\n\t\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n\tTRANSACTIONS \n\tSaints Sentinel \n\tThe Saints eked out a win on Sunday.\n<\/p>\n \n\tThe Cubs struck first, with James Triantos<\/a> jumping on an Aaron Rozek fastball in the second, launching the pitch above the elevated wall in left field. St. Paul was in a responding mood, however, as the Cubs could only celebrate having the lead for five batters before they suddenly were at a disadvantage. How? A Matt Wallner<\/a> hit by pitch\u2014shocker\u2014an Aaron Sabato single, and an Orlando Arcia<\/a> double smoked down the left field line.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n\tOne inning later, Ian Daugherty<\/a> extended the lead with his first AAA hit.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n\tMois\u00e9s Ballesteros<\/a> struck back with a solo homer\u2014these Cubs seem to favor the long ball\u2014which perhaps gave Kyler Fedko a wild idea. Why doesn\u2019t he homer, too? Brilliant.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n\tSeeing some logic in this thinking, Ben Ross, too, homered, giving St. Paul their fifth and final run of the day.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n\tIowa struck for two in the ninth, but Trent Baker<\/a> steeled himself, remained resolute, and whiffed Christian Betancourt on three pitches to end the game.\n<\/p>\n \n\tThe aforementioned Triantos ranks as the seventh-best prospect in the Cubs system, and he added a double in a 2-4 day.\n<\/p>\n \n\tWind Surge Wisdom \n\tThe Wind Surge rode an explosive offense to victory on Sunday.\n<\/p>\n \n\tSomeone let Marek Houston know that Twins Daily writers are running out of superlatives to shower him with. His supernova season remains shining and dominant: on Sunday, he collected three hits\u2014two for extra bases\u2014and took a walk, his first time reaching base four times in a game at AA. Watch him uncork one over the berm and into the scattered fans in left field:\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n\tArt.\n<\/p>\n \n\tFurther down the lineup, Jaime Ferrer also had a potent day at the ballpark. He actually preceded Houston\u2019s bomb with a tank out to right-center\u2014a blast self-evidently impressive yet accentuated even further by the fact that he scored a direct hit onto the bouncy house beyond the outfield wall.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n\tRuddy Gomez<\/a> dominated the game\u2019s final two frames, striking out three without allowing a run. His season ERA sits at 2.30.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n\tBilly Amick<\/a>\u2019s 61 RBIs are good for sixth-most in the Texas League.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n\tThe outfielder Carson Roccaforte<\/a> is the 16th-ranked player in the Royals system. He tripled once in five trips to the plate.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n\tKernels Nuggets \n\tThe Kernels struggled to get their bats going on Wednesday.\n<\/p>\n \n\tFour hits. Two walks. Hey, at least half of their knocks went for extra-bases! They plated two, at least, as Jose Salas blasted a solo homer and Henry Kusiak<\/a> drove in the aforementioned Salas with a double socked into the left-center gap.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n\tPitching wise, Dasan Hill put forth one of the strangest pitching lines you\u2019ll ever see. No hits? Two earned runs? Spread across two innings? The first score came on a walk, balk advancement, stolen base, and RBI grounder sequence, while the second arrived on a walk, two steals, and run-scoring wild pitch progression. Both unusual events. Occurring in back-to-back frames. It\u2019s been that kind of season for the young lefty.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n\tYasser Mercedes<\/a> stole his 36th base of the season, the 21st most of all qualified batters across all of MiLB, which totals 1,321 players.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n\tKane Kepley<\/a>, the fifth-ranked prospect in the Cubs system, tripled once in three at-bats on Sunday. His alliterative name remains exceedingly pleasant to write.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n\tMussel Matters \n\tThe Mighty Mussels found little offense and lost on Sunday.\n<\/p>\n \n\tThough most of the bats oscillated between cold and tepid, Luis Fragoza continued to be a right-handed firecracker. The 19-year-old blasted one way out to left-center, not quite hammered enough to cause the outfielders to remain stationary yet crushed enough that they realized how feeble their efforts were before they could even touch the warning track. He also doubled in the ninth.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n\tFragoza might be the breakout Twins hitter of the low minors. He\u2019s slashing a robust .343\/.392\/.650 in 137 at-bats for the Mighty Mussels this season, again, as a 19-year-old in his first taste of pro ball above the rookie levels.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n\tOn the mound, Merit Jones enjoyed arguably his best start of the season, going five shutout innings with four strikeouts to lower his season ERA below \u201c4\u201d. He threw 58 pitches and earned eight swings-and-misses.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n\tThe Marauders are, naturally, an affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, though this author must note a “marauder” sounds far more intimidating than a pirate, even if the words are synonymous. Anyways, their best prospect was the 21st team-ranked Edgleen Perez<\/a>, who went 1-4 from the catcher position.\n<\/p>\n \n\tTWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY \n\tPROSPECT SUMMARY \n\tMONDAY\u2019S PROBABLE STARTERS \n\t\u00a0\n<\/p>\n 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!<\/p>\n
RHP Jack Anderson<\/a>\u00a0claimed and optioned<\/a> to AAA St. Paul\n<\/p>\n
St. Paul 5, Iowa 4
Box Score<\/a>
Aaron Rozek<\/a>: 4 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 0 K
HR: Kyler Fedko<\/a> (16), Ben Ross<\/a> (8)
Multi-hit games: Kyler Fedko (2-for-5, HR, R, RBI), Aaron Sabato<\/a> (3-for-5, R), Ben Ross (2-for-3, HR, 2 R, RBI, BB)\n<\/p>\n
Wichita 8, NW Arkansas 5
Box Score<\/a>
Chris Vallimont<\/a>: 3 \u2154 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
HR: Jaime Ferrer<\/a> (3), Marek Houston<\/a> (2)
Multi-hit games: Marek Houston (3-for-4, HR, 2B, 3 R, 2 RBI, BB), Jaime Ferrer (2-for-4, HR, 2 R, RBI)\n<\/p>\n
Cedar Rapids 2, Iowa 5
Box Score<\/a>
Dasan Hill<\/a>: 2 2\/3 IP, 0 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
HR: Jose Salas<\/a> (3)
Multi-hit games: None\n<\/p>\n
Fort Myers 2, Bradenton 5
Box Score<\/a>
Merit Jones<\/a>: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
HR: Luis Fragoza<\/a> (10)
Multi-hit games: Luis Fragoza (2-for-4, HR, 2B, 2 R, RBI)\n<\/p>\n
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day \u2013 Merit Jones
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day \u2013 Marek Houston\n<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:
#1 \u2013 Walker Jenkins<\/a> (St. Paul) – DNP (went 0-2 with two walks in the Futures Game)
#4 \u2013 Eduardo Tait<\/a> (Cedar Rapids) – 0-4, 2 K
#5 \u2013 Marek Houston (Wichita) – 3-4, HR, 2B, 3 R, 2 RBI, BB
#8 \u2013 Hendry Mendez<\/a> (St. Paul) – 0-4, 2 K
#12 \u2013 Brandon Winokur<\/a> (Wichita) – 0-2, 2 BB
#13 \u2013 Khadim Diaw<\/a> (Wichita) – 1-4, BB
#14 \u2013 Quentin Young<\/a> (Fort Myers) – 1-4, K
#18 \u2013 Yasser Mercedes (Cedar Rapids) – 0-4
#19 \u2013 Billy Amick (Wichita) – 1-2, R, RBI, K\n<\/p>\n
FCL Twins @ FCL Braves (11:00 AM) – TBD
DSL Twins @ DSL Rangers Red (10:00 AM) – TBD\n<\/p>\n