Minor League Ball Gameday, Nov 2: Arizona Fall League

Good afternoon all. It's a big day in the AFL with the Fall Stars Game being played at 8:10 pm at Surprise Stadium. Last night though, there was plenty of action to catch up on so lets do.

League Standings

Game Recaps

Peoria 5 - Mesa 4

Jason Adam just sucked the life out of the Mesa offense in his very impressive start. He went five scoreless with just two hits and two walks allowed with three punch outs for the win. The next two relievers weren't nearly as sharp, with Angel Baez allowing a run on a solo shot along with a walk and strike out in one innings. Andrew Robinson followed only getting two outs while allowing three unearned runs on three hits and a walk with a strike out. Malcom Culver had a 1.1 scoreless frames with one strike out and Dominic Leone saved it for the Javelinas striking out one with a hit allowed. Cameron Perkins had another solid game, going 3-4 falling only a home run short of the cycle, was hit by a pitch, drove in one and scored three of the five runs. Catcher Cameron Rupp was 2-4 with a walk, triple, two strike outs, a run scored and one RBI. Lead off man Chris Taylor swiped his fourth bag of the year, going 1-5 at the plate with a run scored and two strike outs. Right fielder Lane Adams has had a very rough fall, but showed signs of breaking out, notching a two hit game with a strike out and his first steal. Defensive replacement Jonathan Meyer was 1-4 with an RBI, two punch outs and an error filling in for Japhet Amador who was hitless in his only at bat.

The Bryant-less Solar Sox fell short again but not because of lack of production from Albert Almora and Devon Travis. Almora hit a double and triple with a walk and strike out in five plate appearances and Travis went deep and hit a double in five AB's with two RBI and one run scored. Short stop Dixon Machado knocked in a pair also, going 2-4 with a run scored and two strike outs, stealing a base and also making his third error on a bad throw. Starting pitcher Sammy Solis threw four innings, allowing a pair of unearned runs on three hits and a walk. He struck out four an hit one batter, taking the loss. Seth Frankoff came in after and allowed a run on two hits in an innings, recording all the outs via the K. Lendy Castillo popped off a perfect inning, not allowing a hit, walk or run. RJ Alvarez gave up two in his inning of work, allowing three hits with a strike out. Robert Benincasa and Mike Morin finished it off with scoreless frames each. Benincasa gave up a hit and a walk with a strike out and Morin struck out two in his inning.

Surprise 6 - Scottsdale 3

The Saguaros rode Tyler Naquin's hot bat and jumped to an early lead. The lead off man was 3-5 with a double, two RBI's, and three runs scored. He also struck out and stole his fourth bag of the fall. Right fielder Mitch Haniger went 2-4 with a double, two RBI and a stolen base. The ever versatile Tony Wolters played this one behind the plate, going 2-4 with a punch out and a run scored. Short stop Derrik Gibson finally got his first hit of the fall, knocking a single with a run scored and a sacrifice. Miguel Pena threw a solid five innings, only allowing a run on three hits with three walks. He struck out five, let loose a wild pitch and was credited with the win. Kevin Shackelford threw 1.2 innings afterward, allowing a run on three hits with two strikeouts, a wild pitch and he hit a batter. Jason Gurka also gave up a run, only throwing one inning, allowing two hits and two strike outs. Keone Kela got the save working 1.1 innings of shut out relief. He struck out one and allowed a single hit.

Scottsdale got another lackluster performance from their starter, Aaron Northcraft, as he allowed four runs in just two innings. He allowed six hits and two walks, also striking out two while getting hit with the loss. Matt Benedict and Zack Thornton picked up the slack, each throwing two scoreless innings. Benedict allowed just one hit with a strike out while Thornton went to town, striking out four of the six batters he faced, the other two being ground outs. Cody Satterwhite followed allowing two runs (one earned) on two hits with a strike out. Derek Law finished it for the Scorpions allowing a hit and walk with a strike out in his inning of work. Center fielder Mason Williams was 2-5 with a stolen base, RBI and a strike out. Second baseman Tommy La Stella did something that some thought was impossible; he struck out twice in one game. He also walked and went 0-4. Double play partner Elmer Reyes was also 0-4 with a walk but only on punch out and he made his third error. Third baseman Addison Maruszak had the only extra base knock with a double during his 1-4 performance, scoring once and striking out once. Jarrett Parker and Aderlin Rodriguez both recorded multi-hit games with Parker walking once with a run scored and Rodriguez striking out once with a run driven in.

