The Peoria Javelinas returned to action on Monday, playing on the road in Mesa. Peoria wrapped up the first half of the Arizona Fall League season on Saturday with a 7-8 record. On Monday, they had two Pittsburgh Pirates at the top of their lineup, with Ji-hwan Bae batting lead-off at second base, and Nick Gonzales batting second as the DH. Two Pirates pitchers came into the game in relief. Here’s a recap of their day.
Bae reached on catcher’s interference to start the game, and he scored a run. He struck out in the second inning. Bae walked in the fourth and scored his second run. He flew out to left field to end the fifth. Bae walked in the seventh, then stole second and third base, before scoring his third run. He walked in the eighth and stole his third base. He struck out in the tenth inning. He finished 0-for-3 with three walks, three runs scored and three stolen bases.
Gonzales walked and scored a run in the first. He grounded out to shortstop in the second inning. Gonzales walked in the fourth and scored. He then struck out in the fifth, seventh and eighth innings. In the tenth, he gave Peoria a short-lived lead with an RBI single. He went 1-for-5 with two walks, an RBI and two runs scored.
Carmen Mlodzinski came on in the fourth inning and gave up a lead-off single on his second pitch. He got the first out on a fly ball to center field. The next batter hit a two-run homer. Mlodzinski walked the next guy on six pitches, then got an inning-ending double play. He threw 17 pitches, eight for strikes. In the fifth inning, he got a ground out to shortstop to start the inning, then two pitches later, he got another grounder back to the mound. Six pitches later, he got a line drive to left field for a 1-2-3 inning. He threw 13 pitches, eight for strikes.
In the sixth inning. Mlodzinski walked the lead-off batter, the got a strikeout, pop out and fly out to get out of the inning on 21 pitches, with eight going for strikes. He went to three ball counts on all three of the outs. In three innings, he allowed two runs on two hits and two walks, with one strikeout. He threw 24 of 51 pitches for strikes.
Bear Bellomy (pictured) came on in the bottom of the ninth with a two-run lead and walked the lead-off batter. He got a fly out for the first out, but the next batter hit a two-run homer to tie it. He then retired the next two batters. He stayed on for the tenth and gave up a lead-off single, which led to the courtesy runner on second base to round third, but go back when the throw came home. However, the batter tried to go to second on the throw and got thrown out. After a strikeout, Bellomy botched a ball back to the mound, which would have ended the game, but it led to a run instead. He struck out the next batter to end the game with a 15-15 tie. He threw 24 of 35 pitches for strikes.
Peoria will be at home against Surprise tomorrow at 3:35 PM EDT. Roansy Contreras is the listed starter.
