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Peoria Javelinas 8, Mesa Solar Sox 7

With four more games to play, the Solar Sox are teetering on the edge of being eliminated from the Arizona Fall League playoffs. If they lose any one of their remaining games, they will not be able to catch up to the Scottsdale Scorpions.

Tonight, a 5-run 7th inning gave the Javelinas the win, and it happened with Aaron Pribanic on the mound. Pribanic relieved Jacob Diekman (Phillies) to begin the bottom of the 7th. The inning began with a single, then a pop out. A double scored one run, then a single and a fielding error by 2B Josh Harrison added a second run. The next three batters each brought in a run: an RBI double, a fielder's choice, and a throwing error by SS Andrew Romine (Angels). Pribanic walked another batter, and then was relieved by Steven Geltz (Angels), who ended the inning with a strikeout. The 5 runs gave the Javelinas an 8-6 lead, and the Solar Sox could not catch up.

Peoria was the first onto the scoreboard, with a run on a double and a single in the bottom of the 2nd, charged to Mesa starter Robert Carson (Mets). Chris Carpenter (Cubs) pitched the 4th inning, and he also allowed a run on a double and a single. Kyle Smit (Cubs) pitched a scoreless 5th, then Diekman gave up a run in the 6th on a triple and an RBI ground out.

The Solar Sox took the lead in the 3rd inning, when they scored 2 runs. Josh Harrison led off the frame with a walk, then stole second base. He moved to third on a ground out, and scored on a wild pitch. 3B Josh Vitters (Cubs) also walked and stole second base, and he scored on LF John Tolisano's (Blue Jays) single. Doubles were the hit of choice in the 4th inning. RF Andrew Lambo led off with a single, then doubles by C Kai Gronauer (Mets), Harrison, and Romine accounted for 3 runs. A walk and another RBI single by Tolisano gave the Solar Sox a 6-2 lead. Tolisano collected his third RBI single in the 8th inning, driving in Romine, who had doubled. Lambo, Gonauer, and Harrison all singled to load the bases in the 9th, but the threat ended with a grounder force out.  DH Jordy Mercer had one hit in his 5 plate appearances, a single in the 7th inning.  

The Solar Sox and the Arizona Fall League have Sunday off, as usual.  

Cheering for the Pirates' farmhands and friends in Saturday's winter league games...

VENEZUELAN LEAGUE

Cardenales de Lara  2,  Tigres de Aragua  1  --  Brian Bass suffered the loss for Los Tigres, though he did not pitch poorly.  Bass threw 7.2 innings and scattered 5 hits and 3 walks.  He gave up a run on a single and a double in the 3rd inning, and another on a hit batter and a double in the 6th.  A walk and a double play on a bouncer back to the mound started the 8th inning, then Bass was relieved.  Los Tigres scored their only run in the 5th inning.  A pair of singles and a walk loaded the bases for SS Ronny Cedeno, whose sacrifice fly plated the run.  Cedeno singled in the 1st inning.  LF Lastings Milledge singled in the 4th inning, but he was picked off.  DH Hector Gimenez doubled in the 8th, but was left on base.  CF Jorge Cortes was the only Tigres batter with 2 hits, both singles.  Romulo Sanchez pitched to two batters in the 6th for Lara -- he walked Milledge, then got a ground out.

Navegantes del Magallanes  6,  Leones del Caracas  3  --  Sean Gallagher earned his third win for Magallanes, going 5 innings in this start.  Gallagher faced only one batter over the minimum over the first three innings, allowing just a walk in the top of the 1st.  He allowed a lead-off homer to DH Jesus Guzman in the 4th, then a single and a double in that inning.  Guzman got to Gallagher again in the 5th, with a 2-run homer.  Jean Machi earned his 5th save of the season with a scoreless top of the 9th for Magallanes, allowing only a single to 

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DOMINICAN LEAGUE

Tigres del Licey  5,  Toros del Este  2  --  C Jason Jaramillo drove in one of Los Toros' runs with a sacrifice fly in the 2nd inning, but Los Toros would not score after that.  SS Pedro Ciriaco singled in the 9th innning, but was left on base.  Los Tigres scored one run in the 3rd, and tied the game with a solo homer in the 5th.  Licey took the lead in the 6th.  Pinch-hitter Jake Fox began the rally with a single, and he came in on an RBI single.   C Robinzon Diaz gave the team a pair of insurance runs with a 2-RBI single.  

