twins up 4-0. 

Vilooria came back out for the second inning. Following a leadoff double in the bottom of the second, runners were on second and third after a play that involved a fielding error and a throwing error. A run scored on a ground out, but it was followed with a walk. A single pushed two runs across with the help of another throwing error. Another single, and another run happened before he got a ground out to end the inning. I normally don’t go into that much detail with how the opponent scores, but once in a while it’s a good reminder of what life in the DSL (and FCL sometimes too) can look like at times. 

Through six innings, the game was tied at 5-5. 

Then the Twins brought out the big lumber for the late innings. They scored four more runs in the seventh. Gerardo Cardona doubled and went to third base on a Teilon Serrano single. Santiago Leon singled to load the bases. Hartizon Castillo drove in a painful run as he was hit by a pitch. Joyner Perez walked to drive in a second run. After a pitching change and one out, Almanzar singled to drive in two runs and make it 9-5. 

Gerardo Cardona and Teilon Serrano walked to start the bottom of the eighth. Leon singled to drive in a run. A second run scored on a ground out. Perez walked and went to second on a passed ball. Jhomnardo Reyes hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Leon with the 12th run. Diaz walked, Salazar was hit by a pitch. Soon after Almanzar scored on a wild pitch. Next, Cardona was hit by a pitch to re-load the bases. A walk by Serrano drove in the 15th and, thankfully, final run of the game. 

Marlon Mirabel came on and got two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning when the game was called due to weather. Aaron Carranza gave up one run on one hit and three walks over three innings. Rainer Marin gave up an unearned run over two innings. 

The Twins scored 15 runs on 10 hits, eight walks and five hit batters. Almanzar went 2-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored Serrano went 2-for-4 with two walks and two runs scored and two RBI.  

PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter of the Day  
Ben Ross (Wichita):  3-for-5, BB, 2 HR (8), 3 R, 3 RBI

Pitcher of the Day 
Trent Baker (St. Paul): 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB, 6 K.

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Saturday.

#1– Walker Jenkins (Wichita) – 3-for-5, BB, HR(5), 3 R, RBI (DHd)
#2 – Luke Keaschall (Minnesota) – rehab SP: 2-for-3, BB, 3B(1), R, SF RBI (played 2B)
#3 – Kaelen Culpepper (Wichita) – 2-for-6, BB, R, 2 K (played SS)
#6 – Dasan Hill (Fort Myers) – 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 45 pitches, 31 strikes (%)
#8 – Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) – 2-for-4 (played RF)
#10 – Marek Houston (Fort Myers) – 2-for-4, BB, 2 RBI, K, SB(1)
#11 – Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) -2-for-3, BB, K, CS(4). (Played SS)
#14 – Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids) – 0-for-3, BB, R, SF RBI, K, SB(56).
#16 – Billy Amick (Cedar Rapids) – 0-for-0, BB (played 1B)
#17 – Khadim Diaw (Cedar Rapids) – rehab FM: 1-for-4, GW RBI, HBP, K (DHd)
#19 – Eduardo Beltre (Fort Myers) – 0-for-4, 2 K (played RF)
#20 – Ricardo Olivar (Wichita) – 2-for-3, HR(12), R, 3 RBI (caught)

SUNDAY PITCHING PROBABLES
St. Paul @ Toledo (3:05 PM CT) – RHP Mick Abel (1st start in Twins organization),
Wichita @ Amarillo (6:05 PM CT) – RHP Ryan Gallagher (1st start in Twins organization)
Cedar Rapids @ Lansing (12:05 PM CT) – LHP Garrett Horn (1st start in Twins organization)
Dunedin @ Fort Myers (11:05 AM CT) – RHP Sam Rochard (1st Mussels start)
DSL Rockies @ DSL Twins (10:00 AM CT) – TBD 

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 51-59
St. Paul Saints: 47-58
Wichita Wind Surge: 53-48
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 59-41
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 45-54
FCL Twins: 39-20 (finished 2nd in FCL playoffs)
DSL Twins: 17-27

Please feel free to ask questions about the teams, the rosters, and discuss today’s games, or anything else Twins minor-league related!

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