The Kernels played their final game of the regular season on Sunday. On Tuesday, they start their playoff run. The Mighty Mussels season came to an end on Sunday with another rain out which is certainly unfortunate. Wichita has its work cut out for them if they want to earn a playoff spot, but there Sunday win was absolutely huge for a number of reasons. And the Saints, well, hey, Walker Jenkins is going to make his CHS Field debut with the Saints on Tuesday night!
TRANSACTIONS
The Twins played catcher Ryan Jeffers on the 7-Day Concussion List on Sunday, retroactive to Friday. The Twins Also DFAd RHP Brooks Kriske. Taking those spots on the big-league roster are OF Carson McCusker and RHP Pierson Ohl.
Wichita placed C/1B Nate Baez on the 7-Day IL.
SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 1, Louisville 6
Box Score
Jenkins Drills First Triple-A Home Run, Saints Lose 9th Straight
Walker Jenkins hasn’t played in a home game for about a month. His last two series with the Win Surge were away from Wichita, and his first two weeks with the Saints have been spent in Toledo and Louisville. On Tuesday night, he will make his CHS Field debut. Tickets available!
On Sunday, Jenkins had three more hits. In his six games played in Toledo, he had one hit in 20 at-bats. This week in Louisville, he went 13-for-25 (.520). He had at least one hit in all six games. He had at least two hits in five of the six games. He had three hits in two of the games. That is a pretty good week of baseball. Consider this, coming into the week, he was hitting .050. Heading into his first series in St. Paul, he is now hitting .311/.404/.489 (.893) with three doubles, a triple, and a home run.
The Saints winning percentage this season is lower than the Twins winning percentage, but this can be a fun team to watch. This week, you can watch several of the Twins Top 20 prospects. Walker Jenkins (#1) and Gabriel Gonzalez (#10) are top ten Twins prospects in the lineup. Kyler Fedko (#19) has forced his way into the Top 20 with a tremendous season. Andrew Morris (#16) is expected to make the start on Tuesday which likely means that he will start next Sunday too. Mick Abel (#6), Connor Prielipp (#7), and Kendry Rojas (#9) are likely going to each get a start while Marco Raya (#15) has been working out of the bullpen the last few weeks.
Two pitchers from Minnesota are on the Saints roster. Lefty Aaron Rozek has been an innings-eater in the organization for a few years now. John Klein was recently promoted to Triple-A and had his best outing last week.
There are several players that we have seen with the Twins like DaShawn Keirsey, Jonah Bride and Jose Miranda. Former first-round pick Aaron Sabato has hit 13 homers with the Saints since coming up from Wichita. Tanner Schobel has been a Top 20 prospect. He just returned after missing about three months of the season with injury. And, Twins Daily readers love following Payton Eeles and his remarkable story.
Oh, and since the Mighty Mussels season is over, I think we should expect to see Emmanuel Rodriguez return to the Saints. He is currently the #5 Twins prospect.
Six home games left for the Saints. If you can get to CHS Field for a game or six, that’d be great. Check out the schedule here.
Oh, yeah, back to the game. Kendry Rojas was on the mound to start for the Saints. The lefty walked two in the first innings, but a double play helped get out of that inning without giving up a run. In the second, he walked two and gave up a single run. In the third inning, a single and two walks, but no runs. So, Rojas went three innings and gave up just one run on three hits despite six walks.
Jarret Whorff pitched the fourth inning and gave up one run on a hit and a walk. Marco Raya gave up four runs on four hits over 2 2/3 innings. He had two strikeouts, but two of the hits were home runs. Cody Laweryson came in and got the final four outs without any further damage.
Jenkins had three of the Saints’ nine hits. Jonah Bride went 2-for-3 with a walk and a double. Fedko hit his eighth double since joining the Saints. St. Paul went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left eight runners on base.
Chase Petty faced his former organization for the second time this week. In this game, he gave up one run on seven hits and two walks in 6 1/3 innings. He is 6-11 with a 5.48 ERA at Triple-A this season. Petty made his MLB debut in last April. In it, he gave up nine earned runs on seven hits and two walks in 2 1/3 innings. He made another start in May. He went three innings and gave up four runs on six hits and six walks. He made one other appearance out of the Reds bullpen. He gave up an unearned run on one hit and a hit batter in 2/3 of an inning. He is 0-3 with a 19.50 ERA in the big leagues. Dude is just 22 years old with good stuff. He’ll have a nice career.
