On Thursday afternoon in the Arizona Fall League, Steven Brault made his third start for Glendale. The stats from his first start ended up getting wiped out when the game was called in the fourth inning due to a dust storm. In his second start, he allowed three earned runs over two innings. Adam Frazier was the only Pirate in the starting lineup. He batted lead-off and played shortstop. Glendale lost 4-2 to Scottsdale in seven innings, with the game getting called early due to rain.
In the first inning, Brault allowed a lead-off single, then got a ground out to second base, which resulted in the lead runner being retired. The next batter up was JaCoby Jones, and he lined the first pitch he saw into right field for a single. Two pitches later, Brault got out of the inning with a double play that was started by Adam Frazier. He threw just nine pitches in the inning, six for strikes.
In the second inning, Brault got into trouble early. He allowed a double and a single, putting runners on the corners with no outs. He struck out the next batter, then a fly ball to right field that dropped in, turned into a force out at second base. Brault recorded an out on the play, but the tying run crossed the plate. That play was followed by a single, then he got out of the inning with a grounder to third base for the final out. He needed 23 pitches in the inning and through two frames, he allowed five hits.
In the third inning, Brault started off with a fly ball to left field for the first out. He then retired JaCoby Jones on another fly out to left field. He couldn’t get through the inning clean though, giving up a two-out single. That runner moved to second on a passed ball before Brault issued his first walk. He worked hard in this inning, finally ending it with a strikeout. That would end his day, and despite allowing just one run over three innings, he put seven runners on base and needed 58 pitches to get through his abbreviated outing.
The starting pitcher for Scottsdale was Austin Kubitza, who was a seventh round pick of the Pirates in 2010 out of high school. He decided to go to Rice and was drafted three years later by the Tigers in the fourth round. Kubitza faced Altoona six times this year and Adam Frazier did well against him, posting an .855 OPS, while scoring five times and driving in five runs. Leading off the game, Frazier singled to right field on a 2-2 pitch. Two batters later, he scored the first run of the game. In the second inning, he grounded out to shortstop for the final out of the inning.
In the fifth inning, Frazier led off with a line out to center field. In the seventh inning, he struck out swinging, which was immediately followed by a rain delay and eventually the game being called. Frazier is batting .321 through 28 at-bats, with a .965 OPS.
