Morning Rundown: Geovanny Planchart homers in Scottsdale loss

Catcher hits first home run of fall, Scottsdale loses

Oct 20, 2024

Planchart homers in Scottsdale loss

Recap by John Dreker

The Scottsdale Scorpions had a Saturday night game on the road against the Surprise Saguaros. Two Pittsburgh Pirates were in the starting lineup. Kervin Pichardo played shortstop and batted seventh, while catcher Geovanny Planchart hit in the ninth spot. They were joined later in the game by reliever Valentin Linarez. This game was part of a tripleheader at Goodyear Ballpark, which normally doesn't host Arizona Fall League games. Due to the amount of games, the contests were limited to seven innings each.

The two Pirates got Scottsdale on the board in the second inning, but that was after Surprise put up six runs in the first. Pichardo recorded his first triple of the fall, which was followed two batters later by Planchart hitting his first home run.

The fourth inning didn't go as well for the two Pirates. Pichardo struck out to start the inning, then Planchart flew out to left field to end the frame.

Linarez came into the game for the bottom of the fifth. He walked the first batter he faced on six pitches. The next batter walked on seven pitches. Linarez got the first out on a three-pitch strikeout. The second out was also a strikeout on three pitches. He struck out the next batter as well, though this one took five pitches. Linarez tossed 24 pitches (14 strikes) in the inning to get two walks and three strikeouts.

Pitch data was available for this game. Linarez worked mainly with his fastballs (four-seam/sinker) in the fifth, which topped out at 95.2 MPH. He threw six of his nine sliders for strikes, including the final three strikes of the inning. That pitch was 82-84 MPH.

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Both Pichardo and Planchart struck out swinging in the sixth inning. Linarez remained on for the bottom of the inning. He faced five batters in the inning before being removed with two outs and the bases loaded. All three batters reached via walks, as he handed out free passes to the first, third and fifth batters. He threw 26 pitches in the inning, with 12 going for strikes. Once again, he mostly threw fastballs, topping out at 94.6 MPH in his second inning of work. He threw seven sliders, with three going for strikes.

A run scored after Linarez was pulled, leaving him with one run on no hits, five walks, and three strikeouts in 1.2 innings of work. He had two prior appearances this fall, in which he recorded five outs without a hit, walk, or strikeout.

Pichardo finished 1-for-3 with a run scored and a triple. He has a .250 average and a .900 OPS this fall through five games. Planchart went 1-for-3 with a homer and two RBIs. He is hitting .231/.333/.538 through four games.

Scottsdale lost 8-2, dropping them to a 4-6 record. The Scorpions will be at home on Sunday to take on the Salt River Rafters (5-5) at 8:00 PM EST.

A three-run home run by Juan Soto in extra-innings propelled the New York Yankees to the World Series after defeating the Cleveland Guardians in game five of the ALCS.

That was a part of five unanswered runs scored by New York after Cleveland jumped out to a 2-0 lead.

New York will now sit and wait to see who their opponent will be. Game six of the NLCS is on Sunday, with the Dodgers one win away from joining the Yankees in the World Series.

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