Glendale played their fourth game of the Arizona Fall League season on Thursday afternoon. They came into the day with a 2-1 record, coming off of a win at home against Surprise with the help of Kevin Kramer, who reached base four times. The Desert Dogs faced Surprise again today with Mitchell Tolman and Logan Hill both getting their second starts. Two Pirates came out of the bullpen in the 7-6 Glendale victory.
Tolman was at third base in this game after playing second base in his first game. He was a Gold Glove third baseman in college, which is a prestigious award considering that they only give away one per position in all of college. Basically, you’re beating out an enormous group of players eligible at each position. Since signing, Tolman has played 52 games at third base, though only nine of those have come during the last two season. He started a string of games over at third base with Bradenton this season when Ke’Bryan Hayes was nursing a minor injury in early July. I mentioned in our AFL preview that Tolman could see time at third base to help his versatility.
At the plate, Tolman was coming off a debut that saw him draw three walks. Still looking for his first hit, he struck out in the first inning. Glendale scored four runs in the first, so Tolman batted again in the second inning and this time he flew out to left field. In the fifth, he doubled on a line drive to left field, which sent lead-off hitter Tito Polo to third base. Tolman scored on a single two batters later to make it a 6-1 game. He struck out in the seventh inning, then flew out to center field in the ninth, leaving him 1-for-5 on the day.
Logan Hill was batting third and playing right field, just like he did in his debut on Wednesday. He went 1-for-4 with a single during that game. Hill started his Thursday with a first inning strikeout, then struck out again in the third inning, seeing just three pitches each time. In the fifth inning after Tolman doubled, Hill drove in Tito Polo with a sacrifice fly that made it a 5-1 game. Hill struck out for a third time in the seventh inning, leaving him 0-for-3 with an RBI.
In the fourth inning, JT Brubaker made his AFL debut and put in two innings of work. He struck out the lead-off batter swinging, then got a swinging bunt right in front of the plate for the second out. Brubaker retired the side in order, getting a fly ball to left field for the final out of the fourth.
In the fifth inning, Brubaker walked the lead-off hitter. He then got a strikeout looking before giving up a single to put runners on the corners with one out. The next batter popped up in foul territory by first base, then Brubaker ended his day with his third strikeout. He threw 40 pitches total, with 23 going for strikes.
Brandon Waddell made his second AFL appearance in the seventh inning. He threw two innings on Tuesday, allowing one run. Waddell struck out the first batter he faced, then gave up a line drive single to center field. That was followed by his second strikeout, but he couldn’t get through the inning clean, allowing an RBI double to make it a 6-4 game. Waddell appeared to get out of the inning on a grounder to Tolman, but the first baseman dropped the catch and an unearned run scored. He got a ground out to end the inning and keep it a 6-5 game. Waddell threw 30 pitches in his only inning, 21 for strikes.
