On Tuesday afternoon in the Arizona Fall League, Josh Bell was the only Pirates player in the starting lineup for Scottsdale. On the road against Glendale, the Scorpions were getting no-hit through six innings, but ended up winning 7-6, with Adrian Sampson getting the save.
Bell was in the designated hitter spot and walked on four pitches in his first plate appearance. The walk was his second of the season. In the fourth inning, he grounded out to second base to end the inning. Bell led off the seventh inning with a groundout to shortstop.
In the eighth inning, Bell came up in a big spot. With Scottsdale down 6-3, he batted with two men on and no outs. Bell singled on a line drive to left field, bringing home one run. Three batters later, he scored the tying run. In the ninth inning, he drew his second walk of the game. He finished 1-for-3 with two walks and a run scored.
Through ten games, Bell has a .741 OPS in 40 at-bats.
Adrian Sampson came out to pitch the ninth inning, trying to hold a 7-6 lead. On his second pitch, he got a fly ball to center field for the first out. Sampson walked the second batter on five pitches. He got a grounder to second base, getting a force out at second, but Scottsdale couldn’t turn the double play. Sampson struck out the next batter to finish the game and pick up the save. He threw 14 pitches, seven for strikes.
