LITTLE LEAGUE GAME OF THE WEEK: TWINS VS. PADRES

Eric Frasca recorded four strikeouts in his first two innings of work.

The Twins and Padres had not played each other all season, but on paper the 5-3 Twins looked to have the advantage over the 3-5 Padres. But once the boys stepped between the white lines, it was the Padres that prevailed 13-4 over the Twins at Pelota Park on Thursday night under the lights.

Minnesota scored first, however. To start the game, Hunter Korn walked and took advantage of a few wild pitches to eventually come around and score. Padres starting pitcher Eric Frasca battled some early wildness but eventually steadied in a very Clayton-Kershaw-like performance to strike out two batters to go along with his two first-inning walks. Frasca also made a nice stab of a comebacker to end the Twins’ early threat.

Hunter Korn gave the Twins some fine relief in the middle innings.

In the bottom half of the inning, the Padres exploded for five runs, backed by singles from Matt Jones, Anthony Cascarano, Ryan Hickey, Sean Dennis and Frasca. Lead-off hitter Matt Rhodus started the rally with a walk. In all, the Padres sent 10 batters to the plate in the first inning.

In the second, the Twins answered with two more runs. Austin Buenaobra and Steve Schmitt led off with walks and eventually came around to score. The Twins Tommy Delgado got the big hit with an RBI single. Playing defense in the bottom of the second, Delgado also flashed fine defense, making all three put-outs from his shortstop position.

The score remained 5-3 until the bottom of the third when the Padres scored three more runs, benefiting from three walks and a single by Ian Shubert.

Leading 8-3, the Padres tacked on four more runs in the fourth to put the game out of reach. The inning was triggered by three straight hits, including a single from Cascarano, a double by Hickey and a single by Dylan Sanchez.

Both teams would score one more run in the later innings to make the score 13-4.

Padres pitching aces Eric Frasca, left, and Anthony Cascarano share the media spotlight moments after the game.

Meanwhile, on the mound, Frasca pitched two solid innings to help the Padres get off to an early lead before giving way to Casracano who recorded eight of his nine outs by strikeout. Cascarano wiggled out of a bases loaded jam in the top of the fourth when he forced dangerous hitter Brogan White to pop up to the first baseman.

On Saturday, both teams will be back in action, with the Twins facing the Cardinals at noon and the Padres playing the Angels at 3 p.m.