The Arizona Fall League began the last week of action on Monday afternoon. Thomas Harlan was on the mound for Scottsdale, while Josh Bell and Dan Gamache were both in the starting lineup. Adrian Sampson came in to pitch in relief. There was no AFL recap on Saturday because no Pirates players saw action. Scottsdale lost that game 5-1 and lost again on Monday to Salt River by an 8-4 score, dropping them to 11-18 on the season. There are three games left. Tyler Glasnow will pitch Wednesday afternoon and Joely Rodriguez will start the season finale on Thursday.
Thomas Harlan gave up a single and a walk to the first two batters in the first inning, but no damage was done. He got a double play and a two-out grounder to third base to retire the side. Harlan threw 16 pitches in the frame, eight went for strikes.
In the second inning, he retired the first two batters, before giving up a double. Harlan gave up a single that brought home the first run of the game. The runner moved to second on the throw, then scored on a single from the next batter to make it 2-0 Salt River. Harlan got a ground out to end the inning. He needed 22 pitches in the inning, 13 went for strikes. The last two outs in the second inning were both ground balls that Josh Bell took unassisted.
Harlan gave up some hard hit balls in the third, allowing a run on two hits. There were also two line drives hit right at fielders. He picked up his first and only strikeout on the day. His command was better in the third, throwing 12 of 17 pitches for strikes. That ended his day with three runs allowed on six hits and a walk. Harlan finished his season with a 9.64 ERA in six starts. In 14 innings, he gave up 21 hits, eight walks and picked up 11 strikeouts.
Adrian Sampson followed Harlan and battled the first hitter, retiring him on a pop up to second base that took seven pitches. He got the next batter to strikeout swinging, then got a ground out to shortstop to end the inning. He set down the side in order, but still needed 17 pitches and just nine went for strikes. That was the end of his outing. Sampson has a 2.45 ERA in 11 innings.
Bell was batting fifth and playing first base on Monday. He grounded out to second base in the second inning. In the fifth inning, Bell led off with a fly out to center field. He had a chance to get a big hit in the seventh with his team down 4-1 and a runner at second. Bell hit the ball well, but it was a line drive caught in center field. In the ninth inning, he lined out to center again, giving him an 0-for-4 on the day. He is hitting .205 through 20 games, with no homers and a .611 OPS. He made an error on a catch in the third inning, though it didn’t end up hurting the team. Bell handled nine other chances in the field cleanly, three of them unassisted.
Gamache played third base and batted sixth. He came into the game with a .170 average. In the second inning, he singled on a line drive to left field. In the fifth, Gamache doubled, then came around to score Scottsdale’s first run. He came up after Bell in the seventh with a chance to drive in the Scorpions’ second run, but all he could do is move the runner from second up 90 feet with a ground out to second base. In the ninth, he drew a walk, leaving him 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored. On defense, Gamache made an error in the eighth that allowed one run to score.
