The Scottsdale Scorpions took on Peoria in an afternoon game on Tuesday, with Thomas Harlan starting and Josh Bell and Elias Diaz in the lineup. Harlan didn’t last long, giving up three first inning runs, as Scottsdale lost 5-2 to drop them to a 10-14 record. There are eight games left in the Arizona Fall League season and Scottsdale trails first place Salt River by seven games.
Harlan struck out seven batters in his last outing, but he faced just eight batters on Tuesday before leaving the game. He allowed three runs on three hits and two walks, with one strikeout. Harlan needed 38 pitches to get through the inning, throwing exactly half of them for strikes. It’s one of the higher single-inning pitch totals you will see from a Pirates minor league pitcher, as they usually don’t go more than 30 in an inning, except to finish off an at-bat in progress. Harlan now has a 9.82 ERA in five starts.
Angel Sanchez followed Harlan and had a much easier day. In his first inning of work, he retired the first two batters on grounders, before issuing a walk. That runner was quickly erased by Elias Diaz on an attempted stolen base. In the third inning, Sanchez retired the side in order by getting three fly balls, one to each outfielder. He threw a total of 28 pitches, 18 for strikes. Sanchez has thrown 8.2 innings in the AFL without allowing an earned run and he is holding batters to a .129 average.
After being a late scratch on Monday, Josh Bell was back in the lineup at first base on Tuesday. He had a six-pitch at-bat in the first inning that ended with a ground out to first base. In the third, Bell walked on four pitches. In the fifth inning, he drew his second straight walk. Bell made it 3-for-3 in the seventh inning, drawing his third base on balls. Between the three plate appearances, he saw 14 total pitches. In the bottom of the ninth, he grounded out to third base, finishing his day 0-for-2 with three walks. Bell had his best day on defense, handling all four grounders hit his way. He also had five other chances without an error.
Elias Diaz singled to right field to begin the second inning. He came up in the third with the bases loaded, two outs and his team down 3-0. He drew a walk to score Scottsdale’s first run. Diaz saw six pitches in each of his first two plate appearances. In the fifth inning, Diaz struck out swinging. In the seventh, he lined out to center field to end the inning. In the ninth, he drew a four-pitch walk, ending his day by going 1-for-3 with two walks. On defense, Diaz was 2-for-3 in throwing out runners attempting to steal.
