St. Paul Saints infielder Rylan Bannon is a bit of an enigma, and it has to do with the numbers.

He’s a compact 5-foot-8, 180 pounds, yet possesses middle-of-the-lineup power. And, despite being one of the most productive hitters in the International League this season, he was
acquired from the New York Mets for cash on July 16.

Add it all up and the 28-year-old Bannon, whose resume includes seven major league games with three organizations, is an under-the-radar move by the Twins that could pay dividends.

“I’m excited to be here from an opportunity standpoint,” Bannon said prior to the Saints’ game with the Omaha Storm Chasers on Friday night at CHS Field. “It was tough leaving the Mets when I was having a good year, but I’m happy to be here; just keep building on what I was doing over there and keep rolling with it.”

Bannon walked twice while hitting second for St. Paul in Friday’s 6-1 win against Omaha, and he now owns an .854 OPS this season.

Playing for the Mets’ Triple-A team in Syracuse this season, Bannon hit 15 home runs and drove in 57 runs in 79 games. He has hit 105 home runs in less than six minor-league seasons.

“I think it’s more intent than anything,” Bannon said of his power. “Every time I go up there I’m trying to do damage — trying to get my pitch, trying to put my best swing on it. The name of the game now is to get your swing off and do damage.

“I’ve always tried to maintain that mindset, and it’s easier said than done. This year I kind of tapped back into that. I had some hitting coaches in Syracuse who were big on that, so it was fun to feed off of that with them.”

Bannon was an eighth-round pick by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2017 out of Xavier, where he was Big East Player of the Year. A year later, he was part of one of the biggest trades in recent years, as he was among the package of players the Dodgers sent to Baltimore for Manny Machado.

“That was probably one of the more pivotal moments of my career,” Bannon said. “Getting traded the first time is always the hardest; it was definitely a shock to the system. Baltimore was in the beginning of their rebuild phase, and I went through a lot there.”

Bannon remained in the Baltimore organization until 2022, and made his major-league debut with the Orioles that season.

“It happened really fast,” Bannon said. “I was on the taxi squad with Baltimore and I didn’t even know I was playing that day. They pulled me into the office an hour before the game and told me I was playing.”

Bannon returned to the Dodgers’ organization in August when he was picked up off waivers in what was the start of a baseball odyssey. Eight days later, he was claimed on waivers by
Atlanta.

Bannon grew up in Joliet, Illinois, just outside of Chicago, and for a couple weeks in November he was a member of the Cubs, the team he grew up rooting for.

“I remember calling my dad and getting kind of emotional,” Bannon said. “It would have been really cool, but baseball is a business, and it didn’t work out.”

This time it was Houston that claimed Bannon off waivers, and his stint with that organization included two games with the Astros last season.

Time will tell if Minnesota will provide Bannon’s next chance to establish himself as a major-league player.

“It’s hard everywhere,” Bannon said. “I’ve been in a lot of situations where you think the opportunities are great and they don’t pan out. That’s the case for a lot of guys. So it’s hard to
say that the situation is greater here than anywhere else.

“So you just keep your head down and keep grinding.”

Briefly

Patrick Winkel and Dalton Shuffield each hit two-run home runs in the fourth inning of Friday’s win. Winkel, Shuffield and Wynton Bernard each had two hits. … Adam Plutko ran his record to 6-1 this season with six scoreless innings. He allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out six. … Reliever Justin Topa, on rehab assignment from the Twins, pitched a scoreless seventh with a walk and strikeout.

Related Articles

Miranda goes out swinging as Saints top Omaha

Rehabbing Twins Royce Lewis, Jose Miranda get their work in for Saints

Zebby Matthews shows up for Saints on his rise through Twins system

Matthews wins Triple A debut as Saints roll

Saints rack up hits while beating Mud Hens

DETROIT (AP) — Byron Buxton hit a home run and a double, Christian Vázquez had a homer and three hits and the Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers 9-3 on Friday night.

“I think everybody put something on the table to win this game,” said Vázquez, who has three of his five homers this season against the Tigers. “When I swing at pitches at zone, I get different results. I feel good and I have confidence in myself.”

Pablo López (9-7) allowed two runs on six hits in seven innings, striking out seven.

“A lot of my stuff got better toward the end of my outing,” he said.

Tigers starter Keider Montero (1-4) allowed six runs on eight hits in five innings.

With only three healthy starters, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch had to stay with Montero even after he allowed three homers in the first two innings.

“He was going to be out there,” Hinch said. “It’s not easy right now — we have been putting together some bullpen games and there are some on the horizon, so Keider had a long leash. With three solo homers, we were still in the game.”

Buxton and Trevor Larnach gave Minnesota a 2-0 lead with back-to-back homers in the first, and Matt Wallner added a home run in the second.

Javier Báez hit his second homer in as many days to make it 3-2 in the third.

“I’m feeling good at the plate,” said Báez, who is hitting .179 with three homers. “I’ve been working a lot to play better, and if I can stay hot, I can have a big second half.”

