Arizona Fall League: Renato Nunez Crushes Three in Defeat
By Jason Burke
The Arizona Fall League has seen its share of home runs in the early going, but Renato Nunez of the Mesa Solar Sox blasted off three times on Monday afternoon, taking over the Fall League lead in homers. You may remember Nunez from his sterling performance in the Texas League playoffs after he hit .407 with two home runs and 12 driven in in the seven games it took for Midland to capture their second straight Texas League title.
On Monday, Nunez was the star for Mesa with his three long-balls and five RBI, but his Oakland minor league brethren second baseman Chad Pinder and center fielder Jaycob Brugman each went 2-for-4 with Pinder also walking once. The Oakland trio accounted for seven of Mesa’s ten hits.
Left fielder Mac Williamson and shortstop Christian Arroyo, prospects for Oakland’s cross-Bay rivals in San Francisco, combined to go 6-for-8 with a homer (Arroyo) and three RBI for Scottsdale. Twins outfield prospect Adam Walker launched his first homer of the Fall League in the 8th as part of a 2-for-5 day with two RBI of his own. Scottsdale continued to ride their big bats to victory over Mesa by the score of 10-6. Scottdale dropped their first game of the season last Tuesday, but the Scorpions have rattled off four in a row, outscoring their opponents 52-17 over those four games.
In the other afternoon game, Salt River defeated Surprise 2-1 with Mets first base prospect Dominic Smith boasting a 3-for-3 performance with an RBI and a walk. With the three hits, Smith is now batting .750 through three games (6-for-8). Chaz Hebert got the loss for Surprise after allowing an unearned run on a throwing error from the Brewers’ outfielder Brett Phillips. In his two innings of work, Hebert, a Yankee left-handed prospect, struck out four and walked two in his Fall League debut. Colorado’s Carlos Estevez recorded the save for Salt River and was on the same strikeout clip as Herbert, striking out two in one inning while allowing no hits and no walks.
In Monday’s nightcap, Glendale, arguably the most talented team in this year’s Arizona Fall League, secured another victory, 4-2 over Peoria. The main story in this game was that Glendale pitching held Peoria hitless through the first six innings. The first batter of the seventh, Nick Torres, singled to center to break up the no-hit bid. The Javelinas would score twice in the frame, but it wouldn’t be enough to take down the Desert Dogs, who scored three times in the third with Adam Engel (White Six), Derek Fisher (Astros) and Andrew Knapp (Phillies) each driving home a run. The Dodgers’ Kyle Farmer would bring home another run in the top of the 8th for Glendale’s fourth run.
Farmer is off to a hot start, batting .333 with six RBI and a homer. The two teams are set to square off again on Tuesday afternoon in Glendale.