Morning Rundown: Paul Skenes wins award, Sammy Siani picks up multiple hits in Arizona
Paul Skenes gets offseason recognition for rookie season, Sammy Siani with more hits
Paul Skenes was named the Rookie of the Year by Baseball Digest on Thursday, his first of what you would assume multiple awards he will get this offseason after the rookie year he put in.
Making 23 starts in the majors, Skenes posted an 11-3 record, with a 1.96 ERA, striking out 170 batters while walking just 32 in 133 innings pitched. He was named the starter of the National League for the All-Star game as well.
He received nine of the 11 first-place votes, with Jackson Merrill getting the other two. The BBWAA Rookie of the Year award will be announced on November 18.
Scottsdale win again, nearing a .500 record
Recap by John Dreker
The Scottsdale Scorpions hosted the Mesa Solar Sox on Thursday night in Arizona Fall League action. Three Pittsburgh Pirates were in the starting lineup. Sammy Siani batted third and he played right field. Kervin Pichardo started at shortstop and he hit seventh. Catcher Goevanny Planchart was in the ninth spot in the order. Those three were joined later in the game by Khristian Curtis and Eddy Yean out of the bullpen.
Siani singled and stole his fourth base in the first inning. Pichardo grounded out to third base in the second inning. Planchart reached on a single in the second inning. Siani singled in the third inning, then scored two batters later on a double by Drew Gilbert. That made it a 2-1 game in favor of Scottsdale. Pichardo struck out to end the third inning.
Planchart reached on an error in the fourth inning. Siani grounded out to first base to end the fourth. Pichardo had a two-run single in the fifth that made it a 5-1 game. He scored three batters later on a ground out. Planchart had a bases-loaded opportunity in the fifth. He had a chance to break the game open, but he grounded out back to the pitcher.
Curtis came on to pitch the sixth inning. Limited pitch info was available from Gameday for this game. Curtis retired the side in order during the sixth, getting a fly out, a ground out, and a strikeout. He threw 11 pitches, with seven going for strikes. Siani was retired on a fly out in the sixth. Pichardo drew a walk.
Curtis had a quick seventh inning, with two fly balls to Siani and a ground out to Pichardo. He threw 12 pitches, with seven going for strikes. Planchart flew out to right field for the first out of the bottom of the seventh. Siani grounded out to third base for the third out of the inning.
Curtis came back out for the eighth inning. He got a strikeout and a ground out, before allowing his first base runner on a ground ball single up the middle. He struck out the next batter to end his night with three shutout innings on one hit, no walks, and three strikeouts. He threw a total of 42 pitches, with 25 going for strikes. Curtis now has a 5.02 ERA over 14.1 innings, with 11 hits, seven walks and 13 strikeouts.
Eddy Yean has a quick ninth to finish off the victory. He sandwiched two strikeouts around a ground out, finishing his day on just nine pitches (seven strikes). He has allowed six earned runs over 7.2 innings this fall, with 11 hits, four walks, and seven strikeouts.
Siani finished the day 2-for-5 with a run scored. He's now hitting .406/.472/.594 in 72 plate appearances over 18 games.
Pichardo went 1-for-3 with a run, a walk and two RBIs. He's batting .277/.404/.468 over 57 plate appearances.
Planchart had a 1-for-4 game at the plate. He has a .345/.457/.586 slash line over 35 plate appearances.
Scottsdale won 6-1, giving them a 12-14 record. They are off until Monday now, as the league pauses for the Fall-Stars game this weekend. The Scorpions will host the first-place Surprise Saguaros (16-8) on Monday at 2:30 PM EST. Scottsdale stands two games back in the standings for the final playoff spot. There will be four games played next week to wrap up the regular season.
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Planchart, Siani and Diamond were named to the AFL Fall Stars game tomorrow night. MLB network will air it.
There's also an HR Derby scheduled for tonight, but doesn't look like it's on TV.
https://www.mlb.com/milb/news/2024-arizona-fall-league-fall-stars-game-rosters?t=arizona-fall-league-coverage
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