Twins double up Reds

GCL REds 3 at GCL Twins 6

W: J. Testa (1-0, 0.00); L: R. Ceballos (3-1, 8.18); SV: M. Schiavoni (1)
HR: TWI: D. Ortiz (1).

Joe Testa picked up his first professional win and Danny Ortiz went yard as the GCL Twins downed the GCL Reds in a game that saw the Reds use a plethora of pitchers.

One assumes it was a bull pen start and they were trying to use the whole bullpen.

The Reds got on the board first with Mauricio Pimentel singling off of Martire Garcia. Samuel Vasquez would fly out, but Yen-Wen Kuo took a walk, moving Pimentel to 2nd. Efrain Contreras' single scored Pimentel and Donald Lutz's follow up single plated Kuo. Frank Pfister would ground into a force out that took down Contreras. Eli Rimes walked to load the bags, but Garcia got Todd Waller to strike out swinging to strand the Reds runners.

After a fly out to Aaron Hicks and a ground out to Anderson Hidalgo, Danny Ortiz singled, then moved to 2nd on a wild pitch. Andres Diaz drew a walk. Efrain Rodriguez would be called for a balk moving the pair, and then unleashed a wild pitch that scored Ortiz. Mike Gonzales then singled in Diaz to tie up the game. Hyeong-rok Choi also singled, moving Gonzales to second. That marked the first pitching change as Matteo Pizziconi, one of two Italian pitchers on the Reds staff, replaced Rodriguez on the mound. Pizziconi would get Josmir Pinto out on strikes to end the inning.

(Oh, no wonder I'm confused. The Twins roster has him listed as Josmir, while MiLB has him down as Josmil. Poor kid!)

Garcia would walk Vasquez, but otherwise kept the top of the 2nd a short affair.

After a pair of ground outs, Aaron Hicks took a walk, then stole 2nd. Pizziconi would try to pick him off but put the ball into the outfield instead, moving Hicks to 3rd. Hidalgo took a walk, but Pizziconi got Ortiz to ground out, leaving Hicks stranded. This would become on ongoing theme through out the game, as Hicks simply could not get past 3rd.

Lutz singled off Garcia with one out on the board in the top of the 3rd, then stole 2nd base. Rimes doubled him in, putting the Reds back on top.

Luca Panerati, the other Italian on the Reds staff, replaced his countryman for the 3rd inning, getting Diaz to ground out and Gonzales and Rok to fly out.

Joe Testa would replace Garcia in the top of the 4th, and would work the next three innings, fanning 3.

Justin Walker showed up on the hill for the bottom of the fourth. Pinto Singled and Juan Sanchez took a walk. Herbert Lara would advance the pair on a sac-bunt. Following a pop out to Hicks, Hidalgo singled to plate Pinto. Sanchez would try to come home as well, but was called out at home, ending the inning with the game knotted up again.

The bottom of the fifth got Rafael Ceballos out to the hill. Ortiz greeted him with his first home run of the season, putting the ball over the right field fence. Funny, for a little guy, he sure has a lot of power. Diaz ground out but Gonzales singled. Rok would be hit by a pitch. Pinto would go down on strikes before Sanchez singled out to left to drive in Gonzales. A fielding error by Theodis Bowe in left advanced the runners. That did it for Ceballos as the Reds got David Torcise out of the bullpen. He'd get Lara to pop out to end the inning.

Torcise got to come back out for the bottom of the sixth. Hicks would reach on a throwing error and Hidalgo would move him on a sac-bunt. After Ortiz went down on strikes, Torcise unleashed a wild pitch that moved Hicks to 3rd. Sadly Diaz flew out, leaving Hicks stranded again.

The Twins put Ian Mopas on the mound for the top of the 7th. Ian has been complaining of a sore shoulder, but he got Bowe and Pimentel to ground out before allowing a single to Vasquez. Kuo would then pop out to end send the Twins out to bat again. "That went rather well," Mopas said after the game. Yes, it did.

Raul Rodriguez was the lucky recipient of a trip to the mound for the Reds in the bottom of the 7th. He'd allow walks to Gonzales and Rok but would get Pinto to line into a double play. Sanchez singled in Gonzales. I have to say, at 6'6" and 245 lbs, watching the former Diablo Valley Viking bear down on you the plate is a pretty daunting image for any catcher. I was sitting just to the right of the plate and got to see it twice. Glad he's on our team!

Mauro Schiavoni worked both the top of the 8th and the 9th for the Twins and did a fine job keeping the Reds hitless over the two, earning his first professional save.

Hector Santana would be the last of the Reds pitchers we'd have the pleasure of seeing, and he'd give up a triple to Aaron Hicks. Hicks was again left on base though as Hidalgo went down on strikes and Ortiz and Diaz then popped out.

Gonzales and Sanchez were both 2-for-3, Gonzales with a pair of runs and a RBI, and Sanchez with walk and 2 runs scored. Ortiz was 2-for-5 with 2 runs and a RBI, courtesy of the homer. Hicks and Pinto were each 1-for-4, hicks with a triple and walk and Pinto with a run. Hidalgo was 1-for-3 with a walk and a RBI. Rok was 1-for-2 with a walk, while Diaz, who finish up 0-for-4 with walk, chipped in a run as well.

The Twins face the Red Sox Sunday at the City of Palms Complex for a noon game. They rest on Monday.

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