Left over from late Friday night and early Saturday morning:

AUSTRALIAN LEAGUE

Adelaide Bite  13,  Melbourne Aces 2  (Game 1) --  The Bite continued chomping on the Aces in this 7-inning game.  LF Quincy Latimore got the scoring started for Adelaide in the bottom of the 1st with a 3-run homer that followed a pair of lead-off singles.  The Aces scored one run in the 2nd when two singles and two hit batters forced in a run.  A single, a stolen base, and two ground outs gave Melbourne another run in the 3rd, bringing the score to 3-2.  It was all Adelaide after that.  In the 4th, a single, a balk, and a hit batter put two runners on base, and RBI singles by 3B Stefan Welch and Latimore brought in 2 runs.  The Bite batted around in the 5th to plate 5 runs.  A throwing error, a walk, another balk, an RBI single and a 2 RBI double brought in 3 runs.  At that point, the Melbourne pitcher was ejected from the game.  Latimore reached on a throwing error, which added 2 more runs.  Another 2-RBI double and a sacrifice fly gave the Bite 3 runs in the 6th inning.

Bite   8,  Aces  3  (Game 2)  --  It didn't get any better for Melbourne in the night-cap, though they did post more hits (10).  Adelaide starter Dushan Ruzic scattered 5 hits over the first 6 innings, then gave up one run on a walk, a single, and a sacrifice fly in the 7th.  Two doubles and two singles gave the Aces their other 2 runs in the 8th.  The Bite bats were also quiet for the first three innings, then LF Quincy Latimore started pounding the ball again in the 4th.  His 2-run homer got things started, and the Bite added another run on a double and a single for a 3-0 lead.  Latimore's second homer of the game and third of the day opened the 6th inning.  Then he picked up his fourth RBI of the game in the bottom of the 7th inning.  A walk, a wild pitch, and two throwing errors gave Adelaide one run, then another walk and Latimore's RBI grounder plated the second run of the inning.  Three singles plus a wild pitch and a passed ball added 2 more runs to the Bite's total in the 8th inning, to give the Bite a 4-0 record in the new season. 

Quincy Latimore currently has a .429 average (third best in the league).  He leads the ABL with 3 homers, and teammate Ben Wigmore is next with 2.  Latimore and Wigmore also top the RBI list -- 8 for Latimore and 6 for Wigmore.  Guess who's on top of the SLG list?  Latimore with 1.071 and Wigmore with .933.  OPS?  1.601 for Latimore, 1.404 for Wigmore.  Yes, a very small sample, but we can enjoy it while it lasts.

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MEXICAN PACIFIC LEAGUE

Algondoneros de Guasave  16,  Venados de Mazatlan  1  --  It's the start of deer season in Indiana, and somehow that must have translated down to Mexico.  Guasave posted 21 hits, with each member of the starting line-up collecting at least one hit.  Yurendell de Caster contributed a 3-run homer in Guasave's 6-run 7th inning.  Los Venados scored only one run, which (briefly) tied the score in the 2nd inning.  Rogelios Noris came in as a defensive replacement later in the game, and he had a hit in his only plate appearance. 

Just a few Pirates' players and friends saw winter league action on Friday...

DOMINICAN LEAGUE

Gigantes del Cibao  9,  Toros del Este  4  --  This game was a little home run derby.  Los Toros scored their only runs in the top of the 3rd inning, on a pair of 2-run homers, each one following a double.  SS Pedro Ciriaco tripled in the 4th inning, but did not score.  Mike Dubee pitched the 7th inning for Los Gigantes, and he allowed Los Toros only a walk in the scoreless inning.  Los Gigantes scored one run on a solo homer in the 2nd, then had three solo homers in the bottom of the 3rd.  They also added a run in the 5th and 4 more in the 7th, but without needing the long ball. 

