Twins rally past Pirates, 2-1

GCL Pirates 1 at GCL Twins 2

W: K. Nanney (1-0, 0.00); L: N. Pereira (1-1, 1.29); SV: K. Mota (6)
HR: PIR: J. Cunningham (3).

Saturday's match up at the Lee County Sports between the GCL Twins and the GCL Pirates featured a pitching duel of the highest quality as free agent Edgar Iberra took on the Pirates 35th round draft pick Tyler Cox.

The festivities got off with a bang when Jarek Cunningham launched one over the left field fence for the Pirates. Cunningham, the Pirates 18th round pick, as been hot of late and would finish up 2-for-3 at the plate with a walk to go along with the run and the RBI.

Ibera would scatter four hits and a walk over five innings while striking out five to keep things quiet. Cox was even better, giving up only two hits while fanning 5 over five inngs. He'd be replaced by Nelson Pereira in the sixth and the El Salvador reliever held the Twins to a pair of singles in the sixth and the seventh innings.

Mauro Schiavoni replaced Iberra in the top of the sixth and Cunningham took a single off him to lead off. Alex Vargas singled as well, and Victor Sanchez's sac-bunt advanced the pair. Edward Garcia would reach on a fielder's choice as Javier Brown fired the ball back to catcher Josmil Pinto who tagged Cunningham out at the plate to steal a run from the Pirates. Garcia would steal second, putting two men in scoring position, but Schiavoni got Andury Acevedo to strike out swinging, ending the threat.

The top of the 7th saw Edwin Roman single and steal 2nd, but Schiavoni took Adenson Chourio and Benjamin Gonzalez down on strikes to knock out the Pirates again.

Khol Nanney would pitch the eighth inning, walking Cunningham, but getting the other three batters he faced to ground out.

Twins 2nd baseman Hyun-wook Choi would reach on a throwing error by Chourio and Pinto took a walk. Juan Sanchez's sac bunt advanced the pair and Choi scored on Jon Goncalves ground out to tie up the game. Aaron Hicks then hit a contested single which plated Pinto. The Pirates wished to argue that Hicks was out, while the umpire ruled him safe. After Pirates field manager Tom Prince got done arguing the call with the umpire - to no avail I might add, Hicks would steal 2nd base. Danny Oritz flew out to end the inning.

Kelvin Mota would come in for the ninth to close out the game, going three up-three down to give the Twins the win.

Hicks was 2-for-4 in the contest with a RBI. Goncalves was 1-for-4 with a RBI but he sure looked safe on that ground out the ump called in the eighth. (And did we see Jake Mauer come flying out of the dugout to argue the call? Nooooo....)

Choi was 1-for3 with a run and Pinto was 0-for-2 with a walk and a run.

There was some discussion as to where and when Sunday's game against the Orioles was to be played, as Twin Lakes Park had been flooded after the torrential rains earlier in the week. The O's only have four groundskeepers on their payroll - Sarasota does not pay to maintain the Buck O'Neill Complex - to handle all of the grounds and it's big chore. If the Red Sox are serious about moving to Sara, they should really look at how well the Reds and the Orioles facilities have been maintained, because new complex or not, that's what their park will look like in a few years.

For the record, the Orioles are exploring a move to Vero Beach and renovations to the Dodgertown Complex including building a baseball academy on the site, but that will not happen until 2010 at the earliest.

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Pirate Gallery Part I
Pirate Gallery Part II

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DSL Twins 6 at DSL Orioles 1

W: P. Guerra (5-1, 2.32); L: W. Princivil (0-6, 7.11)
HR: None.

Pedro Guerra (no relation to Deolis) limited the DSL Orioles to one run on 3 hits while fanning 8 over seven innings as the DSL Twins thoroughly dominated the O's Saturday.

With one out on the board, Felix Caro would be hit by a pitch in the top of the 2nd inning. Lesther Galvin then walked and Randy Pina singled to load the bags. Xavier Gonzalez would be hit by a pitch as well to force in Caro and Juan Blanco drew a walk to bring Galvan over the plate. Yorby Martinez hit a sac-fly to right to bring in Pina, giving the Twins a 3 run lead. Oswaldo Arcia ground out to send the Twins back on the defense.

