Pirates down Twins, pull ahead in playoff race

GCL Twins 1 at GCL Pirates 4

W: G. Amato (2-0, 0.00); L: A. Sanchez (2-3, 3.71)
HR: None.

The GCL Pirates roughed up Twins starter Angelo Sanchez, taking 3 earned runs of him on 7 hit and a pair of walks over 3 innings at Pirate City in Bradenton.

Meanwhile Gabrial Alvarado limited the GCL Twins to just one hit and pair of walks over the first four innings.

Adenson Chourio singled in the bottom of the 1st then moved to 2nd on Edwin Roman's sac bunt. Jarek Cunningham would fly out before Edward Garcia singled in Chourio to put the Pirates on the board in the bottom of the first.

Cunningham would single in the bottom of the 3rd with one out on the board. Sanchez then unleashed a pair of wild pitches that advanced Cunningham to 3rd. Garcia would take walk before Carlos Silva doubled in Cunningham. Craig Parry's follow up single to center scored Garcia. Sanchez would get Andury Acevedo out on strikes, but issued a walk to Jesus Aguilera to load up the bags. Happily, Kyle Saukko ground into a force out to to end the inning.

Ian Mopas replaced Sanchez for the fourth. After getting Chourio to pop out, he'd give up back-to-back singles to Roman and Cunningham. A throwing error on the Roman's single advanced to him 2nd and he'd come home on Cunningham's line drive. Mopas then picked Cunningham off at first, but walked Garcia and advanced him to second on a balk. Silva ground out however to get Mopas out of the inning.

Ivan Herrera-Rusova replaced Alvarado at the top of the fifth. The top of the seventh would see Josmir Pinto double. Ladendorf ground out, and the Pirates brought in Gary Amato to replace Herrera-Rusova. Amato would get Javier Brown out on strikes, but Jon Goncalves doubled to score Pinto for the lone Twins run.

Pinto would finish up 2-for-4 at the plate with a pair of doubles and a run. Aaron Hicks and Juan Sanchez were both 1-for-4, while Andres Diaz, Brown and Goncalves were all 1-for-3, Diaz and Brown with walks and Goncavles with a double and a RBI.

Sanchez would take the loss, his third of the season. Mopas worked three allowing 1 run, unearned, on 2 hits and 2 walks, striking out just one. Khol Nanney worked the last 2 innings, allowing just one Pirates hit.

The Pirates pull out to a 1.5 game lead in the South Division, while the Twins still head up the wild card race.

The GCL Orioles come into the Lee County Sportsplex for a game against the GCL Twins Thursday at noon. They Twins remain at home to take on the GCL Reds on Friday.

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DSL Yankees2 3 at DSL Twins 2

W: W. Eusebio (4-5, 5.40); L: E. Alvarez (0-3, 2.34)
HR: DSL TWI: D. Santana (1).

Despite a home run by Danny Santana, the Twins fell in extra innings to the DSL Yankees2 at home. Closer Edison Alvarez would suffer the loss, his third of the season.

Santana put a ball over the center field all in the bottom of the first with one out. Yankee's starter Victor Beriguete worked 5.2 innings for the Yankees.

Following a ground out to Oswaldo Arcia in the top of the sixth, Jairo Perez tripled. Eliel Sierra would sacrifice him in. Manuel Soliman would take a walk before Beriguete was lifted in favor of Sherssy Cruz, who finished the inning by getting Jhonatan Arias to ground into a force out.

Beriguete exited the game allowing 2 earned runs on 4 hits and 3 walks while fanning 2.

The Yankees would take an unearned run from Eliecer Cardenas in the third inning. Juan Rijo singled, and Julio Rojas advanced him on a sac bunt. But a throwing error by Yancarlo Franco as 3rd base allowed Rojas to reach and while Rijo took an extra base, moving to 3rd. Keny Rodriguez hit into a double play, but Rijo came home while the Twins were busy taking Rojas out at 2nd.

Alvarez took over in the to of the 8th. In the top of the ninth, Kelvin De Leon tripled off the Twins closer. After Reymond Nunez went down on strikes, Henry Pena would reach on a fielder's choice. The play at the plate failed however, as De Leon scored to tie up the contest.

Eduardo Sosa tripled in the top of the 10th, then came home on a De Leon single one out later. The Twins could find no offense in the bottom half of the stanza to counter with, as Felix Caro went down swinging to end it.

Santana, Arcia, and Perez were all 1-for-4 with Santana and Perez added a run each. Yorby Martinez was 1-for-2 with a walk and a double. Meanwhile the Yankees put seven hits on the board off the Twins pitchers.

The Twins are on the road Thursday against the DSL Diamondbacks/Reds. Game time, as always, is 10:30 AM Dominican time.

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GCL Twins down Snyder, Red Sox

GCL Red Sox 1 at GCL Twins 3

W: M. Munoz (4-2, 3.09); L: W. Lin (0-2, 4.41); SV: B. Pugh (1)
HR: None.

Juan Sanchez went 3-for-4 at the plate driving in two runs to pace the GCL Twins to a win over the GCL Red Sox at the Lee County Sportsplex in Fort Myers, Florida, Monday.

