It might be time to start asking some questions about Livan Hernandez! After seven shutout innings last night, he is now 3-0... or, exactly what Ramon Ortiz was at this time a year ago. Which is to say, I'm still not completely buying it, but like last year with Ortiz, I'm happy about it at this point. I don't think that Bill Smith would have expected this.
Jesse Crain and Joe Nathan each pitched a scoreless inning to maintain the shutout.
The offense scored four times in the 2nd inning to provide more than Livan would need. The young'ns certainly provided the spark. With two on and two outs, Denard Span singled in Delmon Young, who had walked(!), from 3B. Carlos Gomez followed with a two run double before Matt Tolbert singled in Gomez for the 4-0 lead.
Justin Morneau hit his third homer of the year in the 3rd inning to add to the lead and give the Twins their final tally.
With a 3-4 performance, Matt Tolbert is now 10-18 (.556) on the young season. He is doing his best to take at bats away from Adam Everett. It is hard to break a label such as "utility player" or "fourth outfielder" especially in the big leagues, but Tolbert is trying to do just that.

Red Wings Report (Rochester 7, Syracuse 5)

The Red Wings top two hitters (Alexi Casilla and Chris Basak) combined to go 1-2 with seven walks and a Hit By Pitch in the game. The 3-5 hitters (Brian Buscher, Garrett Jones and Randy Ruiz) combined to go 1-13 with just one RBI.
Matt Macri committed two errors in the game, but he also hit his first home run of the season.
Glen Perkins started and gave up four runs (3 earned) on five hits in 4.2 innings. He walked two and struck out five.
Ricky Barrett went 1.1 innings and gave up two hits, but no runs. Casey Daigle pitched to two batters. He walked on and the other got a hit. Mariano Gomez then struck out the only batter he faced.
Then Bobby Korecky came in for the final 2.2 innings. He got a blown save and a win. He gave up just one hit and one walk, and struck out one. Get used to seeing Korecky throw some crazy innings. I have no problem with him going 2.2 innings. The reality is that if he gets called up to the Twins, it will be as a middle reliever and he may need to go 2.2 innings. However, what happens at Rochester, Korecky will throw 2.2 last night, then he'll probably throw one inning today and a couple more on Sunday. Makes no sense.

Rockcats Ramblings (Rockcats 3, Portland 1)

Anthony Swarzak had another excellent start in this one. The righty went five scoreless innings, allowing just three hits. He walked none and struck out four for the Win.
Kyle Aselton came in and went two scoreless innings, allowing just one hit. Armando Gabino gave up a run on two hits in his inning. Then Ben Julianel came in and threw a scoreless ninth inning for his second save.
Dustin Martin continues his terrific start to the season. He went 2-3 with a walk, his fourth double and an RBI.
Jeff Christy went 2-4, and Steven Tolleson hit his first home run.

Miracle Matters (Ft. Myers 3, Dunedin 2)

Brian Dinkelman was the offensive hero in this game. The 2B went 2-4 with his fourth double and his first home run.
Danny Santiesteban went 2-3 with his second double and an RBI. Johnny Woodard hit his first homer of the season.
Tyler Robertson struggled a little in his second start. In four innings, he gave up two runs on six hits and two walks. He struck out seven though.
Danny Vais picked up the win by throwing four shutout innings in relief. He gave up just one hit and struck out three. Anthony Slama then struck out three in the 9th to record his first save.

Snappers Snapshot (Beloit 1, Ft. Wayne 11)

Not a good game at all for the Snappers. The managed just four hits and recorded six errors. The errors are getting a bit excessive, so that will have to be tightened up. I know it was about 40 degrees during the game, but this has to be corrected. Deibinson Romero had two more errors in this game and now has six on the short season. Ramon Santana had two errors and has four. That doesn't give a pitching staff much confidence in the left side of the infield.
Michael Tarsi somehow still gave up nine earned runs on eight hits and a walk in just two innings. Not sure how errors didn't come into play there.
Charles Nolte came in and struck out six hitters in three shutout innings.
Loek Van Mil got two outs and gave up a run on a hit and a walk. Matt Williams then gave up a run and a hit and a walk in 2.1 innings. He struck out three. Blair Erickson then struck out two in one inning.
Chris Parmelee had two of the four Snappers hit. He drove in the run and also had a walk. Steve Singleton hit a double.

Other Notes/Links

Travis Talks continues his series of looking at the players by position throughout the Twins system. Here, he looks at both the left field and center field positions.
Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports wrote an article about the accessibility of Pat Neshek.
Stick & Ball Guy takes a look at the Twins through Ten Games.
Finally, I am happy to hear that Tim Lahey is back with the Twins organization. The #1 pick in the Rule V draft is back!

Have a great Saturday!