Morning Rundown: Guardians punch ticket to ALCS, Sammy Siani has two hits in AFL
Morning Rundown: Guardians punch ticket to ALCS, Sammy Siani has two hits in AFL
Guardians heading to ALCS, Siani and Pichardo pick up hits in AFL
Sammy Siani goes 2-3 in Scottdale win
Recap by John Dreker
The Scottsdale Scorpions wrapped up their first week of the Arizona Fall League season by hosting the Glendale Desert Dogs on Saturday night. Two Pittsburgh Pirates were in the starting lineup. Sammy Siani played center field and batted sixth. Kervin Pichardo batted eighth, and he manned shortstop. They were joined by two Pirates relievers later in the game.
Siani singled on a line drive to right field in the second inning. Pichardo collected an RBI double two batters later. Both of those hits came against Andrew Painter of the Philadelphia Phillies, who Baseball America ranks as the 19th-best prospect in baseball. Siani lined out to left field to begin the fourth inning. Pichardo grounded out to third base to end the fourth. Those at-bats were against Trent Baker of the St Louis Cardinals.
Eddy Yean took over the pitching in the bottom of the fourth. There was limited Gameday data for the pitchers in this game, so the recaps will be a bit brief. Yean started his day with a strikeout. He then allowed a single but got the next two batters on a ground out and a fly ball. He threw 11 pitches, with eight going for strikes. He allowed one run on two hits and a walk during his season debut on Tuesday.
Brandan Bidois was next on the mound for Scottsdale. He had a long inning of work, though it was significantly better than his debut, in which he allowed six runs and recorded just one out. He struck out the first two batters he faced on eight total pitches on Saturday. Bidois walked the next batter. He threw a wild pitch in the middle of his second straight walk. He ended the fifth with his third strikeout. The inning took 23 pitches, with 12 going for strikes.
Siani doubled in the sixth inning. Pichardo popped up to second base, then Siani scored on a double by Drew Cavanaugh. Siani batted lead-off in the bottom of the eighth with an 8-2 lead. He drew a walk, then scored on a home run by Charlie Syzkowny. Siani finished his day 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored. He is 5-for-13 after three games, with a home run and a walk. Pichardo also drew an eighth-inning walk. He went 1-for-3 with a double, walk and RBI. He finished 1-for-4 in his season debut.
Scottsdale won 10-2, giving them a 2-3 record this fall. The Scorpions have the next two days off, before resuming play on Tuesday night, when they go on the road to face the Mesa Solar Sox (3-2) at 9:30 PM EST.
Powered by a Lane Thomas grand slam, the Cleveland Guardians have advanced to the ALCS after defeating the Detroit Tigers in game five on Saturday.
They will now face the New York Yankees in a best-of-seven series beginning Monday.
Steven Kwan went 3-5 with two runs scored in the leadoff spot and currently has a 1.136 OPS in the playoffs. It was the second home run of the series for Thomas, who was acquired at the trade deadline.
The NLCS will begin on Sunday, with the New York Mets and Los Angeles competing to represent the NL in the World Series. Game one will be a pitching matchup of Kodai Senga and Jack Flaherty.
The Dodgers announced that Gavin Stone had surgery on his right shoulder and will likely miss the 2025 season.
Stone, 25, posted an 11-5 record with the Dodgers this year, striking out 116 batters in 140 innings pitched while posting a 3.53 ERA and 1.8 bWAR.
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Top Exit Velocity
Lane Thomas - CLE - 107.7 mph - Home Run
Colt Keith - DET - 107 mph - Double
Jake Rogers - DET 106 mph - Single
Andres Gimenez - CLE - 105.9 mph - Double
Jhonhensky Noel - CLE - 102.3 mph - Pop Out
Top Pitch Velocity
Emmanuel Clase - CLE - 101.6 mph
Emmanuel Clase - CLE - 100.9 mph
Emmanuel Clase - CLE - 100.7 mph
Emmanuel Clase - CLE - 100.5 mph
Emmanuel Clase - CLE - 100.3 mph
Most Whiffs
Tarik Skubal - DET - 17
Cade Smith - CLE - 11
Matthew Boyd - CLE - 11
Tyler Holton - DET - 5
Emmanuel Clase - CLE - 5
The 'BIG" bat in the Scottsdale victory was Detroit Farmhand Josue Briceno, 20, who went off for 3 HR in last night's game. Lost most of 2024 at A due to injury, and looks like an excellent LH Hitting/strong defensive First Baseman, although he is listed as a C/1B. Was not a big power source at A, but showed excellent contact. A younger version of Endy?
The Dodgers keep showing us how fleeting pitching depth can be….