Miguel Munoz worked six scoreless innings for the GCL Twins.

The GCL Red Sox had two low minor league hurlers on rehab, Caleb Clay and Eammon Portice who worked the first two innings, plus Kyle Snyder from the AAA Pawsox, the second time the Twins have faced Snyder this season.

Snyder would work two innings before giving way to Wang-Yi Lin in the bottom of the 5th. Lin would get Jakub Hajtmar to ground out before giving up walks to Josmir Pinto and Javier Brown. Jon Goncalves singled out to left to load up the bags. Herbert Lara would ground out, bringing in Pinto before Sanchez ground ball single brought in Brown and Goncalves to give the Twins three. Danny Ortiz would single, but Mike Gonzalez hit into a ground out to end the inning.

After giving up only two hits and fanning 6 through the first six innings, Munoz returned to the Twins mound for the top of the 7th. He'd allow a single to Casey Kelly before giving up walks to Roberto Felix and Bryan Peterson, to fill up the bases. He'd then get Chih-Hsiang Huang to ground into a double play, allowing Kelly to score but taking Peterson out at 2nd. Jake Mauer took Munoz from the the mound at the point, getting Bruce Pugh out of the bullpen to replace him. Pugh would get Joantoni Garcia to fly out to retire the Red Sox, stranding Feliz on third.

Pugh would work the finally 2 innings, giving up a hit while fanning 3. Neither would the Twins get anything more as Lin went on to work 2 more innings before giving way to Jennell Hudson for the final inning.

Ortiz was 1-for-3 in the contest, becoming the one hit wonder of the game. Pinto was 1-for-1 with a pair of walks and a run, while Goncalves was 1-for-3 with a run. Brown, 0-for-2 picking up the final run on a walk.

The Twins rest on Tuesday and return to action Wednesday against the GCL Pirates in Bradenton for a noon game.

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Herald Tribune

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DSL White Sox1 3 at DSL Twins 11

W: L. Parra (5-1, 1.63); L: C. Zabala (6-2, 1.77)
HR: None.

The DSL Twins pounded out 11 runs on 14 hits to batter the division leading DSL White Sox1 11-3 at home on Monday.

Jerry Puentes doubled to lead off for the White Sox1. Following a pop out to Jeffer Patino and a ground out to Juan Vegas, Puentes scored. Angel Ferreiras singled then advanced to 2nd on a throwing error by Carlos Vasquez. Hector Acuna would single him in, giving the White Sox1 a pair of runs to start off the game.

The Twins began their scoring barrage in the bottom of the 2nd inning, with Jairo Perez singling before Felix Caro popped out. Eliel Sierra and Jhonatan Arias both singled, allowing Perez to score. Juan Blanco's line drive to left brought in Sierra, and Arias would would steal home while Blanco stole 2nd. Carlos Vasquez and Wifly Gil both ground out, ending the fun for the second inning at least.

Juan Vega took a walk in the top of the third off Twins starter Orlando Villaroel, who then unleashed a wild pitch, sending Vega to 2nd. A double by Angel Ferreiras brought Vega in before Villarel could get Hector Acuna to strike out.

The bottom of fourth saw Caro double and Sierra reach on a fielding error. Arias' single loaded the bags. Blanco ground into a force out to score Caro and, following a strike out to Vasquez, Sierra would score on a balk, with Blanco advancing to 3rd. A passed ball by Sox catcher Danny Yepez got Blanco to 3rd, at which point Gil doubled to drive him in.

Yovan Rodriguez would replace Carlos Zabala in the bottom of the sixth and he'd return to the mound for the Sox in the seventh. Danny Santana took a triple off him to lead off, and Oswaldo Arcia drew a walk. Perez reached on a force attempt; a fielding error by Sox shortstop Mijel Garcia allowed Santana to score. Caro would strike out, before missed catch on a pick off attempt brought Arcia over the plate Sierra would double, but Arias flew out and Franco popped out to end the inning.

The Twins tacked on three more in the bottom of the eighth. Reliever Emenejildo Arias would get Vasquez out on strikes before allowing a double to Gil. Santana reached on a fielding error, and Arcia tripled the pair in. A missed catch by left fielder Juan Vega turned the triple into an in-the-park home run as Arcia scored as well.

Leonardo Parra would pick up the win, allowing only 1 hit while fanning two over three innings of relief. Edison Alvarez worked the final 2 innings, allowing 2 hits and a walk.

Sierra finished up 3-for-4 at the plate with a double and a pair of runs. Arias and Arcia were each 2-for-4, Arias with a run and a run scored, Arcia with a walk, a triple, a pair of runs and 2 RBIs. Gil and Caro were both 2-for-5, Gil with a pair of doubles, a run and a RBI and Caro with 1 double and 1 run.

Blanco was 1-for-3 with a run and a pair of RBIs; Santana and Perez were both 1-for-5, Santana with a triple and a pair of runs and Perez with a run and a RBI.

The DSL Twins travel to face the DSL Indians Tuesday morning for a 10:30 AM Dominican time game.

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