Minor Leagues

The Twins lost 12-6 to the Tampa Bay Rays. It was not a pretty game. Sure, Joe Mauer had three hits, and Ryan Doumit had a home run, but that was not a pretty game. Down 8-1 after an inning and a half makes for a long game. At least we have plenty of positives throughout the Twins farm system, so let’s just jump right into that!

Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from the Friday games in the minor leagues.

ROCHESTER 3, PAWTUCKET 9

A couple of former Twins were instrumental in a big loss for the Red Wings on Friday night. Eric Hurley started and gave up seven runs on eight hits and three walks while recording just six outs. He did have three strikeouts. David Bromberg came in and provided three scoreless innings. He gave up two hits, walked one and struck out two. Luke French went the next three and gave up two runs. He gave up four hits and one walk. Anthony Slama made his first Red Wings appearance since June 6 when a Miguel Tejada line drive broke his fibula. He didn’t miss a beat. The righty walked one, but struck out three, in a scoreless inning to drop his ERA to 0.38. ...

As I was beginning my trek to Beloit last week, I realized that it was already into August. I have no idea where the entire month of July went, but it was already time to present awards for the minor league hitter, starting pitcher and relief pitcher of the month. To keep things brief, this is a little late, so I’m going to consolidate the reports. Along with the three “winners,” I’ll give a top five as well as post some honorable mentions, if appropriate.

I apologize for the delay, but it is important for me to post this as there were a lot of strong performances. In fact, the player selected as the Eastern League Player of the Month finished third on this list. We’ll start with some honorable mentions, followed by choices five through two. It will then culminate with the July hitter of the month. We’ll start with the hitters before moving on to the pitchers. ...

It was a big night for offense through most of the Twins farm system, but there were also some great pitching performances (seel below).

Down 5-1 going through six innings, the Twins collected three unearned runs in the seventh inning. Cleveland’s All-Star closer Chris Perez came on and gave up three runs in the top of the 9^th, two of them unearned. The Twins won 7-5 in unlikely fashion. Sam Deduno was back on the mound for the Twins. This time, he lasted just four innings and gave up four runs on five hits and five walks. He struck out three. Jeff Manship came on and gave up a run on two hits and two walks in his two innings. He struckout four. Tyler Robertson records his first major league win thanks to two scoreless innings, and Glen Perkins picked up his seventh save.

Ryan Doumit led the offense with three hits, including two doubles. Ben Revere extended his hitting streak to 21 and is within one (maybe two) games of his .329 batting average being among league leaders. ...

In a move that is rather surprising, Twins Daily has learned the 2012 first-round draft pick Byron Buxton and supplemental first-round pick Jose (J.O.) Berrios have been promoted to short-season Elizabethton.

Buxton, an 18-year-old outfielder from rural Georgia, was the #2 overall pick in this June's draft. He signed a $6 million signing bonus and reported to Ft. Myers. He missed about ten days with a hamstring injury, but has been playing well of late. In 27 games with the GCL Twins, Buxton is 19-88, hitting .216/.324/.466 (.789). He has four doubles, three triples, four home runs and 14 RBI. He has also stolen 14 bases.

Berrios, an 18-year-old right-hander from Puerto Rico, was the first of two supplemental first round picks the Twins had in the 2012 draft. He has been terrific for the GCL Twins. In eight games, he has thrown 16.2 innings. He has given up just seven hits, walked three and struckout 27 baters. He is 1-0 with four saves and a 1.08 ERA. ...

The weather has certainly been a factor in Beloit the first three days of this trip. The first two days, it was so hot. Temperatures hovered in the mid-90s and humidity was quite high. On Saturday, however, the weather was a little different and that crazy humidity finally burst into some impressive thunderstorms. Would there be baseball, or would we have to make a tough decision about whether to stay for a doubleheader on Sunday? (Note- we had already decided we would!)

Saturday morning started out well with some high-quality blog writing (my opinion, maybe not yours). ...

Where I live, I only watch the Twins on TV when they play the Yankees, Mets or Red Sox. Last night, though I missed seeing the comeback! It was definitely great to hear that both Morneau and Carroll had 4 hits -- Morneau, especially. Let's take a look at how the affiliates performed last night.

Also, sorry this is late -- my internet was down this morning!

ROCHESTER 3, TOLEDO 1
Shairon Martis had a very solid start for the Red Wings, going 7 innings, allowing only 1 run on 3 hits, striking out 8 and walking 2. Bobby Lanigan pitched the remaining 2 innings, striking out 2.
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