The top of the 3rd saw Jairo Perez lead off with walk and a wild pitch by O's starter William Princivil moved him to 2nd. Jairo Rodriguez ground out, moving Perez to 3rd. Caro singled to drive him in to give the Twins four. Caro would steal 2nd and advance to 3rd on a throwing error by David Calderon, but Galvan went down on strikes and Pina flew out to retire the side.

With one out in the bottom of the fifth, Larry Rivera doubled for the Orioles and came home on Moises Ciriaco's line drive single break up the shut out. Calderon would line into a double play to end the inning.

Galvan doubled in the top of the sixth, but was able to go no where with it, being stranded as Pina struck out and Gonzalez and Blanco both flew out.

The top of the seventh was a little more advantageous as Yorby Martinez walked, then stoled 2nd. Oswaldo Arcia took a walk and following a pitching change that brought reliever Humberto Hodge to he mound for the O's, Perez would ground out to advance the pair of runners. Rodriguez's line drive to right brought them in to add two more to the Twins total.

Galvan (1-for-3) had the only double while Rodgriguez and Caro were both 1-for-4, Rodriguez with a pair of RBIs and Caro with a run and a run scored. Pina finished up 1-for-3 with a run. Not much in the way of hitting, but 8 walks, two by Arcia, made the difference for the Twins.

The DSL rests on Sunday and returns to action on Monday with the Twins hosting the DSL White Sox for a 10:30 AM Dominican Time game.

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Twins split pair with Reds

GCL Twins 9 at GCL Reds 7

W: M. Mopas (1-0, 0.00); L: M. Bohana (0-1, 18.00); SV: K. Mota (1)
HR: None.

Prior to the Miracle game, Sean Fox, the voice of the Miracle, had asked me what had gone on back there, besides six hours of baseball. I had to admit I didn't know as my car had been in the shop all day and I had been stuck on the Cape.

However, the GCL Twins and the GCL Reds split a pair as they completed the suspended game from June 21 and played the regularly scheduled June 26 game.

We left game one in progress with the Reds up by one and the Twins with runners on 1st and 3rd.

Twins pitcher Edgar Ibarra had hit Theodic Bowe with a pitch. Bowe then stole 2nd and advanced to 3rd on a balk. Cody Puckett took a walk, and an Efrain Contreras single out to center scored Bowe. Humberto Sosa would ground into a double play and Sam Vasquez's pop up would be caught by Jae-Hyung Jang (J.J.) in four territory to end the inning.

Michael Gonzlaez had doubled in the top of the 4th and moved to 3rd on Hyeong-rok Choi's (Rocky) bunt single. J.J. would hit a sac fly out to left that scored Gonzalez. Hyun-wook Choi (Wook) then flew out to left. Jakub Hajtmar would single to put runners on 1st and 2nd before Reggie Williams doubled to clear the bases. He'd advance to 3rd on Vasquez's throw. A fly ball single to right by Aaron Hicks brought in Williams to give the Twins a 4-1 lead.

Donald Lutz would take a walk in the bottom of the 4th for the Reds, then move to 2nd on a fielding error by Hajtmar. Kevin Coddington singled out to center to score Lutz, making it 4-2 Twins.

Williams would double in the top of the sixth, and come home on a Hicks ground ball single to give the Twins another run.

Following a fly out to Gonzales in the top of the 7th, Rocky doubled, then moved to 3rd on a passed ball. J.J. would hit a sac fly to right to bring him in. Wook would draw a walk and be doubled in by Hajtmar to make it 7-2.

Wilmer Gaunchez would replace Ibarra in the bottom of the 8th. Puckett would reach on a fielding error by Williams, but Guanchez would take Contreras on strikes. He'd then walk Sosa. Vasquez would single out to center to load the bags. Guanchez would then get Lutz out on strikes before Brodie Pullen doubled to clear that bags. That made it 7-5 Twins. Amazing how quick those big leads can evaporate.

Jean Mijares came in to replace Guanchez and allowed a walk to Mauricio Pimentel. Bowe would take a walk before Steve Blevins was brought in to get out of the jam left by Mijares. The Vulture Magic wasn't working however as Puckett walked to load bags. Contreras and Sosa would go down on strikes, but Vasquez reached on a fielder's choice as the boys tried to make the play at the plate. They didn't do it, as Pimentel scored. A wild pitch by Blevins allowed Bowe to score to tie up the game.

