Taylor's Twins Talk discusses the five Twins minor leaguers that most deserve a promotion.

Grade Eduardo Morlan here.

Thursday SethSpeaks Player of the Day – Trevor Plouffe, New Britain Rockcats
Thursday SethSpeaks Pitcher of the Day – Matt Garza, Rochester Red Wings

ROCHESTER REPORT
Thursday - Red Wings 4, Columbus 0 – Earlier in the day it was announced that Matt Garza would be the Twins lone representative in the Futures Game. And then he went out and threw seven zeroes on the scoreboard. Garza gave up just four hits. He walked two and struck out six to improve to 4-6 and drop his ERA to 3.41. Tommy Watkins, Trent Oeltjen and Denard Span were each 2-3. Alexi Casilla was 1-3 with a walk.
 

NEW BRITAIN NEWS
Thursday - Rockcats 0, New Hampshire 2 – Kyle Waldrop pitched wonderfully in this game and an unearned run unfortunately dropped his record to 1-4 with the Rockcats. Waldrop went the first six innings. Despite giving up ten hits, Waldrop gave up only that unearned run. He walked one and struck out three. JP Martinez came in and gave up only an unearned run over the final three innings. Trevor Plouffe went 2-3 with a walk. He stole his 8th base, and then he got caught for the 7th time. Brock Peterson went 2-4 with his 14th double.
 

FT MYERS MEMOS
Thursday - Miracle 9, Sarasota 7 – Jay Rainville made another start. Unfortunately, he went just 3.1 innings and gave up six runs (5 earned) on seven hits. He walked one and struck out two. Adam Hawes made his first Miracle appearance. He was perfect for 2.2 innings including three strikeouts. Alexander Smit gave up a run on three hits and a walk in his inning, and he got the win, his first of the year. Eddie Morlan got his 10th save by pitching two scoreless innings. Dwayne White went 3-5. Matt Betsill went 2-4 with a walk and two RBI. Erik Lis went 2-4. Steven Tolleson went 1-4 with two walks.

 

Opponent Note - Sarasota's Jeremiah Piepkorn went 2-5 with his 11th double, a homer (his fifth) and four RBI in this game. The 26 year old started the season with Sarasota, moved up to AA Charlotte and went 3-19 with a solo homer. He is now hitting .293/.327/.469 for Sarasota. Why do I mention a 26 year old in the Florida State League? Well, Piepkorn is a native of Wadena, Minnesota, a small town in central Minnesota, about 25 miles from where I grew up. He then went to North Dakota State University. He was signed by the Reds as an undrafted free agent in 2004. 
 

BELOIT BITS
Thursday - Snappers 3, Peoria 1 – In their first game of the second half, Tyler Robertson was the starter. The lefty got his second win by giving up just a run on five hits in six innings. He walked four and struck out six. Dan Leatherman gave up just a hit over two innings. Robert Delaney recorded his 23rd save with a perfect ninth. It dropped his ERA to 0.46. The Snappers managed just four hits. Brian Dinkelman hit his 7th homer. Wilson Ramos hit his fourth homer. Chris Parmalee drove in the other run with his fifth triple. Danny Valencia added the other hit, his 14th double.

 

E-TWINS NOTES
Thursday - E-Twins 15 – No Game Scheduled.

 

GCL TWINS NOTES
Thursday - GCL Twins 2, GCL Reds 6 – The GCL Twins managed just two hits in this game, singles by David Hernandez and James Beresford. Thomas Wright made the start. He gave up three runs (2 earned) on four hits. He walked four and struck out four. Santos Arias then struck out two in a scoreless inning. Jakub Toufar went the next three innings. He gave up three runs (2 earned) on seven hits and a walk. Jose Acosta walked one and struck out one in one inning.