Monday marked the start of the final two weeks of the Arizona Fall League season. Taylor Hearn was on the mound for the Glendale Desert Dogs, making his second start of the fall. Both Kevin Kramer and Logan Hill were in the lineup, as Glendale lost 4-3 to Peoria.
Hearn threw three shutout innings in his first start, but it was not an efficient outing. He walked three batters and had a high pitch count. This game ended up being quicker work, but not quite the results he saw last week. Hearn started the game with a fast first inning, picking up three outs on three fly balls.
The second inning started with a double from the lead-off hitter. That was followed by a wild pitch and an RBI single. With a little help from his fellow Pirates, he limited the damage. Hearn got a line out to Logan Hill in right field, then a 6-3 double play started by Kevin Kramer.
The third inning began with a ground out, then a walk. After giving up a single, Hearn got out of the inning on a strikeouts/batter interference on a stolen base attempt. That ended the day for Hearn with 37 pitches total, 23 going for strikes. He now has a 3.09 ERA in 11.2 innings this fall.
Kevin Kramer batted lead-off and lined out to first base in the first inning. After striking out swinging in the third, Kramer walked in the fifth. He would steal his first base of the fall, then score on a single. In the seventh, he lined out to second base. In the field, Kramer started one double play and had two assists. He’s now hitting .208 through 13 games and is in a 2-for-24 slump. On the bright side, two of his outs were hit well and he also hit the ball hard during his only at-bat in the Fall-Stars game on Saturday.
Logan Hill popped out to first base in the second inning, then grounded out to second base in the fourth. In the sixth, he grounded into an inning ending double play. Hill struck out swinging to end the ballgame. Each of the final six Glendale hitters struck out. Hill finished 0-for-4 and now has a .184 average through 14 games.