On to extra innings...and finally the top of the 13th. Mike Bohana would relieve Juan Rafael on the mound and allow a single to Hajtmar. Williams would move him on a sac bunt, and the Bohana would intentionally walk Hicks. Diaz then singled to load the bases. Danny Ortiz hit into a force out that took Hajtmar down at home, but Danny Rohlfing would single to score Hicks and Diaz before Rocky would strike out swinging.

Ian Mopas would strike out all three batters he faced to preserve the lead, and take home the win.

For the Twins, Hajtmar was 5-for-7 with a run, and a RBI, Williams was 3-for-5 with a pair of runs and a pair of RBIs, and Hicks and Gonzalez were 2-for-5 with a run each, Hicks with a pair of runs scored. Rocky was 2-for-6 with 2 runs and a walk, while all the rest of the Twins players had at least 1 run.

Ibarra would give up 2 runs, 1 earned, on 3 hits and 3 walks while fanning 8 over seven innings for a very impressive outing.

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GCL Reds 9 at GCL Twins 3

W: S. Snowden (2-0, 0.90); L: A. Sanchez (0-1, 2.79)
HR: None.

Angel Sanchez on the other hand, did not have a very impressive outing, allowing 5 runs, 3 earned, on 8 hits and a pair of walks. He struck out five but last only 4.2 innings. I am rather sorry I missed the game however, because Shea Snowden was on the mound for the Reds and the Mississippi native was one of the young pitchers that impressed me last season.

Converted to a starter, he seemed quite impressive this time around as well, limiting the Twins to only 1 hit and a pair of walks while fanning 3 over six innings. As a result, the Twins offense didn't kick into gear until the bottom of the 7th, when Blaine Howell replaced Snowden on the mound.

Diaz would take a walk. Jon Goncalves, who started the season last week on the DL, would replace Danny Ortiz as a pinch hitter, and would fly out to right. Tyler Ladendorf would reach on a fielding error by catcher Todd Waller. Danny Rohlfing would be taken out on strikes before Tim Atherton singled to bring in Diaz. Anderson Hidalgo took a walk to load the bags before Jeremy Vinyard was brought in to close the game. A fielding error by Mariekson Gregorius allowed Bert Lara to reach and Ladendorf and Atherton to score for the Twins 3 runs.

Atherton and Lara had the only two hits for the Twins.

Designated hitter Petr Cech, from the Czech Republic, had 2 of the Reds runs while Gregorius, batting at the bottom of the order had another pair. Only Sean Conner and Waller did cross the plate for the Reds, but Conner had a pair of RBIs while Waller was 2-for-4 at the plate with a RBI for the Twins I-75 rivals.

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DSL Diamondbacks 3 at DSL Twins 16

W: E. Cardenas (2-1, 1.55); L: M. Pena (2-2, 4.30)
HR: None.

Yes, that's right. The DSL Twins walloped the DSL Diamondbacks Thursday, starting out with a 6-run first inning and never letting up.

Eliel Sierra would go 3-for-4 at the plate with a walk, four runs and 2 runs scored including a pair of doubles. Jhonatan Arias was 3-for-5, all 3 hits were doubles with 5 RBIs. Carlos Vasquez was 3-for-6 with a run and a run scored, while Danny Soliman and Rafael Sanchez were both 2-for-4, Soliman with a walk, 3 runs and a run scored and Sanchez with a walk, a run and a RBI.

Oswaldo Arcia was 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles, 3 runs and 1 RBI. Felix Caro and Jairo Perez finished up 1-for-5 a the plate, Caro with a walk, 2 runs and a RBI and Peres with a double, a run and 2 RBIs.

Eliecer Cardenas allowed only 3 hits to the D-Backs over 7 innings, being charged with one unearned run. He'd walk two and strike out 9. Deivi Germsen and Carlos Carrillo finish up the rest of the game with Germosen giving up 2 earned runs on 1 hit and 4 walks.

The Twins are on the road Friday against the DSL Orioles. Game time, as always, is 10:30 AM Dominican time.

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