Morning Rundown: Termarr Johnson leaves AFL game with an injury, Sammy Siani Homers, Mets, Padres win
Termarr Johnson leaves Fall League game with an injury. Mets and Padres win.
The Scottsdale Scorpions played their first game of the Arizona Fall League, with a couple of prospects for the Pirates playing.
To give a more in-depth rundown of each game, John Dreker has agreed to jump on the site with a recap every night (that the Scorpions play).
The Scottsdale Scorpions opened up their Arizona Fall League schedule on Tuesday night against the Salt River Rafters. Two Pittsburgh Pirates prospects were in the starting lineup, with Termarr Johnson batting lead-off and playing second base, while Sammy Siani was in left field and batting ninth. Pitchers Khristian Curtis and Eddy Yean would join them later in the game.
Johnson started off the game with a home run on the fourth pitch of the at-bat, turning on a changeup from Arizona Diamondbacks prospect Dylan Ray. Siani singled with two outs in the second inning. He stole second base, then scored on a single by Johnson that made it a 2-0 game. Johnson scored one batter later on a Jett Williams double.
The pitching for Scottsdale lost the lead by giving up seven runs in the third inning. Siani then brought them within a run with a solo homer to the opposite field against Chase Solesky of the Washington Nationals to start the fourth inning. Johnson followed with a walk, but he never left first base, as the next three batters all made outs.
Khristian Curtis came out for the fourth inning and retired the side in order on ten pitches. He got two pop outs and a fly out. His fastball topped out at 95.7 MPH, with two other pitches hitting 95.6 MPH.
Siani grounded out in the fifth inning after Scottsdale took back the lead. Johnson also grounded out, which ended the top of the inning. Curtis remained on for the bottom of the fifth. He once again retired the side in order, this time on nine pitches, with the fastball topping out at 95.1 MPH. Just three of his pitches that inning were four-seamers.Â
Curtis continued his dominance in the sixth by retiring the side in order for a third time. He needed 16 pitches in the sixth, though he picked up his first two strikeouts. He worked heavy with off-speed pitches after opening the inning with three fastballs. He used just two fastballs among his final 13 pitches of the inning. That ended his day with 23 strikes on 35 pitches. Siani struck out to send the game to the seventh inning stretch.
The game took a bad turn when Johnson swung and missed at a 1-1 pitch during the top of the eighth. He appeared to injure his right leg and needed to be helped off the field. He wasn't putting any weight on his right foot. Pinch-hitter Adrian Pinto swung and missed at a 1-2 pitch, resulting in a strikeout that was credited to Johnson. He finished the day 2-for-4 with a walk, two runs scored and two RBIs, but his fall future with remain questionable until we hear otherwise.
Siani got a big chance in the ninth, coming up with the bases loaded and one out, looking to add on to a two-run lead. He ended up popping out to the catcher on a full count pitch. He finished 2-for-5 with two runs and and RBI.
Eddy Yean came on in the ninth to try to save the game. He was handed a 9-7 lead. Yean allowed a lead-off single, followed immediately by a double. A sacrifice fly made it a one-run game. He walked the next batter, putting the winning run on base with one out. Yean got the second out on a pop out to third base. He finished the game with a strikeout. He was a bit wild, needing 20 pitches to get through the inning, with ten going for strikes.
Scottsdale won 9-8. They play at home tomorrow night at 9:30 PM EST against the Mesa Solar Sox.
By John Dreker
Pete Alonso hit his third home run of the playoffs giving the Mets an early lead that they never surrendered and are now one win away from heading to the NLCS.
The Mets scored four runs on Aaron Nola, and got a fantastic outing from Sean Manaea on the mound. He allowed just one run on three hits and two walks while striking out six in seven innings. Phil Maton and Ryne Stanek came out of the bullpen to close out the game.
It will be a matchup of lefties in game four, as Ranger Suarez pitches against Jose Quintana.
The San Diego Padres scored six runs in the bottom of the second inning, and then held on to a 6-5 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Fernando Tatis Jr. hit his fourth home run of the playoffs, fueling the offense in the second inning. The Dodgers scored four runs in the top of the third, but couldn’t find a way to get the last run to tie things.
Mookie Betts hit a home run in the top of the first, originally giving the Dodgers the lead. Teoscar Hernandez hit his first home run of the playoffs, a grand slam.
All four divisional series play on Wednesday, with the Mets and Padres having a chance to wrap up their series.
Cleveland Guardians vs Detroit Tigers, 3:08 pm ET
Philadelphia Phillies vs New York Mets, 5:08 pm ET
New York Yankees vs Kansas City Royals, 7:08 pm ET
Los Angeles Dodgers vs San Diego Padres, 9:08 pm ET
RHP Elijah Birdsong retires
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Top Exit Velocity
Manny Machado - SD - 114.7 mph - Single
Bryce Harper - PHI - 111.7 mph - Single
Nick Castellanos - PHI - 110.7 mph - Single
Jesse Winker - NYM - 108.9 mph - Home Run
Pete Alonso - NYM - 108.1 mph - Home Run
Top Pitch Velocity
Robert Suarez - SD - 101.3 mph
Rober Suarez - SD - 100.9 mph
Jose Alvarado - PHI - 100.8 mph
Michael Kopech - LAD - 100.5 mph
Robert Suarez - SD - 100.4 mph
Most Whiffs
Sean Manaea - NYM - 19
Aaron Nola - PHI - 14
Michael King - SD - 10
Walker Buehler - LAD - 8
Robert Suarez - SD - 5
Johnson was interviewed after the game and said that it was just a cramp. He went as far as saying that he would be available tonight, though you'd have to imagine that he won't be out there for at least one game. No one plays all 30 games anyway. Last year's league leader played 25 games, so might as well give Johnson off today.
I won't start calling him the next Jose Tabata yet, but this certainly reminds me of Tabata, when he would get hurt and you would swear his season was done from his reaction, but then he played 2-3 days later. If memory serves me correct, Tabata had cramping problems that made it look like a sniper took him out mid-run towards first base a few times
I don’t know about you guys, but I love it when the Dodgers lose. Padres vs Tigers like it’s 1984 again would be just fine with me.