Twins drop final two of regular season

GCL Twins 3 at GCL Red Sox 6

W: C. Cabral (2-5, 5.55); L: J. Mijares (0-3, 5.13); SV: A. Batista (1)
HR: None.

The GCL Red Sox have nearly a whole new roster from what they started the year with, but that's not surprising for the deep pocketed Sox. So losing to them late in the season is not surprising either.

It does mean however, the Twins lose home field advantage for the playoffs.

Aaron Hicks doubled to lead off in the first for the Twins. Juan Sanchez singled, scoring the speedy Hicks. A passed ball by Boston's Christian Vazquez moved Sanchez to 2nd, and he'd advance to 3rd on the throw from Danny Ortiz dropped pitch strike out. Andres Diaz's ground ball to short scored Sanchez to give the Twins an early two run lead.

Wilfred Pichardo and Peter Hissey both singled, then orchestrated a double steal. Twins starter Jean Mijares then got Carson Blair out on strikes. Robert Feliz ground out and Bryan Peterson doubled to plate the two runners, tying up the game. Chih-Hsiang Huang singled in Peterson and Joantoni Garcia doubled in Huang to make it 4-2 Red Sox.

Hissey would double in Pichardo in the bottom of the 2nd. With two outs on the board in the bottom of the 4th, Mijares would plunk Hissey with a pitch. Hissey then stole 2nd and advanced to 3rd on a passed ball by Twins catcher Jae-Hyung Jang. Blair then singled to scored Hissey, making it 6-2 Calcetines Rojos.

Blayne Weller, the Twins 14th round pick in the 2008 first year draft would make his professional debut, giving up 2 hits to the Red Sox in the fifth while striking out one.

For the Sox, Cesar Cabral would allow 9 hits over five innings, while striking out 8. He would allow a lead off double to Sanchez in the top of the sixth. Ortiz and Diaz hit back-to-back singles off him, which drove in one more run for the Twins before the Red Sox called for a pitching change, getting Anatanaer Batista out of the bullpen to replace Cabral. The new hurler got J.J. to strike out. Diaz would be caught stealing, and Hidalgo ground out to end the Twins brief rally.

Jay Sawatski tossed the sixth inning for the Twins, giving up 2 hits but keeping Boston off the board.

Batista would get Hyun-wook Choi and Javier Brown to ground out before giving up a single to Jakub Hajtmar. Hicks hit into a force out however, ending the contest.

Sanchez and Diaz were each 2-for-3 in the game, Sanchez with a pair of runs and a RBI. Hidalgo, Wook, Brown, and Hajtmar were all 1-for-3, sharing the love as the one hit wonders of the game. Ortiz was 1-for-3 as well, but picked up a RBI. Hicks finished off 1-for-4 with a double and a run.

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GCL Red Sox 3 at GCL Twins 2

W: M. Lennox (2-3, 3.94); L: K. Nanney (4-2, 3.12); SV: D. Mercadante (8)
HR: None.

The Twins would have home field advantage for the second game as they made up the rain out of August 21, but they could not hold off a sixth inning rally by los Calcetines Rojos, falling 3-2 at the City of Palms complex.

Frederic Hanvi, the Twins' new catcher, would make his professional debut, singling in the bottom of the 3rd. Jon Goncalves and Herbert Lara followed it up with singles of their own, scoring Hanvi. Hyeong-rok Choi reached on a fielder's choice which took Goncalves out at home. Mike Gonzales' single to center loaded the bases, and Reggie Williams brought Lara home on a sac-fly to left. Danny Rohlfing would fly out to end the inning, stranding two men.

Ian Mopas would work the first 3 innings for the Twins scattering one hit and a pair of walks while striking out 2. Mauro Schiavoni came in for the next two, also fanning a pair.

Kohl Nanney would take over the mound for the Twins in the sixth, giving up a lead off single to Wilfred Pichardo, who then stole 2nd. Peter Hissey would ground out but Carson Blair, Bryan Peterson, and Andrew Frezza all singled off the tall reliever. Pichardo would score, but the Twins were able to save a run when they took Blair out at home. Chih-Hsiang Huang took a walk, once again loading the bases, before Maykol Sanchez doubled to drive in two, giving the Sox the lead.

Michael Lennox would give up a single to Wang-Wei Lin in the bottom of the sixth, but ground outs to Rohlfing, Tyler Ladendorf and Hanvi would not help the Twins cause.

Goncalves took a single off closer Dustin Mercadante in the bottom of the seventh, but Lara ground into a force out. He'd then try to steal 2nd and would be caught. Rok's ground out ended the game.

