November 8 Arizona Fall League Report

Nov 2, 2013; Surprise, AZ, USA; Toronto Blue Jays pitcher

against the West during the Fall Stars Game at Surprise Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Once again, I’m just going to give you the highlights from Friday’s Arizona Fall League action.

Game 1

The Salt River Rafters shut down the Peoria Javelinas in a 3-1 victory thanks to one of the most dominant pitching performances we’ve seen yet in the AFL. Toronto’s top prospect, Aaron Sanchez, went out and just blew the Javelinas away with his 95+ mph fastball and two outstanding off-speed pitches. Sanchez went five innings and did not allow a hit, only giving up one unearned run after hitting a batter and making two errors. Oh, and he struck out eight batters. James Ramsey and Kyle Parker hit home runs for the Rafters to account for all three runs.

Jason Adam had a solid start for Peoria giving up three runs in five innings. He gave up both home runs but also struck out six. The batters only managed four hits against the tough Salt River pitching.

Game 2

The Mesa Solar Sox jumped out to a three-run lead in the first and never looked back, beating the Surprise Saguaros 6-1. They probably left some offense on the table, combining for 15 hits, led by Angels’ C.J. Cron who went four for five with two doubles and two RBI. Brian Goodwin and Addison Russell each had three hits including a triple and Goodwin contributed two RBI while Russell scored three times out of the leadoff spot. The Tigers’ Devon Travis drove in a pair with two singles. Washington’s Sammy Solis rebounded into the good form he had shown early in the AFL with one run allowed in four and a third innings with five strikeouts.

Surprise starter Eduardo Rodriguez allowed three runs on seven hits with four strikeouts in just three innings while the next two pitchers, Branden Kline and Keith Couch, allowed runs to the Solar Sox. Surprise batters had just seven hits including two from Cleveland’s Tyler Naquin who brought his batting average up to .357 for the fall league.

Game 3

In another low-scoring game, the Glendale Desert Dogs beat the Scottsdale Scorpions 1-0 in a great desert pitching duel. Minnesota’s Alex Meyer nearly matched Salt River’s Sanchez by throwing five and two-thirds shutout innings, giving up just one hit and one walk and striking out seven. Nick Wittgren had an excellent inning, to close out the game, giving up one hit but striking out two. Glendale got their run on an RBI single by Brent Keys with two outs in the seventh inning. Max Kepler was the only player with two hits and he added the team’s only walk to get on base three times.

Scottsdale only managed to get three hits off Glendale pitching, the highlight being a double by Yankees prospect Addison Maruszak. Starter Kyle Crick went three scoreless innings, giving up just one hit and striking out five while Brett Gerritse followed with two shutout innings of his only. Only the Mets’ Jeurys Familia gave up a run.