On Wednesday afternoon in the Arizona Fall League, Tyler Glasnow made his seventh start of the season and it didn’t go well. Ever since he put together three straight shutout performances, Glasnow has had issues with control and high pitch counts. All three Pittsburgh Pirates hitters were in the lineup on Wednesday. Scottsdale lost a one-sided game to Surprise, dropping them to 11-20 on the season. The Scorpions have just one game left, as their season wraps up tomorrow afternoon with Joely Rodriguez on the mound.
In the first inning, Glasnow needed eight pitches to retire the lead-off batter on a fly ball to right field. The next batter was first round pick Trea Turner, a former draft pick of the Pirates that didn’t sign in 2011. Turner lined a single into right field. Glasnow then walked the next batter to put two men on with one out. Two pitches later, both runners moved up on a double steal. They both came home two pitches later on a single. Glasnow got the second and third outs on swinging strikeouts. He needed 29 pitches in the inning, 16 went for strikes.
Facing the bottom of the order in the second inning, Glasnow started the inning just like the first, recording a fly out to right field. The next batter doubled on a line drive into center field on the first pitch he saw. Glasnow walked the next batter, so the second inning looked a lot like the first up to this point. He had an eight pitch battle with the next hitter, which ended in a ground ball and an out at second base. Glasnow kept Surprise off the board, getting Trea Turner to line out to second base for the final out. He needed 20 pitches in the inning, 13 went for strikes.
That was in for Glasnow, who threw too many pitches in the first two innings to continue. He finished his AFL season with 19.1 innings in seven starts, striking out 20 batters, while posting a 3.72 ERA.
Angel Sanchez followed Glasnow and got a fly ball to left field for the first out, then got the next batter to strikeout swinging. He gave up a two-out single, which was followed by another single that put runners on the corners. Sanchez allowed another single, bringing home the first earned run he allowed in the AFL. The three singles came on three consecutive pitches. He got another strikeout to end the inning and limit the damage to one run. Sanchez threw 17 pitches, 11 for strikes.
In the fourth inning, Sanchez started off by picking up his third strikeout. He walked the next batter, then got a force out at second for the second out. That was followed by a single and then a triple that scored two runs. He got the third out on a grounder to second base, but Sanchez ended his day with three runs allowed after coming into the game with an 0.00 ERA.
Adrian Sampson continued the line of Pirates pitchers, coming out for the fifth inning. He got two quick outs on a ground out to third base, then a fly ball to right field. He retired the side in order, getting the third hitter to ground out back to the mound on the eighth pitch he saw. That was the only inning of work for Sampson, who along with Sanchez, should be done for the season. Relievers rarely, if ever, work back-to-back days in the AFL.
Josh Bell started at first base and batted in the clean-up spot. He led off the second with a seven pitch at-bat that ended with a ground out to first base. He grounded out to first base again in the fourth, this time seeing only two pitches. In the sixth inning, Bell drew a walk to put runners on the corners with one out and Scottsdale trailing 8-0. He flew out to center field in the eighth, ending his day 0-for-3, with a walk. Bell is hitting .213 in 80 at-bats. On defense, he handled six chances(all putouts) cleanly.
Elias Diaz was batting sixth in the order, one place ahead of Dan Gamache. Diaz grounded out to third base during his first trip to the plate, then did the same for the final out in the fourth inning. Leading off the seventh, Diaz flew out to left field. In the ninth, he lined out to right field, leaving him 0-for-4 on the day. On defense, he allowed three stolen bases, though two came on a double steal.
Gamache drew a walk with two outs and a man on second in the second inning. Leading off the fifth inning, he lined out to third base. Two innings later, Gamache struck out swinging. In the ninth inning, he went down swinging again, leaving him 0-for-4.