Goncalves and Gonzales were both 2-for-3 in the contest, Goncalves with a walk. Rohlfing, Ladendorf and Lin, all were all 1-for-3 one hit wonders, while Hanvi went 1-for-2 with a run. Lara finished up 1-for-4 with a run and a RBI.

The Twins face the Nationals on the Thursday - they can not play the Pirates in the elimination round because the two teams are from the same division - so it's away to Brevard County our boys in blue. Game time is Noon, weather permitting.

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Tuesday's game between the DSL Twins and the DSL Mariners was postponed due to rain, and will be played on Wednesday at 10:30 AM Dominican Time.

Games of August 26, 2008

GCL Twins sweep twin bill

GCL Orioles 4 at GCL Twins 7

W: E. Ibarra (4-0, 3.12); L: J. Moore (1-4, 2.98)
HR: TWI: D. Rohlfing (1).

The Twins took an early lead despite a poor outing in the 7th by rehabbing pitcher Jay Sawatski.

Aaron Hicks singled. He'd then try to steal 2nd but would be caught out between bases. While they were playing pickle, Edinho Meyer threw the ball passed second and into the outfield, allowing Hicks to get to 2nd base. Anderson Hidalgo singled sending Hicks to 3rd. Rene Tosoni, who has been rehabbing a broken foot, would go down on strikes. Andres Diaz doubled in Hicks and a passed ball by Janensis Guerrero scored Hidalgo. Reggie Williams singled in Diaz to give the Twins a 3-0 lead. Williams would try to steal 2nd, but this time he was caught. Danny Rohlfing would go down on strikes to send the Orioles to the plate.

Tosoni singled his way onto base. Reggie Williams then tripled in Tosoni, although for Reggie, it was a very close call at 3rd. Danny Rohlfing then sent a ball out to right that cleared the fence, bringing Williams in, making it 6-0 Twins.

Jerome Hoes singled out to right, and Meyer took a walk. Twins starter Edgar Ibarra took Garabez Rosa and Omar Casamayor down on strikes. Grolman Gonzalez singled, sending Hoes across the plate to give the O's 1. Meyer would be taken out at second on the play, retiring the side.

Hoes singled then stole 2n in the top of the sixth. Meyer's ground out moved Hoes to 3rd and Rosa singled him in. Casamayor would single as well but Gonzalez flew out and Derek Gianakas ground out to send the Twins up to bat.

Robert Bundy would take over the mound from Orioles starter Justin Moore for the bottom half of the stanza. Danny Rohlfing tripled out to center and came home on Tyler Ladendorf's single. Two outs later, Aaron Hicks' single moved Ladendroft to 3nd, and a wild pitch by Bundy put Ladendorf on 3rd and Hicks on 2nd. Anderson Hidalgo would fly out however, ending the inning with two men left on base.

Janensis Guerrero tripled off Jay Sawatski in the top of the 7th. Xavier Avery singled him in. Francisco Mejia ground into a double play however. A missed catching error by Diaz at first allowed Hoes to reach and Sawatski would hit Meyer with a pitch. Javier Santana would go in to run for Meyer. Rosa singled to fill the bags, and a wild pitch by Sawatski allowed Hoes to score. Casamayor would go down on strikes however, to give the Twins a win.

Rohlfing, the game's yardbird, was 2-for-3 with a triple, a pair of runs and two RBIs. Williams was also 2-for-3 at the plate with a triple but only one run to go with his pair of runs scored. Hicks was 2-for-4 with a run, and Tosoni and Diaz were each 1-for-3 with a run, Diaz with a double and a RBI as well. Hidalgo was 1-for-4 with a run.

Ladendorf was 1-for-2 with a walk and a run while Lara was 1-for3, becoming the games one hit wonder.

Ibarra scattered six hits and a pair of walks over six innings, allowing 2 runs, both earned while fanning 4.

The teams would break for lunch before the start of game two.

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GCL Twins 2 at GCL Orioles 1

W: K. Nanney (4-1, 1.65); L: J. De La Cruz (0-2, 3.15); SV: K. Mota (12)
HR: None.

Khol Nanney came back from lunch to announce he'd made a bagel. "Well, there were some bagels sitting there and some peanut butter, so I put some peanut butter on the bagel. That's alright, isn't it." And if it wasn't? Well...let's not go there.

The Twins bats cooled off considerable in this one, but they still achieved the goal, which was winning the game. We've already secured our playoff berth, but we want to win the division as no one wants to play the elimination game on the road.