Also, Christian Encarnacion-Strand went 2-for-4 on Sunday with a double and a home run. This year, he has 202 minor-league at-bats and hit .252/.321/.520 (.841) with 19 doubles and 10 homers. In 151 big-league at-bats, he has hit .208/.234/.377 (.611) with six homers. He has been injured quite a bit the last couple of years yet he is still just 25 years old.
WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 12, Tulsa 11
Box Score
Cossetti, Ross Power Wind Surge to Season’s Biggest Win
When the week started, Wichita was two games behind Tulsa in a race for one playoff spot. On Sunday, the Wind Surge gave up a six-run lead, but Ben Ross saved the day with a walkoff home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to keep the team’s hope alive.
Ryan Gallagher made the start. He was charged with three runs (2 earned) on four hits and two walks over 3 2/3 innings. He had three strikeouts. He left the game with the bases loaded and two outs in the fourth inning. Gabriel Yanez came in and got the third out without additional damage. The lefty tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings. He gave up just one hit, walked none and struck out two batters.
Wichita got on the scoreboard in the third inning, but it did not start out well. With one out, Kaelen Culpepper worked a 3-2 count before being hit by a pitch on the wrist area of his left hand. Clearly in a lot of pain, the decision was made to remove him from the game (obviously the right and easy decision despite the relative importance of the game for the Wind Surge).
photos are screenshots from milb.tv.
Jose Salas entered the game for him. He went to second on a ground out. Hendry Mendez then lined a single to right to drive in the team’s first run. Ricardo Olivar walked. Next, Andrew Cossetti hit a three-run homer to give his team a 4-3 lead.
Wichita added on in the fifth frame. Kala’i Rosario led off with a double and went to third on a wild pitch. Then Hendry Mendez switched places with him with his first triple with the Wind Surge. After one out, Cossetti came up and walked. Soon after, Mendez scored on a balk which also moved Cossetti to second base. Following a second out, Jake Rucker walked before Maddux Houghton singled to center to drive in Cossetti with the team’s seventh run.
John Stankiewicz came into the game for the seventh inning and gave up two runs on one hit and one walk. The first run scored on a “disengagement violation.” The second run of the inning scored on a wild pitch.
With just a two-run, 7-5 lead, the Surge responded with four more runs in the bottom of the seventh. Olivar led off with a single. Cossetti came to the plate and drilled another home run, his 13th of the season.
Ben Ross followed with a walk. With one out, he stole second base, and Houghton doubled to make it 10-5. With two outs, Salas drove in the 11th run with a single.
Hunter Hoopes, who has quietly been one of the best relievers in the Twins minor leagues this season, came in for the eighth inning to protect a six-run lead. He got two fly outs to right field to start the inning, and then things went weird. First, he hit a batter. Then he walked three straight batters to make it 11-6. That was followed by a soft single to left to drive in two runs and make it 11-8. With two runners on, Jaylen Nowlin came in. The first batter he faced hit a triple which cut the Surge lead to 11-10. Nowlin then coaxed a flyout to end the inning.
Nowlin returned for the top of the ninth, trying to hold on to a one-run lead. With one out, he issued a walk, but he got the second out right away on a ground out. He then threw two wild pitches which allowed the tying run to score. However, he got a strikeout to end the inning.
Ben Ross came to the plate to lead off the bottom of the ninth. He didn’t wait long. He got a first pitch that was up in the zone (or maybe a bit above the zone) and drilled a long home run beyond the left field wall to give the Wind Surge a huge win.
Andrew Cossetti went 2-for-4 with a walk, his 12th and 13th home runs, and five RBI. Hendry Mendez went 3-for-5 with a triple and two RBI. Maddux Houghton went -for-4 with his sixth double. Ross’s home run was his 12th of the season.
With the win, the Wind Surge take the Propeller Series. It’s the first time that Wichita has won the season series with Tulsa since 2021. That might just be really important over the next week.
The Wind Surge really needed that win. That would have been a bad loss. With the win, the series ended in a 3-3 tie. So, with one week left to play The Wind Surge are again two games behind Tulsa for the final playoff spot. The Wind Surge will head down to Texas to take on Corpus Christi.
KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 3, Quad Cities 4
Box Score
Kernels Fall Way Behind Early, Score Late
Early in the game, both teams put up multiple single-run innings. Quad Cities notched the lone ‘crooked’ number, and it was enough to give them a slight advantage in the final regular-season game for both teams.
After four strikeouts on Saturday night, Kyle DeBarge led off the game on Sunday afternoon with his eighth home run of the season.