Salt River 6 - Glendale 2

Salt River was led by a strong start from elder statesman Bo Schultz. He went five innings giving up two runs on five hits and three walks. He also struck out two and balked. The rest of the pen was absolutely dominant, striking out eight in the next four innings. Dan Houston followed Schultz with a walk and two strike outs in an inning of work. Merrill Kelly was next, allowing two hits with a strike out before it was Matt Ramsey's turn, striking out the side in order. Lee Stoppelman came on for the final frame, striking out two of three batters faced. Their offense was seeing the ball well too. They tallied 11 hits and seven walks against the Desert Dogs staff. Center fielder Kenny Wilson led the charge with a 3-5 game including a triple, strike out, a run scored and he was caught stealing. Mike Freeman and Stephen Piscotty had two hits a piece, with Freeman driving in three with a steal and Piscotty driving in one with a strike out, run scored and caught stealing. Third baseman Richie Shaffer had a perfect day at the plate, albeit a patient one as he worked three walks with a double and a stolen base. Left fielder Tim Wheeler was 1-3 with a walk, two runs scored, a double, and a stolen base. First baseman of the day Andy Burns went 1-2 with two walks, a run scored, and was picked off as well as getting caught stealing, erasing two of his three appearances on the bases. Catcher Dustin Garneau was 0-4 with a strike out and passed ball while short stop Nick Ahmed was 1-3 with a walk, strike out, RBI and an error.

Another start for Michael Lorenzen, another disastrous outing. This time he didn't allow a hit, but walked four in his inning of work, allowing one run. AJ Achter didn't fare much better; allowing four runs (three earned) on three hits and two walks with a strike out, only getting two outs in the process of getting tagged with the loss. Trevor May came in and threw 1.2 scoreless innings, only allowing two hits and striking out one. Charlie Leesman worked two innings, allowing a run on four hits and a walk. Colby Suggs and Drew Hayes finished the game with scoreless innings each. Suggs struck out two with one hit while Hayes struck out one with one hit as well. Short stop Danny Black was a force yesterday, driving in the only two runs of the game going 3-4 with a strike out. Brent Keys was 2-4 with a punch out, and Max Kepler and Travis Mattair were the only others to notch a hit. Kepler also struck out and made a fielding error at first while Mattair also struck out twice. Brandon Jacobs and Tucker Barnhart didn't get a hit but each scored once by getting on via walk. Jacobs had one walk with two strike outs and Barnhart had two walks with one punch out.

Probable Starters

AFL East vs AFL West @ Surprise Stadium - 8:10 PM EST, MLB Network

AFL East - RHP Aaron Sanchez, Salt River (0-1, 13.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R/ER, 8 BB, 10 K, 0 HR, 1.15 GO/FO)

AFL West - RHP Alex Meyer, Glendale (2-0, 17.1 IP, 16 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 5 BB, 18 K, 2 HR, 1.73 GO/FO)

Linkies

****Jonathan Mayo previewed the Fall Stars Game, with quotes from some of the premier talents.

****Ben Badler listed nine players to keep an eye on playing in the foreign Winter Leagues.

****Baseball America and Matt Eddy continued unveiling their Top 10 lists with the New York Mets up. As always, detailed scouting reports and a chat with Eddy are behind the pay wall.

****Jim Callis and Mayo each made their case for the best farm system in the lands in their Pipeline Perspectives series. Mayo leans towards the Pirates while Callis says its the Astros.

****Mr. Callis also opened up his inbox, answering questions about Byron Buxton, Oscar Taveras, Jon Singleton, Maikel Franco, and others.

****Bernie Pleskoff thinks that Reds outfielder Yorman Rodriguez has the potential to develop into a five-tool monster if he can smooth out some rough edges.