Minor League Ball Gameday, Oct 24: AFL Edition

Hello prospecteers and baseball junkies. I hope all is well wherever you are in the world. It was day baseball in the desert, with all three games being played at 3:35 PM EST. Glendale shut down Peoria, Surprise came back on Salt River and Mesa and Scottsdale took it to extras before Scottsdale won. Now on to the good stuff.

League Standings

TEAM	WIN	LOSS	TIE	GB
AFL EAST
Mesa Solar Sox	8	4	1	-
Scottsdale Scorpions	7	6		1.5
Salt River Rafters	4	9		4.5
AFL WEST
Surprise Saguaros	8	5		-
Glendale Desert Dogs	6	6	1	2.5
Peoria Javelinas	5	8		3

Game Recaps

Glendale 4 - Peoria 0

Glendale absolutely shut down the Peoria offense, only allowing three hits all game. Alex Meyer lead the way for the Desert Dogs, throwing 4.1 innings with all three hits allowed, one walk, three strike outs and a hit by pitch. He was followed by Jarrett Martin who walked two, struck out one and did not allow a hit or run in 1.2 innings of work, but he did balk once. Yimi Garcia threw yet another scoreless inning with a punch out, putting him at 4.2 innings of scoreless ball in the AFL. Colby Suggs struck out one in an inning and Nick Wittgren struck out two of three in the 9th. Wittgren has been a machine this fall, throwing 4.1 innings with just two hits allowed, no walks or runs and nine punch outs. At the plate second baseman Eddie Rosario and center fielder Jared Mitchell had two hits a piece, with Rosario scoring a run. Third baseman Colin Moran drove in two with a single in four trips to the plate. Brandon Jacobs had designated hitter duty and was 1-3 with a double, RBI and a run scored while short stop Marcus Semien was 1-4 with a double and a run scored. First baseman Travis Mattair went home with a golden sombrero though, racking up four strike outs in four at bats.

Peoria had Johnny Barbato on the hill to start and he got touched up for all four runs on six hits in 3.1 innings with two strike outs and a hit batsmen. He was followed by lefty Noel Arguelles who threw 1.2 innings of shut out baseball with one hit and two strike outs. Malcom Culver, Kyle Simon, and Andrew Robinson each threw a scoreless inning with Culver allowing a hit with a punch out and Robinson striking one out. Center fielder Delino DeShields accounted for two thirds the hits for the Javelinas, going 2-4 with a pair of singles, a throwing error and he was picked off by Meyer. Left fielder Cameron Perkins got the only other hit. Second baseman Cory Spangenberger went 0-3 with a strike out and he made a fielding error as well.

Scottsdale 2 - Mesa 1

Mesa and Scottsdale was a classic pitcher's duel, but with a "Johnny Everyman" twist. Seven pitchers combined for just one run and only one walk allowed on nine hits for the Scottsdale staff. Six pitchers threw for Mesa but the bullpen couldn't handle it. Scottsdale starter Hansel Robles went four shut out innings, allowing four hits and no walks or runs with one punch out. Matt Benedict came in for an inning and gave up a pair of hits but no runs or walks with a strike out. Juan Jaime allowed the only run and walk in the game, also giving up two hits and striking out one. After that Fred Lewis, Chasen Bradford, James Pazos, and John Cornely all threw shut out frames with Bradford throwing a wild pitch and allowing a hit. Cornely struck out one and got the win for his work in the 10th inning. A triple by second baseman Tommy La Stella in the 9th followed by a passed ball scored the first run for Scottsdale. In the bottom half of the 10th, a pair of walks sandwiched a single by Kyle Kubitza before short stop Alen Hanson delivered the game winning single to right. Jarrett Parker and Andrew Susac both had multi-hit games with Susac also drawing a walk in four trips to the plate. He was lifted for a pinch runner, Gift Ngoepe, in extras with Ngoepe scoring the game winning run. First baseman Angel Villalona also had a double and three strike outs in four at bats.

For Mesa, center fielder Steven Souza stole the show and three bases, going 3-4 with a run scored. He now has a league leading nine stolen bases. Addison Russell, Kris Bryant, and Zach Borenstein each had a double, with Borenstein also walking once in four trips, and Bryant striking out twice in five at bats. Matt Purke was tabbed with the start and he was sensational. In five shut out innings, he only allowed a single hit and one walk with three punch outs. RJ Alvarez and Mike Morin followed, each throwing a scoreless inning while striking out one and allowing one hit. Alvarez also walked a batter. Jeff Urlaub made his inning interesting, giving up three hits and no runs with two strike outs. Ryan Dull got the loss, throwing to four batters in the 10th inning without recording an out. He gave up two hits, walked one intentionally, one unintentionally, and gave up the winning run.