The River Bandits evened the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the second. However, in the top of the third, Danny De Andrade started the inning with a triple. With one out, Poncho Ruiz doubled to give the Kernels a 2-1 lead.
The River Bandits evened the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the third. With two outs in the top of the fifth inning, Misael Urbina walked. He went to third on a Ruiz single and scored on a single by Jaime Ferrer to make it 3-2 Kernels.
The River Bandits didn’t score in the bottom of the fifth, or the bottom of the sixth inning. However, they scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Kernels were unable to tie the score or reclaim the lead.
Spencer Bengard started and went the first 3 2/3 innings. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on three hits and a walk. He had five strikeouts. Matt Gabbert went the final 4 1/3 innings. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on four hits. He had five strikeouts and no walks.
Poncho Ruiz went 2-for-3 with a walk and his 13th double. DeBarge hit his eighth home run, but he also walked and stole his 66th base of the season.
Brandon Winokur and Marek Houston did not play. Presumably they will be ready to go on Tuesday in Beloit.
MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers, St. Lucie
Box Score
It’s Florida, It’s Sunday, It Rains.
For the third straight Sunday, the Mighty Mussels game has been cancelled due to rain and poor field conditions. It is especially unfortunate as that was the final game of the season for Fort Myers.
PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter of the Day
Andrew Cossetti (Wichita): 2-for-4, BB, 2-HR(13), 3 R, 5 RBI, 2 K.
Pitcher of the Day
Gabriel Yanez (Wichita): 2 1/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 26 pitches, 20 strikes (76.9%)
PROSPECT SUMMARY
Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did today.
#1– Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) – 3-for-4, HR(1), R, RBI (played RF-CF)
#2 – Luke Keaschall (Minnesota) – 1-for-4, R, 2-SB(11), K (played 2B)
#3 – Kaelen Culpepper (Wichita) – 0-for-1, HBP (left game in 3rd inning) (played SS)
#9 – Kendry Rojas (St. Paul) – 3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 6 BB, 1 K, 67 pitches, 33 strikes (49.3%)
#10 – Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) – 0-for-4, (DHd)
#15 – Marco Raya (St. Paul) – 2 2/3 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 51 pitches, 31 strikes (60.8%)
#17 – Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids) – 1-for-3, BB, HR(8), R, RBI, SB(66), 2 K (played CF)
#18 – Quentin Young (Fort Myers) – 1-for-4, R, K (played SS)
#19 – Kyler Fedko (St. Paul) – 1-for-4, K (played LF)
THE WEEK AHEAD
Monday
Minnesota @ LA Angels (8:38 PM CT) – TBD
Tuesday
Minnesota @ LA Angels (8:38 PM CT) – RHP Zebby Matthews (4-4, 4.73 ERA)
Columbus @ St. Paul (6:37 PM CT) – RHP Andrew Morris (4-4, 4.08 ERA)
Wichita @ Corpus Christi (6:35 PM CT) – TBD
Game 1: Cedar Rapids @ Beloit (1:00 PM CT) – TBD
Wednesday
Minnesota @ LA Angels (3:07 PM CT) – RHP Taj Bradley (6-7, 4.92 ERA)
Columbus @ St. Paul (6:37 PM CT) – RHP John Klein (0-3, 5.60 ERA)
Wichita @ Corpus Christi (6:35 PM CT) – TBD
Thursday
Columbus @ St. Paul (6:37 PM CT) – TBD
Wichita @ Corpus Christi (6:35 PM CT) – TBD
Game 2: Beloit @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CT) – TBD
Friday
Columbus @ St. Paul (6:37 PM CT) – RHP Mick Abel (7-2, 2.19 ERA)
Wichita @ Corpus Christi (7:05 PM CT) – TBD
Game 3 (if needed): Beloit @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CT) –
CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 63-80
St. Paul Saints: 58-78 (25-38 second half)
Wichita Wind Surge: 72-60 (35-28 second half)
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 72-60 (30-33 second half, reg season complete, playoffs))
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 52-73 (25-36 second half, season complete)
FCL Twins: 39-20 (finished 2nd in FCL playoffs)
DSL Twins: 24-32 (season complete)
Please feel free to ask questions about the teams, the rosters, and discuss today’s games, or anything else Twins minor-league related!
Interested in learning more about the Minnesota Twins’ top prospects? Check out our comprehensive top prospects list that includes up-to-date stats, articles and videos about every prospect, scouting reports, and more!