As minor league play got into its first full week, the Twins organization had an ugly week losing 17 of their 25 games.  None of the four full season teams had a winning week with New Britain beginning their season on a seven game losing streak before beating Harrisburg and their top pick, Stephen Strasburg, last night.

There were several moves this week including the Twins calling up Ron Mahay.  To make room for Mahay, the Twins optioned Alex Burnett to Rochester.  They also placed Joe Nathan on the 60-day disabled list to make room for Mahay on their 40-man roster.  Rochester made room for Burnett by placing Anthony Swarzak on the disabled list with a broken toe.  Ft. Myers activated Matt Williams to replace Mahay on their roster. 

Rochester Red Wings (AAA) (3-4, 3-5, Tied/4th place, -3.0 games behind Syracuse)

Saturday/1-0 loss, 7 innings @ Pawtuckett.....Manship, Loss (0-1), 3.2ip, 6hits, 1 run, 4K/1BB

Game 2/4-2 win, 7 innings.....Perkins, 3.0ip, 1h, 2r, 3K/3BB; Fox, Win (1-0), 2.0ip, 1h, 0r, 3K/0BB; Slama, Save/1, 2.0ip, 0h, 0r, 5K/1BB

Sunday/4-3 win.....Herrera, 3.2ip, 3h, 1r, 0K/5BB; Lahey, Win (1-0), 3.1ip, 0h, 0r, 2K/1BB; Waldrop, Sv/2, 1.0ip, 1h, 0r, 0K/0BB

Monday/6-5 loss, 11 innings @ Scranton.....Maroth, 3.1ip, 2h, 1run/0earned run, 3K/3BB; Slama, BSv/1, 2.0ip, 1h, 2r, 4K/1BB; Delaney, Loss (0-1), 0.1ip, 1h, 1r, 0K/1BB

Tuesday/4-3 loss.....Swarzak, 6.0ip, 5h, 2r, 2K/1BB; Lugo, Loss (0-1), 2.0ip, 4h, 2r, 3K/1BB

Wednesday/5-2 win @ Lehigh Valley.....Mullins, Win (1-0), 5.0ip, 3h, 1r, 6K/1BB; Slama, Sv/2, 1.0ip, 1h, 0r, 3K/1BB

Thursday/4-1 loss.....Manship, Loss (0-2), 5.0ip, 7h, 4r, 5K/0BB; Fox, 3.0ip, 1h, 0r, 1K/0BB

Friday/suspended

After struggling in two relief appearances when he allowed 6 runs in 3.1 innings, Ryan Mullins was excellent in his first start of the season Wednesday.  Anthony Swarzak was leading the team in innings pitched (9.0) before going on the disabled list.  Kyle Waldrop has made four relief appearances (5.0 innings) without allowing any runs.  Anthony Slama appeared in three games (5.0 innings) with a 3.60 ERA, 9 strikeouts, 4 walks and 1 home run.  To many walks and a few to many home runs due to being behind in the count is the last aspect of his game that Slama needs to conquer before being ready to join the Twins.  Glen Perkins made his second start of the season last night, pitching a clean first inning with 2 strikeouts before the game was suspended.

Brian Dinkelman is off to an excellent start, going 9-25 with a team best .515 OBP.  Erik Lis had three multi-hit games with his first home run while Dustin Martin, Brock Peterson, Wilson Ramos and Trevor Plouffe all had two multi-hit games.  Jacque Jones is hitting .286/.375/.524 in 21 at bats as he continues his trip back to the major leagues.   

