The opener of the Arizona Fall League had two big stories for the Pittsburgh Pirates, one we have heard before and one is new. Tyler Glasnow got the start and had command issues, getting knocked out in the first inning due to his pitch count. On the other side of things, Josh Bell played his first real game at first base. He had played a little in the Fall Instructional League before leaving for the AFL, but this is the first game where the stats actually count. Scottsdale ended up winning the game 7-4, scoring three runs in the first and another three in the fifth.
Glasnow faced five batters before being removed and threw a total of 29 pitches, 14 went for strikes. He had a 3-0 lead to start the bottom of the first and immediately issued a lead-off walk to Byron Buxton. That was followed by a stolen base, then Buxton scored on a throwing error by Glasnow. After getting a strikeout looking, he walked the next batter, but got an out when Elias Diaz threw the lead runner out at third base. Glasnow then gave up his third walk before being pulled. He recorded two outs(one by Diaz), gave up one run and three walks, with one strikeout.
Eric Longenhagen from Fangraphs posted a video of a handful of pitches from Glasnow
Three Pirates were in the starting lineup on Tuesday night. Elias Diaz caught and batted third. Josh Bell manned first base and batted fifth, while Dan Gamache was at third base and he hit seventh in the order.
Starting at the top, Diaz reached on a throwing error in his first at-bat and ended up coming around to score. He flew out to right field next time up and walked in his third plate appearance, coming around to score his second run. Diaz struck out in the seventh inning, then lined a single into right field with two outs in the ninth. He finished 1-for-4 and allowed two stolen bases.
Josh Bell batted left/right/left/right in his four at-bats and struck out the first two times up, then grounded out to third base. In his fourth at-bat, he grounded out to second base. In the field, Bell handled all seven chances he had cleanly, including a line drive hit to him in the fourth inning.
Dan Gamache walked his first time up. He flew out to center field in the fourth inning, then grounded into a double play to end the fifth. In the eighth inning, he picked up the first hit by a Pirate, collecting a one-out double. He was 1-for-3 with a walk.
