The Scottsdale Scorpions have played three games in the last two days, and one Pirates prospect has been leading them to a few victories. Sammy Siani created runs in all three games, capped off by his third homer of the AFL season on Wednesday.
Siani went 2-for-3 on Wednesday, knocking in two runs in a Scorpions win. His hitting started in the bottom of the first inning, when he singled to right field to put Scottsdale up 2-0. He later scored the fourth run of the inning.
In the fifth inning, Siani led off with the solo homer, locking in what would be the final 8-1 score. He’s no hitting .407/.478/.610 with three homers, three doubles, and three stolen bases in 67 plate appearances during his AFL season.
This has been a great offseason for Siani, who was drafted 37th overall in 2019 out of William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia. He started hitting at the end of the year with Altoona, and should start off at the Double-A level next year in his age 24 season.
ARIZONA FALL LEAGUE
SCOTTSDALE played a double-header against Glendale on Tuesday. They lost the first game 5-3.
- C Geovanny Planchart: 1-for-3, R
- RF-LF Sammy Siani: 1-for-3, RBI
- RHP Khristian Curtis: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
The first game was a completion of a suspended game from this past Sunday. On that day, Khristian Curtis struck out the side in the first inning, before the postponement. Siani also had a hit in this game, knocking in a run in the sixth inning with a line drive single. Geovanny Planchart moved to third on that play, after reaching with a single. He scored one batter later.
SCOTTSDALE won game two 6-0.
- SS Kervin Pichardo: 1-for-2, BB, RBI, SB
- RHP Valentin Linarez: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
- RHP Brandan Bidois: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
Valentin Linarez picked up the win in game two, after pitching two scoreless innings in the third and fourth. He walked one and allowed one hit. The hit was a single in his first inning of work, which came with two outs. The runner was erased stealing second in the next at-bat.
Linarez had some trouble in the third. The first runner reached on a missed catch error by the first baseman. Linarez got two pop outs, while the runner took second base. The control issues that have been a problem for Linarez emerged, as he hit a batter and walked the bases loaded with two outs. A strikeout looking ended the scoring thread, while the game was scoreless.
Kervin Pichardo hit an RBI single in the top of the fifth inning, putting Linarez in line for the win, and putting Scottsdale up 1-0. Pichardo is now hitting .293 with a .920 OPS.
Geovanny Planchart entered the game in the bottom of the seventh as a defensive substitution behind the plate. Siani entered as a pinch runner in the seventh, putting two Pirates on the bases after Pichardo previously walked. A wild pitch moved both runners to third, and a single scored both, putting Scottsdale up 3-0. Siani remained in the game in left field.
Brandan Bidois pitched a scoreless bottom of the seventh inning, allowing one walk and striking out one to close out the game. The walk was to the first batter, but Bidois got a strikeout and a double play to make easy work of the inning.
SCOTTSDALE won their game on Wednesday by a score of 8-1, thanks to the home run by Siani.
- LF Sammy Siani: 2-for-3, HR, BB, 2 RBI
- SS Kervin Pichardo: 0-for-3, BB, 2 R, SB
- RHP Derek Diamond: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
Pichardo didn’t record a hit, but did score two runs. He reached on a fielder’s choice and scored in the first inning. He walked, stole second, and scored the seventh run of the game in the third. The stolen base was his second of the season. The first one was in the second game on Tuesday.
Derek Diamond came on to pitch the seventh inning, throwing a scoreless frame with one strikeout. It included a two-out throwing error by Pichardo, which allowed the potential final out of the inning to reach second. The runner stole third base, which obviously wasn’t a huge threat in an 8-1 game. Diamond didn’t have an issue, getting a ground out to end the inning.
THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE
- AFL: Scottsdale vs Mesa (8:30 PM EST)
