Arizona Fall League daily report
Published on November 14, 2008 under Arizona Fall League (AzFL) News Release
Player of the Day
Phoenix Desert Dogs 2B Chris Nelson (COL) went 4-for- 5 with 2 home runs, 4 runs scored, 1 stolen base, and 5 RBI (double from the cycle). Nelson is hitting .352 with 25 hits, 6 home runs, and 15 RBI. He was a first-round selection (ninth overall) by the Colorado Rockies in the June 2004 draft.
Yesterday's Highlights
Phoenix Desert Dogs 15, Scottsdale Scorpions 6 ─ WP: Ambriz (ARI) (1-1, 2.51), LP: Large (BOS) (0-1, 4.50)
Down by three runs in the sixth inning, the Desert Dogs collected 12 runs in the final three innings for the victory ... Phoenix 2B Chris Nelson (COL) smacked two home runs and was a double short of the cycle while driving in five RBI ... Desert Dogs 1B Josh Donaldson (OAK) added his fourth home run of the season along with 3 runs, 3 hits, and 2 RBI ... Scorpions RF Drew Sutton (HOU) hit a solo home run in the fifth inning ... Scottsdale SS Kevin Frandsen (SF) collected three RBI.
Mesa Solar Sox 8, Surprise Rafters 2 - WP: Estrada (CHC) (4-0, 3.33), LP: Orenduff (LAD) (2-3, 5.63)
Scott Cousins (FLA) went 2-for-3 with 1 home run, 2 runs scored, 2 RBI and 2 walks ... Jeremy Slayden (PHI) went 2-for-5 with a triple and a run scored ... Casper Wells (DET) went 1-for-5 with two RBI and his sixth home run in five games ... Mesa pitching held the Rafters to four hits ... Rafters pitching struck out 11, including five from starter Justin Orenduff (LAD).
Peoria Javelinas 9, Peoria Saguaros 6 - WP: Wlodarczyk (TB) (2-2, 5.68), LP: Burke (SD) (1-1, 2.19), S: Aguilar (MIL) (2)
Greg Halman (SEA) went 2-for-4 with a stolen base and two runs scored ... Lorenzo Cain (MIL) hit a solo home run off Lucas Harrell (CWS) in the second inning ... Gordon Beckham (CWS) went 2-for-5 with a home run off Pedro Viola (CIN) in the fourth inning ... Tyler Greene (STL) went 1-for-3 with a home run and two runs scored.
Around the Arizona Fall League
2008 AFL Tidbits
- The Fall League will honor Chicago Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee with a distinguished alumni award prior to Saturday night's 7:05 PM Desert Dogs ─ Solar Sox game at Mesa's Hohokam Park.
- Jimmy Rollins, shortstop for the 2008 World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies, was inducted into the Arizona Fall League Hall of Fame on November 5. Cleveland Indians manager Eric Wedge was inducted on October 17.
- The AFL held its second annual Pat Tillman Foundation Benefit Night at Scottsdale Stadium on Friday, October 31. The event raised $15,000 for the foundation.
- Former major league umpire Rich Garcia recieved the 2008 Arizona Fall League Roland Hemond Award prior to the Rising Stars Game on October 24.
Player/Pitcher of the Week
Player Pitcher
Week One Saguaros ─ IF Shawn Bowman (NYM) Javelinas ─ RHP Phil Hughes (NYY)
Week Two Scorpions ─ IF Drew Sutton (HOU) Solar Sox ─ RHP Tommy Hanson (ATL)
Week Three Solar Sox ─ C Tyler Flowers (ATL) Saguaros ─ LHP Jason Vargas (NYM)
Week Four Solar Sox ─ IF Logan Morrison (FLA) Desert Dogs ─ RHP Jeff Manship (MIN) Desert Dogs ─ OF Eric Young, Jr. (COL)
Week Five Scorpions ─ OF Chris Pettit (LAA) Desert Dogs ─ RHP Brooks Brown (ARI) American Division
Mesa Solar Sox (21-11) ─ Casper Wells (DET) homered five times in four consecutive games (11/10-13) ... 11/12: Tyler Flowers (ATL) hit three home runs with seven RBI ... Casey Fien (DET) and Tim Wood (FLA) have not yielded a walk ... 11/13: Darwin Barney (CHC) has an 11- game home on-base streak ... 11/6: Tommy Hanson (ATL) strikes out game-high 11 batters ... leads league in strikeouts (39) ... Hanson has surrendered 2 runs, 9 hits and 5 walks in 23.2 innings ... Logan Morrison (FLA) leads the league in batting average (.448), RBI (28), and currently has a 16-game hitting streak ... also leads team in hits (39) ... 11/1: Team-high five home runs by Flowers (3) and Wells (2) ... Cousins and Morrison both went 5-for-5 during week three ... Flowers hit four home runs in week three ... 11 players have at least 10 hits in road games: Quintin Berry (PHI), Cousins, Donald, Flowers, Morrison, Will Rhymes (DET), Jeremy Slayden (PHI), Nate Spears (CHC), Wells, and Matt Young (ATL) ... John Raynor (FLA) and Morrison hit for the cycle (week one and week four, respectively).