Jon Goncalves took a walk in the top of the first. Juan Sanchez went down on strikes, as did Danny Ortiz. Orioles' starter Sam Taveras would unleash a wild pitch that sent Goncalves to 2nd. Mike Gonzales then spanked a ball out to center to score Goncalves.

Mike Tonkin took the start for the Twins and worked the first four innings, allowing only 3 hits and a walk while striking out only 1.

Nanney, the bagel thief, would come in for the fifth. Michael Gioioso singled a line drive out to center and Francisco Majia's sac-bunt moved him to 2nd. A passed ball by Jae-Hyung Jang advanced the runner to 3rd. Xavier Avery would draw a walk before Larry Rivera hit into a ground out, plating Gioioso to tie the game.

The top of the sixth would see a number of pitching changes for the O's. Jario De La Cruz started out and walked Juan Sanchez. Ortiz's bunt would pop out and be caught by Gioioso, coming in from 3rd in foul territory. Sanchez then stole 2nd base and Rohlfing, who had replaced Gonzales in the line up ad was playing at first, struck out. Brian Anderson came in to replace De La Cruz and walked Hyeong-rok Choi. They Orioles then gave the ball to Leonardo Madrigal who walked Reggie Williams, loading up the bases. Miguel Achil was summoned from the bullpen, and walked Jae-Hyung Jang to force in Sanchez for what was to prove the game winning run.

Brian Kirwan pitched the bottom of the sixth on a rehab assignment from Beloit. Getting Dennis Perez and Justin Martin to both fly out and striking out Jose Kianes. However, J.J. passed the ball on the third strike and Kianes went to first. Javier Santana would reach on Sanchez's fielding error before Kirwan could get Gioioso out on strikes.

Kelvin Mota allowed a single in the bottom of the 7th - the O's had home field advantage in this contest - but got Avery and Rivera to fly out and sat Garabez Rosa down on strikes, ending the contest.

Gonzales was 2-for-2 with a RBI before being replaced by Danny Rohlfing in the top of the fourth. He "tweaked" something, and was on the bench by the end of the game, but it appeared to be minor. Williams was 1-for-2 with a double and a RBI. Goncalves and Sanchez, both 0-for-3 with walks, had a run each.

The Pirates were idle, so the Twins are again one game back from their division rival with three left to play.

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Jose Marzan was at the game and confirmed that the DSL playoff format was best of 3, best of 3 and best of 5 for the upcoming playoffs. The DSL Twins host the DSL Mariners in round one starting on Monday at 10:30 AM.

I imposed upon Ian Mopas to take the rest of the pictures into the clubhouse for me, and hand them out. All of the boys thanked me except, predictably enough, Danny Ortiz who has never said two words to me, and Josmir Pinto, who I did not see. I felt bad because Angelo Sanchez was the odd pitcher out this year and I didn't get to see him throw. Is seems like I get one every year and I feel bad that I don't have shots. I can only say that I'll try to make it up to him in Spring Training.

I did pretty good autographing wise, getting Xavier Avery, Larry Rivera, Jerome Hoes, Luis Ramirez and Justin Martin from the Orioles. I was looking for Edwin Cintron and Vito Frabizio as well, but they were not with the team on this trip. Rivera, especially liked his layout which left me fielding questions from about half the rest of the team who wanted to know when I was going to one for them. I will, but as I won't bet likely to get any more autographs until Fall Instruction League, it won't be until after the this next weekend when the Miracle's six game homestand concludes.

For the Twins I got Pat Neshek (x4) on rehab, Deibinson Romero (x2), Brian Kirwan (x2), Miguel Munoz, Andres Diaz, Mike Gonzales, Juan Sanchez, Herbert Lara, Reggie Williams, and Anderson Hidalgo who had just a heck of a time with the pen. That new click technology really baffles some of the boys. Ian finally got him through the sharpie experience. "Do they not have click pens in South America?" I ask Ian. It's not like he's the first to have problems. And yes, I've actually seen some Americans at the FSL level puzzled on how to get the "cap" off the click sharpies.

If you haven't done so yet, please check out the new Photo center on Shutterfly. While I am still less than thrilled with the new power uploader, the new photo center is just rockin'!

Red Sox slip by Twins in the ninth

GCL Twins 4 at GCL Red Sox 5

W: A. Batista (5-1, 6.41); L: K. Nanney (3-1, 1.76)
HR: None.

I've been boycotting the Red Sox due to the local political problems with a team. Mainly we build then a nice stadium which is only used for about 10 weeks in the spring and eats taxpayer money the rest of the year. We spend a mill or so per year on them for upgrades, and they decide to turn around and move to Sarasota or Orlando.

There's more but that's the sort version.