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VENEZUELAN LEAGUE

Navegantes del Magallanes  6,  Tiburones de La Guaira  3  --  Three runs in the top of the 10th broke a 3-3 tie and gave Magallanes the win.  LF Mike Ryan led off the inning with a single up the middle, and he was replaced by a pinch-runner.  Another single and a double drove in two runs, and the third single of the inning brought in the third run.  La Guaira could only manage one single in the bottom of the inning, and Los Navegantes had the win.  Los Navegantes scored their first 2 run in the 6th, when they loaded the bases on a single, a throwing error, and an intentional walk to Ryan.  A single and another error pushed 2 runs across the plate.  A triple and an RBI single gave them one more run in the 7th.  Argenis Diaz came in to pinch run for Los Magallanes in the bottom of the 9th, but did not score.  He remained in the game at shortstop, and struck out in his only plate appearance. 

Bravos de Margarita  3,  Caribes de Anzoategui  1  --  Justin Thomas pitched a hitless but wild 4.1 innings in his start for Los Bravos.  He struck out 4 batters, but walked 5 and was responsible for Los Caribes' only run.  After retiring the side in the top of the 1st, Thomas walked one in the 2nd, but erased him with a double play.  He walked 2 batters in the 3rd and left both on base.  One walk in the 4th, also left on base.  One more walk to lead off the 5th inning, then a fly out, and Thomas was relieved by Renee Cortez.  Cortez gave up another walk and two singles, allowing the runner Thomas had walked to score.  Los Bravos scored 2 runs in the 4th inning on two singles and a double, then added one more in the 7th, on a solo home run by C Henry Blanco. 

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Mesa Solar Sox  2,  Phoenix Desert Dogs  2  (TIE)

Runners left in scoring position was the name of today's game, which ended in a tie after 9 innings.  The Solar Sox did a little better than the Desert Dogs in leaving runners on base -- they collected 6 hits and 3 walks, and left 6 men on base.  Phoenix posted 9 hits and 2 walks, and they left 8 runners on. 

All the scoring happened in the 2nd inning.  The Solar Sox began the fun with a walk by SS Jordy Mercer.  1B Josh Satin (Mets) singled, putting runners on the corners.  C Tim Kennelly (Phillies) brought in Mercer with a sacrifice fly.  After 2B Josh Harrison was hit by a pitch, LF Ryan Flaherty (Cubs) slipped a grounder through the left side for an RBI single, scoring Satin.  Harrison tried to reach third base on the throw, but was tagged out. 

The Desert Dogs tied it up in the bottom of the inning.  Chris Kissock (Phillies) started for the Solar Sox.  He began the bottom of the 2nd by giving up three consecutive hits -- a pair of singles and a ground rule double, which plated one run.  A sacrifice fly brought in the second run to tie the score. 

And then... no more scoring.  The Solar Sox had only one batter reach base over the next six innings.  RF John Tolisano (Blue Jays) lined a single into right field in the 4th inning, then stole second base, but was out trying to steal third.  3B Brandon Wood (Angels) led off the top of the 9th with a single, then DH Tony Sanchez also singled and Tolisano reached with a walk, between a pair of strikeouts (Mercer and CF Kirk Nieuwenhuis).  But a grounder force out ended the inning, leaving 3 runners on base and 2 in scoring position.  Add to that one left on base in the 2nd, and 2 left on (one in scoring position) in the top of the 1st, and that's the Solar Sox' 6 left on.  The Sox were 1-for-4 with runners in scoring position.

Phoenix was more effective in putting runners on base, but not any better at getting them across the plate.  BJ Rosenberg (Phillies) worked around a single and a throwing error in the 3rd, and retired the side in order in the 4th.  Brian Leach pitched a scoreless 5th inning.  He gave up a single and walked a batter, but got out of the inning on a double play started by his Altoona teammates:  2B Harrison to SS Mercer to 1B Satin. 

Three more Solar Sox pitchers kept the Desert Dogs from scoring despite runners on base.  Ryan Brasier (Angels) gave up 2 singles in the 6th, and David Cales (Cubs) gave up a single and a walk in the 8th.  Justin De Fratus only had to work around one runner on base, when he gave up a double in the 9th.  That added up to 8 runners left on for Phoenix, and hitting 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position. 

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Next week will be the final week of Arizona Fall League play.  The last scheduled game will be on Thursday Nov 18th, and the championship game will be played on Saturday Nov 20th.  The Solar Sox have a 13-13 record and are 4 games behind the first place Scottsdale Scorpion in the Eastern division of the AFL.  With 5 games left to play, and assuming no more games ending in a tie, the Solar Sox are not out of it yet, but they'd better get going if they are to make the playoffs.