By CRAIG POTTER
Toby Gardenhire coaches his final game, moves on as hitting coach for the GCL Twins.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Rochester Red Wings gave third base coach Toby Gardenhire a victory in his final game Sunday afternoon before a paid attendance of 7,811 fans at Frontier Field.
“I’ve learned a lot. You get guys thrown out and you get booed,” he jokingly said.
When Gardenhire returned to Rochester as the third base coach this spring, it marked a return to where he ended his playing career. He hit .247 with 82 hits in 103 games for Rochester in 2011, his final season. He also played some games for the Red Wings in 2010.
“It was nice coming back to Rochester and the fans,” Gardenhire said. “I know a lot of people around here.”
Gardenhire now will begin the original job he was hired to do, which is the hitting coach for the GLC Twins in Florida.
According to Wikipedia: Infielder Toby Gardenhire played in the minor leagues from 2006 to 2011, reaching Triple-A twice. He is the son of (former Twins manager) Ron Gardenhire.
Toby was selected by the Minnesota Twins in the 38th round of the 2002 amateur draft. He opted to go to college instead, attending three schools in three years. He was again selected by the Twins in the 41st round of the 2005 amateur draft and made his pro debut that summer with the Elizabethton Twins, hitting .200 in 30 games there. In 2006, he was with the Beloit Snappers, batting just .198 with 18 RBIs in 87 games. With the Fort Myers Miracle in 2007, he again struggled at the plate, hitting .212 with just 9 RBIs in 75 games. He began the next summer with Fort Myers again and was promoted to the AA New Britain Rock Cats in later April after hitting .333 in 15 games with the Miracle. With New Britain in 2009, he hit .265 with 53 hits in 71 games and in 2010, with New Britain and the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings, he hit a combined .196 with 38 hits in 65 games. He hit .247 with 82 hits in 103 games for Rochester in 2011, his final season.
In 2012, he became head coach of the University of Wisconsin-Stout. He also played that year for the German national team in the 2013 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers; his father was born in Germany, which made him eligible. He was Germany’s main second baseman, going 4 for 13 with two doubles, walk, two runs and two RBI but Germany failed to qualify for the 2013 World Baseball Classic.
The Red Wings gave pitcher Matt Tracy an early lead in his Triple-A debut.
“It was fun,” Tracy said of the promotion. “It’s always fun whenever you make the next level.
“The defense did a great job behind me. Mitch Garver did a pretty good job calling the game back there. You try to stay within yourself and pitch the same game plan that you would.”
Rochester scored 3 runs in the second as Niko Goodrum led off with a single and ByungHo Park doubled. J.B. Shuck sliced a hit past first base that rolled in the right field corner as he scampered around for a 2-run triple.
“I don’t hit a lot down the right field line,” Shuck said. “I hit more balls to left field. It was a good pitch, a change-up out and away.”
John Ryan Murphy plated Shuck with a sacrifice fly.
Rochester tacked on 2 more runs in the third. Matt Hague drew a leadoff walk and Tommy Field doubled. Park followed with a RBI single and lace a RBI double past third.
The Wings tallied what proved to be the game-winning run in the fourth. Zack Granite just missed a home run to center as the ball hit the top of the wall but came back onto the field for a double. He crossed the plate on a 1-out sacrifice fly by Hague.
Tracy was tagged for 3 runs in the fourth as he hurled 5 innings, scattering 6 hits, walking 2, and striking out 4 hitters.
Reliever Trevor Hildenberger gave up 2 runs in the sixth. The Chiefs placed runners on first and second in the seventh with two gone, but Hildenberger escaped unscathed on a fielder’s choice.
Alan Busenitz hurled the 8th, and Ryan Pressly struck out the side in the 9th inning to preserve the win.
*NOTES – Zack Granite extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a double in the fourth inning…Left-hander Nik Turley made his major league debut for the Twins on Sunday in San Francisco. He tied a Southern League record with Chattanooga by striking out eight straight batters on April 25 vs. Tennessee. He also set a Frontier Field record by striking out 15 batters in just 6 innings in his last start on June 6. The 15 strikeouts were the most by a Red Wings pitcher since 1988. On Sunday he was named the Twins minor league Player of the Week after his 15-strikeout performance. Turley will become the fourth Twin to make his MLB debut this season joining Randy Rosario, Justin Haley, and Jason Wheeler…Twins first baseman Kennys Vargas smacks a home run. The 6-foot-5, 290-pound slugger crushed a solo homer off Jeff Samardzija Saturday in the Twins 3-2 win that had an exit velocity of 116 mph, and traveled a projected 471 feet to right-center field at AT&T Park. The homer, hit at a low launch angle of 19 degrees, was both the hardest-hit and longest homer by a Twins player in the Statcast™ era since 2015. It was also the second-longest at AT&T Park since 2015, trailing a 477-foot blast from Ian Desmond in ’15…In roster moves over the weekend, LHP Nick Greenwood was released; LHP Matt Tracy was transferred from Double-A Chattanooga; and RHP Drew Rucinski was designated for assignment…The win gave the Red Wings (28-30) a 2-2 split in the 4-game series with Syracuse (19-39).
Links
Rochester Red Wings – redwingsbaseball.com
Videos
Toby Gardenhire interview – https://youtu.be/Uz81m6oQFHU
Matt Tracy interview – https://youtu.be/Pkbcx-eotLM
J.B. Shuck interview – https://youtu.be/_iT6dzDhLPM