As a result, I will not journey to the City of Palms Complex this season, although I'm sure that no one over there has missed me, and so I was told by Jim Rantz that I missed "one hell of a game" on Saturday.

The Red Sox would slip by the Twins in the ninth, picking up a 5-4 win. The started out by taking an early lead off Twins starter Edgar Ibarra.

Wilfred Pichardo singled, then stole 2nd. Derrik Gibson singled out to center to score him. He'd steal 2nd as well, but Ibarra would take Casey Kelly out on strikes. Roberto Feliz's double moved Gibson to 3rd, but Ibarra then issued back-to-back strike outs to Chih-Hsian Huang and Andrew Frezza to get out of the jam and keep the Red Sox to a single run.

Juan Sanchez doubled in the top of the 3rd then moved to 3rd on Danny Ortiz ground out. Mike Gonzales' ground out served to plate him, tying up the contest.

Bruce Pugh would replace Ibarra in the bottom of the 4th, and allow a walk to Joantoni Garcia. Christian Vazques walked as well, and a single by Pichardo loaded the bags. A wild pitch by Pugh allowed Garcia to score. Pugh would then be called on a balk, allowing Vazquez over the plate. Pugh would take Gibson and Kelly out on strikes before Roberto Feliz popped out with the Red Sox now leading by two.

The Twins answered back however, with Sanchez doubling. Ortiz would go down on strikes, but Gonzales reached on a throwing error. Gibson's error also allowed Sanchez to score. A wild pitch by Wang-Yi Lin put Gonzales at 2nd. Lin's throwing error then allowed Pinto to reach and Gonzales to score, tying up the contest again. Both Tyler Landendorf and Hyun-wook Choi would fly out to retire the Twins.

Pugh would pitch the next three innings, allowing only 1 hit, but walking 4. He'd fan five before giving way to Khol Nanney.

Anatanaer Batista would work the 8th and 9th for the Red Sox, and would be on the mound when Aaron Hicks doubled in the top of the final stanza. Sanchez sac-bunt advanced him to 3rd, and Ortiz would double him in to give the Twins the lead. Gonzales and Rohlfing both ground out, letting the Sox have a chance at the plate.

Nanney would walk Pichardo, then allow a single to Gibson that moved Pichardo to 3rd. Gibson then stole 2nd. Nanney would get Kelly out on strikes, but Feliz doubled the pair in to end the contest with the Red Sox on top.

The loss would be Nanney's first of the season, coming on 2 hits and walk, while fanning 3 over 2.1 innings.

Sanchez lead the GCL Twins attack, going 3-for-3 at the plate with walk, a pair of doubles and two runs. Javier Brown was 2-for-3 in the contest. Jonathan Goncalves was 1-for-3 with a double, and Wook was 1-for-4 picking up the one hit wonder of the game title.

Hicks and Ortiz were 1-for-5 with a double each, Hicks with a run, Ortiz with a RBI. Gonzales, who finished up 0-for-3 at the plate, was still productive with a walk, a run and a RBI.

The Twins take Sunday off before taking on the South Division leading Pirates on Monday (weather permitting).

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Tropical Storm Fay continued to wreak havoc in the Caribbean, and causing the game between the DSL Twins and the DSL Reds to be postponed or canceled. The DSL Twins take Sunday off as well. The take on the DSL Yankees2 Monday for a 10:30 AM Dominican time game.

The Red Sox agreed to terms at the signing deadline with 4th round pick Peter Hissey (OF), 5th round pick Ryan Westmorland (OF), 13th round pick Tyler Wilson (RHP), 27th round pick Colby Cervenka (LHP), 35th rounder Carson Blair (SS) and 50th rounder Kyle Stroup (RHP). All were assigned to their Gulf Coast League affiliate. The Sox love to spend money, throwing a cool $1 mil at Hissey, and $1.604 mill (with bonuses making it $2 mill) on Wesmorland.

The Twins on the other hand signed sixth round pick B.J. Hermsen for $650 K. The righthander will not report to Fort Myers until Fall Instructional League, which is to begin around September 22nd. The Twins also agreed to terms with 14th round pick Blayne Weller, a righthanded pitcher from Key West, Florida, High School.

The Pirates also shored up their squad for the upcoming playoffs. Sandlot Swashbucklers is reporting that the Pirates signed 20th rounder Quinton Miller (RHP) and assigned him to Bradenton. 1st rounder Pedro Alvarez was also inked with a $6 Million bonus, but was not yet assigned to a team at the time the article was written. It is however, unlikely that the former Vanderbilt University 3rd baseman will be joining the GCL team.