Surprise 8 - Salt River 6

Salt River was at one point in the game leading 6-0 before Surprise put up eight unanswered runs, including three in the 8th. The Saguaros got a rough start from Will Roberts who went four innings, allowing five runs on six hits with a walk, two strike outs and a home run allowed. Shawn Armstrong followed with an inning of work were he walked three and hit a batter, allowing a run to score with a strike out. Tyler Cravy, Kevin Shackelford and Noe Ramirez combined for four innings of scoreless relief with Cravy putting in two innings of work, allowing a hit and walk with three strike outs and no runs scored. Shackelford got the win with one strike out and two hits allowed, and Ramirez got the save with a strike out and one hit allowed in a scoreless 9th. The offense used nine walks and seven hits to come out on top. Catcher Michael Ohlman supplied the thump, hitting a three-run homer in the 5th, scoring twice with a walk and strike out. Second baseman Mookie Betts went 2-5 with a double, RBI, walk and stolen base. Tyler Naquin knocked in two and stole a bag with a walk and single in five trips to the plate. Designated hitted Jorge Alfaro stole a base as well, along with a walk, single, strike out and two runs scored.

The Rafters wasted a phenomenal start by Aaron Sanchez, as he went four innings only allowing one baserunner on a walk with four strike outs. The bullpen dropped the ball though, with Dean Kiekhefer only getting one out with two hits and three walks allowed and four runs (three earned) crossing the plate. Marcus Stroman didn't fare much better, walking three and giving up two hits and three runs with a strike out in 1.2 innings pitched, getting the loss. First baseman Kyle Parker keeps mashing, going 3-4 with a double, two runs scored, and two RBI. Right fielder Tim Wheeler went yard in the first frame, hitting a two-run homer, a single, walk and punch out with three RBI on the day. Short stop Nick Ahmed got a pair of hits as well but was picked off first base once. Second baseman Ryan Brett was 1-4 with two runs scored, a walk and his second stolen base of the fall.

Probable Starters

Scottsdale @ Mesa - 3:35 PM EST

Scottsdale - Phil Irwin (3 IP, 1 H, 0 R/ER, 0 BB, 3 K)
Mesa - Dallas Beeler (6 IP, 9 H, 4 R/ER, 3 BB, 3 K)

Glendale @ Peoria* - 3:35 PM EST

Glendale - Stephen McCray (6.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R/ER, 4 BB, 4 K)
Peoria - Brandon Maurer (5.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R/ER, 3 BB, 5 K)

*Peoria will be home team but will be playing at Surprise Stadium

Surprise @ Salt River - 3:35 PM EST

Surprise - Will Lamb (5.1 IP, 11 H, 10 R, 8 ER, 5 BB, 6 K)
Salt River - Sam Gaviglio (8 IP, 10 H, 4 R/ER, 1 BB, 7 K)

Stat Leaders

Hitters

Rank	Player	Team	Category
			AVG
1	Andrew Susac - C	SF/SCO	.435
			OBP
1	Tommy La Stella - 2B	ATL/SCO	.583
			SLG
1	Kris Bryant - 3B	CHC/MSS	.838
			OPS
1	Kris Bryant - 3B	CHC/MSS	1.290
			HITS
1	Tyler Naquin - OF	CLE/SUR	16
			RUNS
T-1	Jorge Alfaro - C	TEX/SUR	10
T-1	Kris Bryant - 3B	CHC/MSS	10
			2B
T-1	Albert Almora - OF	CHC/MSS	4
T-1	Jorge Bonifacio - OF	KC/PEJ	4
T-1	Kris Bryant - 3B	CHC/MSS	4
T-1	Tommy La Stella - 2B	ATL/SCO	4

Hitters

Rank	Player	Team	Category
			3B
T-1	Ryan Brett - 2B	TB/SRR	2
T-1	Stephen Piscotty - OF	STL/SRR	2
T-1	Cory Vaughn - OF	NYM/SCO	2
			HR
1	Kris Bryant - 3B	CHC/MSS	4
			RBI
1	Kris Bryant - 3B	CHC/MSS	13
			BB
1	Tommy La Stella - 2B	ATL/SCO	11
			K
T-1	Jake Lamb - 3B	AZ/SRR	15
T-1	Tim Wheeler - OF	COL/SRR	15
			wRC+
1	Michael Ohlman - C	BAL/SUR	262
			wOBA
1	Michael Ohlman - C	BAL/SUR	.605
			ISO
1	Kris Bryant - 3B	CHC/MSS	.469

Pitchers (min 7 IP)

Rank	Player	Team	Category
			IP
1	Bo Schultz	BOS/SRR	13.1
			K
1	Bo Schultz	BOS/SRR	15
			K/9
1	Aaron Northcraft	ATL/SCO	11.25
			BB
T-1	Tommy Collier	DET/MSS	1
T-1	Sam Gaviglio	STL/SRR	1
			BB/9
1	Tommy Collier	DET/MSS	1.0
			K/BB
1	Tommy Collier	DET/MSS	9.0
			H
T-1	Tyler Cravy	MIL/SRR	3
T-1	Matt Purke	WAS/MSS	3
T-1	Tyler Waldron	PIT/SCO	3
			H/9
1	Matt Purke	WAS/MSS	2.25
			WHIP
1	Matt Purke	WAS/MSS	0.50
			ERA
T-1	Tyler Cravy	MIL/SRR	0.00
T-1	Matt Purke	WAS/MSS	0.00

Linkage

****Stephen McCray of the Glendale Desert Dogs earned Pitcher of the Week honors.

****The AFL Developments series at Baseball America looked at Richie Shaffer and Kyle Parker, former Clemson teammates.

****Talking Chop looked at the Braves contingent out in Arizona.

****More AFL updates, this time from Bleed Cubbie Blue.