Peoria Saguaros (21-11) ─ Due to yesterday's trade between the Yankees and White Sox, RHP Jeff Marquez (CWS) moves from the Javelinas to the Saguaros pitching staff (11/14) ... 15 Saguaros have hit home runs, led by Cole Armstrong (CWS) with six ... Kyle Blanks (SD) leads the team in walks (20) and has 19-game on-base streak ... 11/6-7: Saguaros scored in nine consecutive innings ... 11/7: Saguaros pitching does not yield a walk ... 11/6: Scored team-high in runs (20), hits (T/17), and RBI (18) ... 11/6: Gordon Beckham (CWS) went 5-for-5 and tied for AFL season-high seven RBI while accounting for 12 runs ... 11/4: Game-high seven doubles by Shane Robinson (STL) (3), Bill Rhinehart (WAS) (2), Tyler Greene (STL), and Daniel Murphy (NYM) ... Mike Baxter (SD) went 5-for-5 and Jordan Danks (CWS) went 4-for-4 during week four ... 10/29: Team-high five home runs by Steven Hill (STL), Baxter, Armstrong, Danks, and Blanks ... Saguaros have 168 hits on the road ... Saguaros have at least one two-out RBI in every game except three (10/18, 11/5, 11/11) ... Beckham leads team with five-hit game and four players have four-hit games ─ Murphy, Armstrong, Sean Kazmar (SD) and Danks ... Bobby Parnell (NYM) has not allowed a run or walk at home, striking out seven in 5.0 innings.
Scottsdale Scorpions (12-18) ─ Chris Pettit (LAA) boasts longest current consecutive on-base streak (20) and leads league in hits (44) and doubles (12) ... Scorpions lead the league with 16 triples ... 11/10: Kevin Pucetas (SF) the AFL's first four-game winner ... Pettit and Drew Sutton (HOU) have active 14-game road on-base streaks ... 11/13: Twelfth consecutive game with 10 hits or more ...11/8: Team-high in hits (20) ...11/7: Kevin Frandsen (SF) had an 18-game on-base streak ... 11/5: Team stole a game-high seven bases ─ Brian Bogusevic (HOU) (2), Pettit (3), and Frandsen (2) ...10/31: Scorpions scored team-high in runs (16), triples (2), home runs (2), and RBI (13) ... Shelby Ford (PIT) homered in consecutive games (10/28-10/29) ... Chris Johnson (HOU) homered in consecutive games (10/30-10/31) ... Sutton had an extra-base hit in six consecutive games ... Emmanuel Burriss (SF) (10/16, 11/11), Fransden (10/20), Bogusevic (11/4), and Mark Trumbo (LAA) (11/8) all have four-hit games.
National Division
Peoria Javelinas (13-19) ─ IF Rhyne Hughes (TB) is tied for the AFL lead in triples (3) and ranks second in hits (39) along with a top-10 batting average (.394) ... Hughes has a 15-game hitting streak ... RHP Kevin Whelan (NYY) leads the league in ERA (0.63) ... RHP Carlos Fisher (CIN) ranks second in the AFL in saves (3) ... C Lou Palmisano (MIL) has 12 RBI when batting with runners in scoring position ... OF Lorenzo Cain (MIL) is batting .636 with 5 runs, 3 home runs, and 6 RBI in the past five games ... 10/07: OF Austin Jackson (NYY) drove in a team-high four RBI ... 10/18: IF Kevin Russo (NYY) went 5-for-5 (all singles) ... Russo is hitting .387 with 29 hits and owns the AFL's longest active hitting streak at 20 games ... 10/16: All 18 players in starting lineup between Mesa and Peoria collected at least one hit.
Phoenix Desert Dogs (18-12) ─ OF Eric Young, Jr. (COL) leads the league in stolen bases (18) and is second in runs scored (31) ... also fifth in hits (37) and ranks second in batting average (.420) ... C Michael McKenry (COL) second the AFL in home runs (9) and slugging percentage (.848)... OF Sean Doolittle (OAK) ranks third in home runs (7) and RBI (26) ... IF Danny Valencia (MIN) leads all third basemen with 42 assists ... IF Steve Tolleson (MIN) has a top-10 batting average (.383) ... RHP Jeff Manship (MIN) ranks third in strikeouts (27) ... Desert Dogs lead AFL in saves (9) ... RHP Andrew Carignan (OAK) anchors relief core with a league-high six saves ... 11/13: 2B Chris Nelson (COL) hits two home runs and drives in five RBI ... 10/11 ─ 11/6: Young 21-game hitting streak ... 10/28: Young inside-the-park grand slam against Surprise ... 11/1: Young hits second grand slam home run of the week ... 10/27: McKenry hits three home runs and drives in seven RBI ... 10/21: Every player in the Desert Dogs starting lineup posts at least one hit.
Surprise Rafters (9-23) ─ RHP Willie Eyre (TEX) is second in the AFL with 31 whiffs ... 11 pitchers have reached double digits in strikeouts ... RHP Andrew Laughter (TEX) is in the top 10 in ERA (2.77) ... IF Wes Hodges (CLE) is tied for fourth in RBI (24) and is tied for fifth in home runs (6) ... OF Jamie Hoffmann (LAD) is batting .375 at home ... RHP Travis Schlichting (LAD) has a 1.59 ERA at home ... OF Julio Borbon (TEX) is batting .342 and has an on-base percentage of .390 when leading off an inning 10/28: Hodges drives in a team-high four RBI ... 10/18-11/06: OF Nolan Reimold (BAL) collects 16 runs and 20 hits during team-high 11-game hitting streak ... 11/08: OF Jamie Hoffmann (LAD) ties team high in runs (3) ... 10/14: IF Beau Mills (CLE) scores team-high three runs ... three players have collected four hits in a game ─ Blake Davis (BAL) 11/08, C Matt Wieters (BAL) 10/09, and IF Ivan De Jesus, Jr. (LAD) 10/13.
Arizona Fall League Stories from November 14, 2008
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