The Twins regained control with three runs in the fourth.

Willi Castro knocked in two with a single to left and took a big turn around the bag, prompting second baseman Colt Keith to throw to first. The Tigers were wearing their black City Connect jerseys and the only person wearing that color at first was umpire Mike Muchlinski. Keith’s throw sailed into Minnesota’s dugout, allowing Castro to take third. He scored on Buxton’s double to left.

“That’s a tough inning when we’ve got two out, especially after (Báez) gets us back into the game with the homer,” Hinch said. “I haven’t talked to Colt, but I think that’s down to inexperience — I don’t think Bligh (Madris) needed to travel with the runner. He could have stayed (at first), which is probably why he was trying to get back.”

Vázquez hit a two-run homer off Joey Wentz to make it 8-2 in the sixth.

The Tigers loaded the bases with no one out in the seventh, but Gio Urshela grounded into a force at the plate before Báez and Wenceel Pérez popped out.

Trainer’s room

Twins: Activated 3B Royce Lewis (adductor strain) from the injured list and optioned C Jair Carmago to Triple-A St. Paul. Lewis came into the game hitting .292 with 10 homers and 18 RBIs in 24 games.

Tigers: Placed All-Star OF Riley Greene (hamstring) on the injured list and recalled UTL Ryan Vilade from Triple-A Toledo. Greene has been injured in each of his first three seasons, limiting him to 293 games.

Up next

The teams play the second game of the series on Saturday, with Tigers ace LHP Tarik Skubal (11-3, 2.34) facing Minnesota RHP Joe Ryan (6-6, 3.65).

Related Articles

Twins activate Royce Lewis for Friday night’s game in Detroit

Miranda goes out swinging as Saints top Omaha

John Shipley: Twins are getting better, and here come the big guns

Rehabbing Twins Royce Lewis, Jose Miranda get their work in for Saints

Twins rally for walk-off victory over MLB-leading Phillies

Due to concerns over the avian influenza virus, the Minnesota State Fair announced new policies on Friday for cows currently producing milk.

With the State Fair less than a month away, State Fair officials said that while Open Class, 4-H and FFA dairy cattle shows will still be held as scheduled, new guidelines from the Minnesota Board of Animal Health will require all lactating cows brought to the State Fair to be tested for the H5N1 virus within seven days.

Other livestock shows will continue as usual.

At the CHS Miracle of Birth Center, there will be no live dairy calf births, but dairy calves, a non-lactating dairy cow and beef cow/calf pairs will be on display.

Other animals such as sheep, pigs and poultry will still have live births, and representatives from the FFA, University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine and Minnesota Veterinary Medical Association will still be on hand to educate visitors.

The Cattle Barn and Moo Booth milking parlor will still be open to visitors at its regularly scheduled time. Only lactating cows with negative H5N1 tests will be in the barn; the Moo Booth is enclosed, and visitors watch the milking process through glass windows.  Hand-milking demonstrations will take place with a fiberglass cow.

No changes are planned for the poultry exhibits, but the statement said that State Fair officials are taking precautions “to minimize contact between dairy cattle and poultry at the fair.”

The Minnesota State Fair update can be found at mnstatefair.org/updates.

H5N1 in Minnesota

In early June, H5N1, also known as avian influenza type A, was detected in dairy cattle in Minnesota, according to the state Department of Health. Originally found in wild birds and domestic poultry in 2022, H5N1 has been detected in more than 200 mammals in 2024 as well as a small number of dairy workers who had been in contact with sick cattle.

Lucas Sjostrom, a dairy farmer and executive director of the Minnesota Milk Producers Association, said that avian influenza was not something dairy farmers had to worry about much before.

“We’ve had to learn a lot in the last seven months,” Sjostrom said.

One thing he did learn, he said, is that all milk and mammary glands are a vector for the spread of any type of influenza, including avian influenza. However, according to Sjostrom, there isn’t much known about what sort of exposure leads to the spread of H5N1 — whether it be as direct as ingesting raw milk, fumes or touch. Sjostrom noted that it is specifically raw, unpasteurized milk that can carry the virus. The pasteurization process “obliterates” viruses and infections, Sjostrom said.

The main reason the disease took so long to detect, Sjostrom said, is because symptoms tend to be much more mild in cattle than they do in birds. Particularly for poultry like chicken and turkey, it can be deadly. Sjostrom said that the symptoms in cattle like cows tends to look similar to their equivalent of a “tummy ache,” and awareness of it being H5N1 only began to spread when dairy farmers noticed multiple herds of cattle all getting sick at the same time.

The danger of H5N1, Carol Cardona of the University of Minnesota’s Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences says, is this recent leap from avians to cattle. Those types of animals often share an ecosystem, which implies that the virus has mutated to be able to “leap” from avians to mammals like cattle, which are much closer to humans on the evolutionary tree.

The impact is smaller when it’s a handful of dairy farmers that work with animals regularly, but chance for infection increases when there is a large number of human interaction with the animals at an event like the State Fair.