New Britain Rock Cats (AA) (1-6, 1-7, 6th place, -5.0 games behind Trenton)

Saturday/5-3 loss vs. New Hampshire.....McCardell, Loss (0-1), 4.0ip, 3r/2er, 0K/4BB

Sunday/7-4 loss.....Robertson, 4.2ip, 7h, 3r, 1K/1BB; S. Arias, Loss (0-1), 2.0ip, 2h, 3r/0er, 1K/1BB

Monday/8-2 loss vs. Portland.....Guerra, Loss (0-1), 5.0ip, 6h, 5r/4er, 2K/0BB

Tuesday/8-0 loss.....Bromberg, 5.0ip, 3h, 0r, 2K/2BB; Testa, Loss (0-1), 1.0ip, 4h, 5r/4er, 0K/0BB

Wednesday/3-1 loss.....Gutierrez, 5.0ip, 5h, 1r, 5K/1BB; Steedley, 2.0ip, 0h, 0r, 3K/0BB; DeVries, Loss (0-2), 2.0ip, 2h, 2r/1er,

Thursday/6-5 loss @ Harrisburg.....McCardell, 5.2ip, 6h, 3r, 4K/2BB; Testa, Loss (0-2), 1.0ip, 2h, 2r, 1K/2BB; S. Arias, BSv/1, 0.1ip, 2h, 0r, 1K/0BB

Friday/2-1 win.....Robertson, 2.0ip, 2h, 1r, 1K/0BB; H. Arias, 3.0ip, 2h, 0r, 1K/0BB; Steedley, Win (1-0), 3.1ip, 2h, 0r, 1K/0BB; Province, Sv/1, 0.2ip, 0h, 0r, 0K/0BB

After losing their first seven, the Rock Cats broke into the winning column last night against Harrisburg and top prospect Stephen Strasburg.  Fortunately, there was a 2.5 hour rain delay in the third inning with Strasburg allowing one unearned run in 2.1 innings with 2 hits and 3K/0BB.  Spencer Steedley has yet to allow an earned run in four appearances (9.0 innings) with 13 strikeouts and only 1 walk.  Cole DeVries has an excellent 1.50 ERA, yet, 3 unearned runs led to 2 losses.  David Bromberg was excellent in his first start in AA, pitching 5.0 shutout innings before the bullpen gave up 8 runs in Tuesday's loss.        

Ben Revere is struggling a bit at the plate, hitting only .214/.353/.214 in his first 28 at bats.  Revere does have 2 stolen bases and also picked up 2 assists last Saturday when he cut down two runners attempting to score.  Joe Benson and Dan Lehmann both had two multi-hit games this week.  Benson is hitting .250/.357/.333 while Lehmann is off to a great start with a team high .366/.381/.474 in 19 at bats.  Rene Tosoni is hitting .292/.393/.458 in 24 at bats with 7 strikeouts and 3 walks.  Tosoni is hitless in his only 4 at bats against lefties.

Ft. Myers Miracle (Hi-A) (2-4, 2-6, 6th place, -4.0 games behind Bradenton and Jupiter)

Saturday/4-3 loss vs. Bradenton.....Lanigan, 6.0ip, 2h, 0r, 4K/0BB; Mahay, Loss (0-1), 1.2ip, 5h, 1r, 2K/0BB

Monday/6-2 loss @ Bradenton.....Pugh, Loss (0-1), 3.0ip, 5h, 2r, 3K/3BB; Mahay, 1.0ip, 0h, 0r, 1K/0BB

Tuesday/2-0 win @ Charlotte.....Gibson, Win (1-1), 4h, 0r, 6K/0BB; Mahay, 1.0ip, 0h, 0r, 0K/0BB; Bullock, Sv/1, 2.0ip, 0h, 0r, 4K/0BB

Wednesday/2-1 win.....Tarsi, Win (1-1), 6.0ip, 4h, 0r, 2K/1BB; Hunt, Sv/1, 1.1ip, 0h, 0r, 1K/2BB

Thursday/7-0 loss.....Lanigan, Loss (0-1), 4.2ip, 3h, 3r/1er, 5K/2BB

Friday/4-2 loss, 10 innings @ Palm Beach.....Tippett, 4.1ip, 4h, 1r, 1K/0BB; Williams, 3.1ip, 4h, 0r, 3K/1BB; Bullock, Loss (0-1), 2.0ip, 5h, 3r, 3K/2BB

Ron Mahay had a tough first outing before two perfect appearances showing the Twins that he was ready to return to Minnesota.  Kyle Gibson recovered from his rough first professional start to pitch 6.0 shutout innings with 6 strikeouts, dropping his ERA to 2.79.  Matt Williams returned from his short trip on the disabled list (opened a spot for Mahay in Ft. Myers) with an excellent outing last night.  Billy Bullock and Shooter Hunt both have one save.  Bullock has 7 strikeouts in 6.0 innings with a 4.50 ERA.  Hunt has had two excellent appearances following his opening night disaster, pitching 2.1 no-hit innings with 3K/2BB.

