2014 Minor League Ball AFL Gameday, October 17th

Welcome back to the Minor League Ball Gameday, Arizona Fall League Edition. Greg Bird went out and showed off his power stroke for the Scorpions while Steven Moya utilized his sneaky speed to steal a pair of bases in Glendale's loss. Salt River gained a game in the Eastern Division standings, moving to two games ahead of Scottsdale as Surprise got over the .500 mark to lead the Western Division by a game.

Check out all the stats from yesterday's action in the desert in the link below along with the Game Recaps, Velocity Reports, Performances of the Day, Probable Starters and Standings further down.

Game Recaps from Thursday, October 16th

Surprise 7 - Scottsdale 3

1B Greg Bird (SCO) homered twice in a losing effort for the Scorpions, Surprise took advantage of sloppy defense and 1B Patrick Kivlehan (SUR) sent a solo shot into the night and doubled. 2B Sean Coyle (SUR) had a multi-hit day, knocking his first double of the fall along with a single, a strike out and he came around to score once. CF Nick Williams (SUR) also tallied a pair of hits, singling twice with an RBI and strike out mixed in. LF Kyle Waldrop (SUR) drove in two with a single, stolen base, and a run scored to go with a punch out as well. SS Kelby Tomlinson (SCO) had a pretty eventful day, going 0-3 with a walk, a stolen base, strike out, was caught stealing, and made two errors.

RHP Nick Howard (SUR) was able to work around two hits and two walks to give up two runs, also uncorking two wild pitches while striking out one and allowing one of Bird's homers. He earned the win for his efforts and coaxed six ground outs to four fly outs while hitting as high as 96 mph on the gun with his fastball. A 76-81 mph curveball, 83-86 mph change up, and 81-84 mph slider were also mixed in throughout the game with the heater sitting 92-96. Opposing starter LHP Tom Harlan (SCO) made it through three innings with two unearned runs scoring, despite allowing no walks and just one hit. He also struck out one, threw a wild pitch and worked an 8:1 GO:FO ratio, not factoring into the decision. Harlan threw a five pitch mix, running his fastball in the 86-88 mph range with an 87 mph cutter and 84 mph splitter as well in that velocity range. A 73-77 mph slider and 76-84 mph change up round out his arsenal. RHP Paul Sewald (SCO) took the loss with an inning of relief work where he allowed a run on two hits with a strike out. He managed this with fastball-slider attack with the heater sitting 88-90 mph and the slide piece coming in at 76-80 mph.

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Salt River 5 - Glendale 1

An offensive explosion in the bottom half of the 8th inning from Salt River resulted in five runs crossing the plate to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 5-1 win. A trio of Rafters put together multi-hit games while DH Austin Nola (SRR) worked three walks and plated one. LF Andrew Aplin (SRR) had a clutch double and a single while also scoring once, driving in one, drawing a walk, striking out and also stealing a base and was caught stealing. 1B Ryan Casteel (SRR) singled twice, plated one and scored once with a punch out, and C Chad Wallach (SRR) drove in one with a pair of singles. Opposing backstop C Michael Ohlman (GDD) finally broke through by reaching base three times via a walk, double, and a single with a strike out and a passed ball. DH Corey Seager (GDD) roped double number four for the Fall, driving in one and striking out twice. RF Steven Moya (GDD) didn't get a base hit but wreaked havoc once reaching base on a walk, stealing second and third base on consecutive pitches.

LHP Robbie Ray (GDD) had the better outing of the two starters, lasting three innings with no runs allowed on two walks and a hit, striking out five. LHP Jayson Aquino (SRR) went three frames as well, allowing a run to score on four hits, two walks, a hit by pitch and three strike outs while also making a throwing error. RHP Jake Reed (SRR) keeps throwing up zero's, going two scoreless with a walk and two strike outs. RHP Enrique Burgos (SRR) earned the win with a scoreless 8th inning, working around a walk and striking out two. LHP Jefferson Olacio (GDD) took the loss by getting torched for five runs while only getting two batters out. He allowed four hits and a walk with both outs coming from the strike out.

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Mesa 6 - Peoria 2

Mesa tagged on four insurance runs in the 8th inning as Peoria's bats couldn't get on the same page in their 6-2 loss. The Solar Sox benefited from a solo shot by LF Jon Berti (MSS) and three-run bomb from C Spencer Kieboom (MSS) in the 8th inning. Berti also walked and struck out at the plate and also made a fielding error. Kieboom also walked and singled in addition to his blast. Meanwhile RF Edward Salcedo (PEJ) and 2B Jacob Wilson (PEJ) each picked up three hits including a double for the Javelinas with Wilson also stealing a bag. 2B Tony Renda (MSS) also knocked a double and made his third error in six games, a booted ground ball, 1B Dan Vogelbach (MSS) went 2-4 with a double, two runs scored, and one RBI while CF Dalton Pompey (MSS) swiped his fourth bag after reaching on a single and also gunned down a runner at second base. 3B Hunter Dozier (PEJ) picked up a double in five tries, falling a strike out short of a golden sombrero.

Despite striking out five in 4.1 innings, RHP Tyrell Jenkins (PEJ) allowed two unearned runs on four hits and a walk while also inducing six ground outs to one fly out and getting hit with the loss. RHP Ivan Pineyro (MSS) threw three scoreless frames in opposition to Jenkins, striking out three while allowing four hits and no walks. RHP Chris O'Grady (MSS) took home the win as he worked two nearly perfect frames, allowing a hit with no walks and no strike outs.

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Velocity Reports

Surprise Stadium, home of the Surprise Saguaros and the home field for the Peoria Javelinas this year, has pitchf/x installed so we can see velocity readings for each pitcher.

Scottsdale -

Player	FB	CB	SL	CH	CUT	SPLIT
Tom Harlan*	86-88	-	73-77	76-84	87	84
Paul Sewald	88-90	-	76-80	-	-	-
Dario Alvarez *	87-92	79-83	-	85-86	89-90	-
Julian Hilario	90-93	-	84-87	81-85	-	-

*denotes a left handed pitcher

Surprise -

Player	FB	CB	SL	CH
Nick Howard	92-96	76-81	81-84	83-86
Robby Scott*	85-88	72-75	-	80-82
Madison Younginer	88-92	-	-	78-84
Josh McElwee	88-90	81	80-81	-
Brandon Alger*	90-92	77	78-81	82

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Minor League Ball AFL Gameday

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Hitting Performance of the Day

Greg Bird (1B - Scottsdale) 2/4, 2 HR (3), 3 RBI (9), 2 R, K

Photo credit - Bryan Green

Pitching Performance of the Day

Nick Howard (RHP - Surprise) 4 IP, 2 H, 2 R/ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 6:4 GO:FO

Photo credit - Craig Wieczorkiewicz/The Midwest League Traveler

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Probable Starters

Surprise @ Mesa - 2:35 PM EST

Lisalverto Bonilla (RHP - SUR) vs Nate Smith (LHP - MSS)

@ Glendale Scottsdale - 9:35 PM EST

Wei-Chung Wang (LHP - GDD) vs Rob Whalen (RHP - SCO)

Peoria @ Salt River - 9:35 PM EST

Dylan Baker (RHP - PEJ) vs Anthony DeSclafani (RHP - SRR)

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Standings

East Division
Team	W	L	T	GB
Salt River	7	2	0	-
Scottsdale	5	4	0	2
Mesa	3	5	0	3.5

West Division
Team	W	L	T	GB
Surprise	5	4	0	-
Glendale	3	4	1	1
Peoria	2	6	1	2.5