Today's report will be abbreviated as I am in Madison for the Badger-Fresno State game.  Fortunately, the minor league season is almost over so there isn't a lot of news.

There was some player movement, headed by the return of Francisco Liriano.  The Twins also added Justin Huber to their 40-man roster and recalled him from Rochester.  There is a dispute brewing between Glen Perkins and the Twins regarding his injury and being optioned to Rochester.  This move removed him from the active roster which would reduce his service time this season.  This move may cause him to miss Super-2 status and arbitration this winter.  The Twins also recalled Armando Gabino who will join Liriano in the Twins bullpen for the balance of the season.

In other moves, this year's twelfth round pick, Tony Davis moved from Elizabethton to New Britain for the playoffs with Angel Morales moving from Beloit to New Britain.  Tom Stuifbergen moved up to Ft. Myers from Elizabethton.

The regular season ended with five of the Twins seven teams making it to the playoffs.  The DSL Twins made it to the championship round where they lost to the Giants.  The GCL Twins lost the GCL single game playoff for the second straight year, this time to the Nationals.  The Elizabethton Twins played Danville in the Appy League Championship Series for the fifth straight season.  After having won three of the previous four, they lost this year. 

This week Ft. Myers opened their playoff run with a best of three against Charlotte, a team they had beat 14 of 20 times this year.  FSL Pitcher of the Year David Bromberg got the start in game one, and he wasn't at his best as he allowed 10 hits and 7 runs in 5.2 innings with 4K/4BB.  In somewhat of a surprise move to me, Steven Hirschfield came on in relief and pitched 2.1 shutout innings with 3 hits and 1 strikeout which allowed the Miracle to get back into the game for a 8-7 win.  Joe Testa pitched a shutout ninth inning for the save.  The hitting stars were Estarlin De Los Santos, who was 3-5 with a triple, home run and 4 RBI.  Joe Benson was 3-4 with a double and home run. 

The Miracle lost game two on Wednesday, 7-4, when Tyler Robertson allowed 9 hits and 6 runs in 3.1 innings.  Boof Bonser came on to pitch 2.0 perfect innings with 4 strikeouts.  Nick Romero was 1-1 with a walk and 3 run home run.  The Miracle's season came to a sudden end in game three, 3-2, behind a solid start by Santos Arias.  Arias pitched 5.0 innings with only 4 hits, 3 runs (2 earned) and 3K/4BB.  Bobby Lanigan, who recently moved up from Beloit, pitched 4.0 one-hit innings without allowing a run.  Ben Revere was 2-3 with 2 RBI while catcher Jair Fernandez also had 2 hits.  The Miracle had an excellent year, winning both halves of their season.  Although they didn't advance to the championship series as they had last year, they must be congratulated for their accomplishments.

The New Britain Rock Cats faced an uphill battle as they squared off against the Division champion Connecticut Defenders in the first round of the Eastern League playoffs.  The Cats roster was hit hard with three players leaving for the World Cup (Rene Tosoni, Luke Hughes and Loek Van Mil).  To make matters worse, I read that the Defenders didn't lose anyone from a team that took 16 of 20 in head-to-head competition with the Cats this season. 

Their best of five series began at Connecticut on Wednesday, where the Cats lost 6-2 behind Deolis Guerra.  Guerra allowed 8 hits and 5 runs in 4.0 innings with 4K/3BB.  Cole DeVries came on to pitch 3.0 innings of shutout relief with 3 hits and 6K/1BB.  Carlos Gutierrez allowed a run in his inning of relief.  Brian Dinkelman hit a home run while Erik Lis, Yangervis Solarte and Wilson Ramos all had one hit.  Matt Fox got the start in game two and didn't fair any better as the Cats went down 10-7 before returning to New Britain for game three.  Fox allowed 6 hits and 6 runs in 4.0 innings.  Kyle Waldrop, who had been as good as one can get all season, allowed 3 runs in an inning of relief.  Spencer Steedley and Alex Burnett each pitched a shutout inning of relief with Burnett getting 3 strikeouts.  Wilson Ramos was the hitting star of the night for the Cats with a 4-5 night with a double, home run, 2 runs scored and 4 RBI.  Ramon Santana, who was promoted from Beloit for the playoffs, was 3-5 with a run and RBI while Whit Robbins and Steve Singleton had 2 hits each.  The Cats game three was rained out last night.  They will send Ryan Mullins to the hill later today as they try to stay alive for another day.

There has been much written during the last few months that the Twins minor league system is in the bottom third of baseball.  Personally, sending five of seven teams to the playoffs tells me that those rankings are somewhat suspect.

The Twins organization has ten players in the World Cup (more than any other organization) with several playing key roles during the first few days of competition.  Liam Hendriks got the start for Australia in game one versus the Czech Republic.  Hendriks pitched 3.0 shutout innings in a 17-4 win for the Aussies.  Luke Hughes was 1-5 with a run scored, RBI, walk and double while James Beresford was 1-6.  The Aussies beat Taipei 7-5 yesterday with Brad Tippett and Matt Williams each pitching for the Australians.  Tippett allowed 3 hits and 3 runs in his inning while Williams allowed 3 hits and 2 runs in 1.2 innings.  Luke Hughes was 0-4, however, James Beresford was 4-5 with 2 runs scored and 3 RBI.  After having a wonderful season in Beloit, this 20 year old middle infielder certainly has put himself onto the Twins radar as someone to watch over the next few seasons. 

Nelvin Fuentes pitched 1.1 inning, allowing 1 hit, 1 run and 2K/0BB in Puerto Rico's 10-0 loss to Cuba.

Canada beat South Korea, 9-1, with Rene Tosoni going 0-3 with 2 walks and a run scored.  Last night, Canada beat the Netherland Antilles 15-0 with Tosoni going 3-5 with 2 runs scored, 2 RBI, a double and a home run. 

The USA stands at 1-1 following a 13-9 loss to Venezuela and 9-1 win over Germany.  Trevor Plouffe was 0-4 with 2 walks against Venezuela.  He returned with a 2-5 game last night with 2 runs scored, a RBI, home run and 1 error.

Finally, Yohan Pino closed out his season with his second start for Columbus against Toledo.  Pino pitched 7.0 shutout innings with 5 hits and 6K/2BB.  In two games for the Indians AAA affiliate, Pino pitched 14.0 innings with 2 runs, 14K/2BB for a 2-0 record.  He closed out his AAA season with a 4-2 record, 2.49ERA, 65.0 innings, 0.95WHIP and 58K/13BB.

Thats it for today, enjoy the last few weeks of the Twins season.