Minor League Ball Gameday, November 9th

Hello everyone and welcome to the Minor League Ball gameday thread. Last night we saw a little bit of everything from monster offensive numbers to lock down pitching performances. Lets take a more thorough gander at the action.

League Standings

Game Recaps

Salt River 3 - Peoria 1

Yesterday was all Aaron Sanchez, as he just carved up the Peoria offense through five for the win. He did not allow a hit but did give up an unearned run, walk, and a hit batsmen as he struck out eight and committed two errors. Dean Kiekhefer, Tyler Matzek and Matt Stites finished off the job with Kiekhefer and Stites handling an inning a piece and Matzek taking care of two. Stites also got the save allowing a hit and striking one out. The offense jumped all over opposing starter Jason Adam, knocking him for three in the first inning, courtesy of a solo shot from James Ramsey and a two-run bomb from Kyle Parker. Ramsey's led off the game and he also walked and struck out in five plate appearances. Parker also added a strike out to his line. Jake Lamb, Cristhian Adames, and Derrick Chung were the only others to get a hit, each singling. Lamb also scored a run and struck out and Adames also walked.

Jason Adam turned in a decent enough start, just nowhere near enough compared to what Sanchez did. Adam went five innings, allowing three runs on four hits, two walks, two home runs and six punch outs with a hit batter. Their bullpen was fantastic though, only allowing one hit in four relief innings. Angel Baez, Malcom Culver, Ken Giles, and Dennis O'Grady each covered an inning, with Baez striking out two with a walk, Culver struck out one with a walk, Giles struck out two and O'Grady allowed the hit with a punch out and a wild pitch. The offense only mustered four hits the entire game, with Austin Hedges, Japhet Amador, Aaron Altherr, and Patrick Kivlehan getting the hits, all singles. Altherr reached twice, also getting hit by a pitch, with a strike out. Hedges also struck out, and Kivlehan had a strike out as well to go with a stolen base. Delino DeShields worked a walk and struck out twice in four plate appearances, also swiping his eighth bag of the fall. Short stop Chris Taylor made the only error, booting a grounder and going 0-3 with a strike out.

Mesa 6 - Surprise 1

Mesa did work to Surprise's Baltimore contingent, knocking 11 hits off the two Orioles pitchers that made an appearance. CJ Cron led the charge with a pair of doubles, two RBI, a walk and a run scored in his 4-4 day. Addison Russell and Brian Goodwin had three hits a piece at the top of the order. Russell tripled, scored three times and struck out once while Goodwin also had a triple, two RBI and a sac fly. Devon Travis knocked in a pair with two singles and a punch out in five trips. Kris Bryant didn't get a hit but did walk twice and struck out two times. Catcher Adrian Nieto went 1-5 with two strike outs, a passed ball, and he picked off a runner at first. Lefty Sammy Solis allowed a run on five hits and a walk covering 4.1 innings of work with five strike outs, earning his league leading fourth win of the fall. Kenny Faulk, Omar Duran, Corey Knebel, and Lendy Castillo worked scoreless relief totaling 4.2 innings. Faulk walked three in 1.2 innings, Duran allowed a hit in one inning, Knebel struck out one and walked one, and Castillo allowed just a hit in his frame.
Eduardo Rodriguez got beat around off the bat for Surprise. He allowed three runs on seven hits and a walk with four strike outs in just three innings, also getting tagged with the loss. Organization mate Branden Kline allowed a pair of runs on four hits in his one inning following Rodriguez. Keith Couch worked two innings, allowing a run on two hits and a walk with two strike outs. Matt West danced around a pair of hits and a walk with a punch out in his inning. Shawn Armstrong finished it up with a walk and two strike outs in the 9th. AFL hits leader Tyler Naquin added two more hits to his total, bringing it to 37, 12 more than teammate Mitch Haniger. Speaking of Haniger, he came up empty all four trips to the plate. Garin Cecchini knocked in the only run, walking twice with a strike out and was picked off. Jonathan Schoop and Brett Nicholas both were 1-4 with a strike out while Mookie Betts went 1-3 with a walk and a strike out. Tony Wolters threw on the tools of ignorance tonight going 1-4. Right fielder Dariel Alvarez went 1-3 with the only run scored.

Glendale 1 - Scottsdale 0

Starting pitching was on the menu for the network broadcast as both starters combined for 8.2 innings, 12 strike outs and just two hits. Desert Dogs starter Alex Meyer was fantastic, throwing the longest start of the fall at 5.2 innings. He allowed one hit (a double), walked one and struck out seven. AJ Achter came on after and threw 1.1 innings with a strike out and no baserunners, and also received the win.. Chris Bassitt and Nick Wittgren finished it off with scoreless inning each. Bassitt walked one and gave up a hit while Wittgren struck out two with a hit allowed, earning the save. Brent Keys was dropped to the nine hole and responded by knocking in the first run of the game with a single. Designated hitter Yorman Rodriguez went home with a golden sombrero, coming up empty each time up. Max Kepler knocked a pair of singles with a strike out and Corey Seager scored the first run, going 1-3 with a strike out.

The Scorpions only managed a single hit through seven innings, a double by short stop Addison Maruszak. Designated hitter Cam Maron and second baseman Tommy La Stella tacked on singles later on. Maron also struck out and La Stella worked a walk as well. Third baseman Kyle Kubitza worked a walk in three plate appearances with a fielding error. Kyle Crick dominated in his three inning start, striking out five with just a hit allowed. Brett Gerritse struck out two in two innings with one hit allowed. Scottsdale brought on Chasen Bradford for the 6th and he struck out two with a hit allowed. Jeurys Familia ended up allowing the fatal knock, giving up the only run on three hits in one inning of work. James Pazos and Derek Law topped it off with a pair of scoreless innings. Pazos struck out one and Law gave up a hit, walk, and struck one out.

Probable Starters

Mesa @ Surprise - 2:35 PM EST

Mesa - LHP Matt Purke (2-1, 19 IP, 15 H, 9 R, 8 ER, 7 BB, 14 K, 0 HR, 1.50 GO/FO)

Surprise - RHP Will Roberts (0-1, 20.1 IP, 25 H, 13 R, 12 ER, 6 BB, 11 K, 4 HR, 0.72 GO/FO)

Scottsdale @ Glendale - 2:35 PM EST

Scottsdale - LHP Adalberto Mejia (1-2, 13.1 IP, 14 H, 14 R/ER, 8 BB, 12 K, 3 HR, 0.86 GO/FO)

Glendale - LHP Andrew Heaney (1-0, 19.2 IP, 15 H, 5 R/ER, 6 BB, 17 K, 0 HR, 1.28 GO/FO)

Peoria @ Salt River - 8:10 PM EST on MLB Network

Peoria - RHP Matt Heidenreich (1-0, 13 IP, 6 H, 3 R/ER, 7 BB, 9 K, 1 HR, 1.08 GO/FO)

Salt River - LHP Grayson Garvin (2-2, 21.1 IP, 22 H, 12 R, 11 ER, 7 BB, 18 K, 1 HR, 0.96 GO/FO)

Links

****Ashely Marshall got some great quotes from people within the Philadelphia organization about Maikel Franco. Franco was the recipient of MiLB's Breakout Prospect MiLBY Award.

****The Organizational All Stars series keeps on chugging from MiLB.com as well. In the past week they've looked at the Rockies, Tigers, and Royals.