Paul Kelly is leading the Miracle at .462/.500/.538 in 13 at bats, however, he hasn't played in any games since Monday.  Yangervis Solarte had three multi-hit games this week to raise his average to .348 in 23 at bats.  Michael Harrington also had three multi-hit games and is hitting .273 Average with 2 doubles and a team high 4 RBI.  Chris Herrmann was in center field again last night when he was 2-4 with a run scored. 

Beloit Snappers (A) (3-4, 4-5, Tied/4th place, -3.0 games behind Quad Cities)

Saturday/7-2 loss @ Cedar Rapids.....Munoz, 5.0ip, 4h, 1r, 6K/2BB; Ibarra, Loss (0-1), 1.1ip, 3h, 4r, 1K/2BB

Sunday/2-0 loss vs. Peoria.....Stillings, Loss (0-1), 5.0ip, 3h, 1r,1K/1BB

Monday/3-0 win.....Stuifbergen, Win (1-0), 6.0ip, 4h, 0r, 5K/0BB; Blevins, Sv/1, 1.0ip, 2h, 0r, 1K/0BB

Tuesday/1-0 loss.....Hendriks, 6.0ip, 1h, 0r, 5K/1BB; Holbrooks, Loss (0-1), 2.0ip, 3h, 1r/0er, 1K/0BB

Wednesday/6-5 win, 10 innings @ Kane County.....Osterbrock, 4.2ip, 5h, 2r, 6K/1BB; Ibarra, Win (1-1), 0.1ip, 0h, 0r, 0K/0BB; Blevins, Sv/2, 1.0ip, 0h, 0r, 0K/0BB

Thursday/5-4 loss.....Munoz, 5.0ip, 3h, 0r, 3K/3BB; Tone, Loss (0-1), 1.1ip, 0h, 3r, 3K/3BB

Friday/6-0 win.....Stillings, 4.2ip, 4h, 0r, 4K/2BB; Holbrooks, Win (1-1) 3.0ip, 1h, 04, 4K/0BB; Blevins, Sv/3, 1.1ip, 1h, 0r, 2K/1BB

Steven Blevins is off to a great start, picking up an organization high three saves this week.  Blevins also has a win to go with a 1.69 ERA with 5 strikeouts in 5.1 innings.  Miguel Munoz and Brad Stillings each had two starts with the entire starting staff allowing only 4 earned runs in 35.1 innings pitched.  Tom Stuifbergen and Liam Hendriks both threw 6.0 innings of shutout ball with 5 strikeouts each.  Dakota Watts made three appearances (6.2 innings) without allowing a run. 

Steve Liddle had an organization best four multi-hit games while hitting .357/.438/.607 with 2 home runs in 28 at bats.  Brian Dozier leads the team at .400/.471/.433 in 30 at bats following a week in which he had three multi-hit games.  Derek McCallum and Angel Morales both had two multi-hit games while Michael Gonzales leads the team with 3 home runs and 5 RBI.  Danny Rams has been seeing action behind the plate, at first base and as designated hitter.   

Player of the Week

Chris Parmelee saw his first action this spring with the Twins as he was invited to join the parent club for spring training.  Although Parmelee had only 1 hit in 14 at bats, it was valuable experience as he moved up another level to AA New Britain.

Although the Rock Cats had a terrible week, Parmelee was excellent with three multi hit games to finish his week at 9-28 (.321 Average).  Chris also scored 2 runs with 3 doubles, 2 home runs and 5 RBI.  In his first 32 at bats this season, Chris is hitting .281/.303/.563.