According to health officials, dairy farmers who were infected in Michigan and Texas experienced “mild illness, including red or water eyes (conjunctivitis) or cough.”

Related Articles

The Minnesota State Fair is looking for workers, will hold a job fair July 24

The 33 official Minnesota State Fair new foods announced for 2024

Minnesota State Fair opens auditions for the annual talent contest

‘Head Over Boots’ hitmaker Jon Pardi rounds out Minnesota State Fair Grandstand lineup

State Fair ending program that commissioned local artists to design its annual posters

The 3M Open has been a career moment — or at least a stabilizer — for a number of struggling players over the years.

It marked journeyman Michael Thompson’s first win in eight years in 2020. Cameron Champ had missed the cut or withdrawn in 10 of his previous 15 events prior to winning at TPC Twin Cities in 2021. Lee Hodges had finished higher than sixth on the PGA Tour just once before he won here last season.

Taylor Pendrith is far from a household name on the PGA Tour. So, at first glance, you might think his story would be a similar one if he captured this week’s title.

That is not the case.

The Canadian leads the 3M Open by two strokes over Matthew NeSmith after carding a bogey-free, 7-under round of 64 in blustery conditions on Friday afternoon to get to 12-under par for the tournament.

It’s just a continuation of strong play for the 33-year-old, who entered the week in 29th in the FedExCup standings. The top 30 at year’s end reach the Tour Championship — a prestigious event reserved for the best of the best.

“I’ve never been there and I’ve been having the best year of my career so far. So, to make it would be awesome. But it’s kind of in the back of my mind,” Pendrith said. “Obviously, I’m in a great position this week through two rounds. So, I’m focused on this week and hopefully some good golf takes care of itself. There’s a lot to play for, for sure, and I know what’s at stake. I’m trying not to think about it that much, but it’s definitely on your mind.”

Pendrith belongs in that kind of company at the moment. Entering the week, he’d already logged five top-10 finishes this season, including a victory at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in early May.

He’s now made the cut in 10 of his last 11 events, including a fifth-place finish last week at the Barracuda Championship. He ended in a tie for 16th at the U.S. Open in June. If Pendrith can hold on over the weekend to secure his second win of the season, he’d be projected to leap into 13th in the season-long standings.

He’s also in a great spot to earn a spot on the international team for September’s President’s Cup.

Nothing about his performance is a fluke.

“Yeah, game’s in a good spot and I’ve been playing really nicely the first two days here,” Pendrith said, “So, hopefully keep it up.”

Warian’s run ends

Ben Warian needed eagle on No. 18 — his final hole of the day — late on Friday to make the cut. The recent Gophers grad took a lash on his second attempt, hoping to pound the ball over the lake and onto the putting surface. The risky, but necessary, attempt didn’t turn out, as Warian’s shot found water.

Warian noted his lie in the rough for his second shot was “not good.”

“It was one of those where in any other situation it’s a layup, it’s 100% layup,” he said. “I took hybrid there, opened the face wide open just to try to give myself, first of all enough metal to get through the rough, and to try to get enough loft to get it high enough, but it was too bad of a lie.”

Warian ended up carding a bogey on the hole and a 3-over round of 74 for the day to finish the tournament at 1-over.

Playing on a sponsor’s exemption, he started the day at 2-under par after a strong opening round. But he started slowly in the wind on Friday. Warian tallied a pair of bogeys with no birdies on his front nine, and then trouble off the tee led to a double bogey on No. 11 to drop the Hill-Murray alum to 2-over for the tournament.

Warian entered the week knowing his driver was his weak spot, and that proved true through two rounds. He is fifth in the field in strokes gained putting, but couldn’t put enough together from tee to green to contend.

“I feel like inside 150 yards, I can compete with anybody out here, I really do, and I think my stats will prove that this week,” he said. “I’ve just got to get off the tee a lot better.”

To Warian’s credit, he battled back with birdies on No. 12 and No. 15 to get back to even par, giving himself a chance to climb up to the cut line of 2-under par.

“Just got to keep fighting, that’s all you do, you have to keep fighting no matter what,” Warian said. “I think that’s when you really can learn a lot about yourself and about who you truly are, kind of when your back’s against the wall.”

The Stillwater native will maintain his amateur status through the summer and into the fall. He has a number of key amateur events still to play — including the Western Amateur next week and then the U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine next month. Strong finishes could potentially secure Warian a card on the DP World Tour next season through the Global Pathway.

“I’ve got to put the pedal to the metal,” Warian said.

Related Articles

3M Open: Illness forces Billy Horschel to withdraw prior to Round 1 tee time

3M Open: Stillwater’s Ben Warian dazzles en route to 69 in Round 1 of PGA Tour debut

3M Open: Gophers alum Erik van Rooyen wouldn’t miss out on trip back to Minnesota

For many players whose futures are in peril, 3M Open is another crack at cementing PGA Tour status

Stillwater native Ben Warian enters 3M Open week with many obligations, but one primary goal: Win