Matt Wallner gave St. Paul the kind of swing that can carry a night all by itself, and the Saints turned it into a 2-1 win over Iowa. Wallner’s fourth-inning blast was his 22nd home run of the season, tying the franchise record, and it came after he had already put the Saints on the board with a first-inning groundout RBI.
That was enough offense because the St. Paul pitching staff slammed the door from there.
German Marquez made his first start in the Twins organization and worked through four innings, allowing four hits and one earned run while striking out one. He settled in with three scoreless frames before Iowa finally pushed across a run in the fourth.
The bullpen took it from there. Aaron Rozek covered three scoreless innings despite three walks, Garrett Acton logged a hitless, scoreless inning with one strikeout, and Marco Ray finished the ninth to pick up his third Saints save. Ray allowed two hits and a walk, but Iowa never broke through.
In the organization’s other upper-level action, the Wind Surge dropped a game after Jorel Ortega scored in the third on Kendle’s ninth double. The Hooks answered with five runs over the next two innings and held on.
Wichita’s bullpen mixed in some solid work after that. Hunter Gregory entered a 2-2 game in the fifth and was charged with three unearned runs. Spencer Bengard threw two scoreless innings, and Jacob Webb and Kyle Bischoff each added a shutout inning with two strikeouts.
Fort Myers kept piling up offense, and Colby Turner was right in the middle of it. The Mighty Mussels beat the Kernels 9-4 behind Turner’s 3-for-5 day with a run and four RBIs. Fort Myers broke out to a quick 4-0 lead and never really gave it back.
The first inning set the tone. Merphy Hernandez was hit by a pitch to open the game, stole second, moved to third on a Colby Turner single, and scored on a balk.
Turner advanced to third on a wild pitch, Luis Fragoza walked, and a successful double-steal brought Turner home for a 2-1 edge. Isaiah Lane walked, Aidan Teel singled in Fragoza, Lane was caught stealing home, and Fowler followed with a single to bring in Teel for the fourth run.
The Mussels kept adding. They scored nine runs on 12 hits, drew seven walks, and were hit by pitches three times. They also swiped eight more bases, adding to the league-leading total.
Turner was one of three Fort Myers players with multi-hit games. Luis Fragoza went 1-for-2 with two walks, Isaiah Lane walked twice, and Teel, Young, and Charlie Scholvin each had a hit and a walk.
On the mound, Fang allowed single runs in the first and third before exiting after four innings. Jake Covey then steadied things.
He came on with two runners on in the fifth, let one inherited run score, then blanked the opposition over the next four innings to earn the win. Hendry Chivilli finished with a scoreless ninth.
Cedar Rapids had a rough night, though Danny De Andrade did avoid the shutout with a solo homer in the ninth. Ivran Romero worked two innings and allowed two runs on four hits and a walk after Smith departed.
Yehizon Sanchez gave up two runs on two hits and four walks over 2 1/3 innings, striking out four. Mike McKenna threw two scoreless innings with three strikeouts, allowing a hit and two walks.
When the bullpen ran dry, Quinn McDaniel had to finish it out. He entered to start the eighth, walked the bases loaded with three straight free passes, then escaped with an infield pop-out and a double-play grounder. He allowed one run in the ninth and finished with two innings, one hit, one run, five walks, and no strikeouts.
Among the day’s top performers, Turner earned hitter of the day honors, while Covey took pitcher of the day after four scoreless relief innings.
There were also a few notable prospect lines around the system. Walker Jenkins went 1-for-3 with a walk for St.
Paul while batting first and playing center field. Kaelen Culpepper went 2-for-4 with a double and a strikeout for Minnesota.
Marek Houston went 1-for-3 with a sacrifice bunt, six stolen bases caught, and two errors for Wichita. Emmanuel Rodriguez was 1-for-4 with two strikeouts for St.
Paul. Quentin Young went 1-for-4 with a walk, a double, and an RBI for Fort Myers, and Yasser Mercedes went 1-for-4 with a strikeout for Cedar Rapids.
James Ellwanger remains on the 60-day injured list with a right elbow sprain.
The next scheduled game is the DSL Twins at the DSL Marlins on Monday, August 17, at 10:00 am CT.
In Other News...
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