In the Arizona Fall League on Wednesday afternoon, the Surprise Saguaros lost 5-2 to Peoria. Two Pirates were in the starting lineup and Tanner Anderson was on the mound making his seventh start. Eric Wood played left field and batted fourth, while Jin-De Jhang caught and batted sixth.
Wood lined out to shortstop to end the first inning, then walked with two outs in the third inning. He popped out to second base for the second out of the sixth inning. Wood took a called strike on a full count in the eighth, coming up empty in a big spot. Surprise trailed by one, with no outs and a man on first base. The runner was going on the play and it ended up as a double play. Wood switched to third base on defense in the eighth inning and had one play. He finished 0-for-3 with a walk at the plate.
After a solo homer made it 2-1 Peoria, Jhang grounded out to first base for the first out of the second inning. He lined out to left field on the first pitch of the fourth inning, then started the seventh inning with a fly out to left field. Jhang left for a pinch-hitter in the ninth, leaving him 0-for-3 on the day.
Anderson allowed a bunt base hit from the lead-off batter. A throwing error on a pick-off allowed the runner to get to second base. Anderson struck out the second batter on three pitches, getting him swinging on a changeup. One pitch later, Anderson allowed an infield single to put runners on the corners. That was followed by a force out at second base, which brought home the first run. The next pitch was lined into center field for a single. Anderson battled the next batter for eight pitches before allowing a single to bring home the second run and put runners on the corners.
During the next at-bat, Peoria tried a double steal and the runners was thrown out at home. It ended up being a 23-pitch inning for Anderson, with 16 going for strikes. He was mostly in the 89-92 MPH range with his fastball, topping out at 92.8 MPH, which ended up being his high for the day. He mixed in all four of his pitches, with most of the damage coming off the fastball.
In the second inning, Anderson got the first out by a swinging strikeout on a changeup, then quickly ended the inning with a fly ball out to Eric Wood in left field and a ground out to first base. He threw nine pitches total, with all of them being fastballs except the changeup for the strikeout.
In the third inning, Anderson picked up his third strikeout for the first out. This one was on a 3-2 count with a 91.9 MPH fastball. That was followed by a line drive single, then one pitch later another single put runners on first and second. Anderson recorded his fourth strikeout, this one in a ten-pitch at-bat, using the changeup again for a swinging strikeout. That was followed by a strikeout looking on a changeup to retire the side. This was a 24-pitch inning.
The first pitch of the fourth inning was a long fly ball to center field for a double. Two pitches later, Anderson got the first out on a grounder to shortstop. One pitch later, a grounder to second base resulted in the second out and the runner moving to third base. Anderson worked around that lead-off double by picking up his sixth strikeout, and the fifth one on a changeup.
It was an interesting game for Anderson, who gave up two runs on seven hits in four innings, which aren’t numbers you want to see. He had a 4:1 GO/AO ratio and no walks with six strikeouts, which are excellent numbers. He also worked out of multiple jams, so you have to take some good from the outing. He told Tim Williams he has been working on his changeup all year and continuing it during his AFL time.
Surprise has one more regular season game left, taking on Salt River at home tomorrow afternoon. It’s a must “not lose” game. The don’t need to win, but they do at least need a tie. Peoria is playing Glendale, the other two teams in the division, who can both pass Surprise with a win. So basically, that other game is irrelevant and Surprise needs to not lose on Thursday. A tie will still give them a division, regardless of the outcome of the other game.
To make it even more interesting, if Surprise lost and the other game ended in a tie, then Surprise would make the playoffs. Ties are somewhat common in the AFL, at least compared to the majors/minors. Teams have a set number of pitchers for each day, so games generally don’t go longer than 11 innings.
