Morning Rundown: Yankees punch ticket to ALCS, Cleveland forces game seven, Scottsdale loses

Yankees head to ALCS, Cleveland forces game seven.

Oct 11, 2024

Scottsdale loses 12-5, now 1-2 on season

Recap by John Dreker

Game three of the Arizona Fall League season saw the Scottsdale Scorpions host the Surprise Saguaros. Three Pittsburgh Pirates prospects were in the starting lineup. Termarr Johnson returned to action after leaving the season opener early due to a bad leg cramp. He batted lead-off and played shortstop. Sammy Siani manned center field and batted fifth. Kervin Pichardo made his AFL debut at third base, batting in the sixth position.

Johnson started the bottom of the first with a fly out to right field. That proved to be a Pirates theme the first time through the lineup, as Siani and Pichardo both flew out to right field in the second inning. Scottsdale was already down 8-0 at that point.

Johnson walked in the third inning. He didn't advance past first base. Siani grounded out to second base in the fourth. Pichardo followed with a line out to left field.

Johnson's third plate appearance resulted in a fly out to left field. Siani grounded out again in the sixth. Pichardo picked up the first hit for the trio with an infield single in the sixth. Things would get even better in the seventh when Johnson collected an opposite-field triple on a liner into the gap. He scored two batters later on another triple. Siani joined the fun in the eighth when he singled on a grounder to right field. Pichardo followed with a strikeout.

Johnson reached on an error in the ninth (later changed to a single), then scored on a single three batters later. He finished his game going 2-for-4 with a triple, walk, and two runs scored. He went 2-for-4 with a homer during his first game of the AFL season. He completed three of his four chances in the field. An eighth-inning throwing error resulted in an unearned run.

Siani ended the contest by lining out to left field. He went 1-for-5 with a single after going 2-for-5 with a homer in his season debut. Pichardo ended up 1-for-4 with a single in his fall debut.

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Scottsdale lost 12-5, dropping them to 1-2 on the season. They play Friday night in Glendale, with a 9:30 PM EST start time.

Edit: They changed Termarr Johnson reaching on an error to a single instead. So, he is now 4-for-8 on the fall.

Gerrit Cole pitched seven innings of one-run baseball, enough to send the New York Yankees to the ALCS. Juan Soto opened up the scoring with an RBI single that scored Gleyber Torres, who in turn drove in a run of his own in the fifth.

Clay Holmes and Luke Weaver pitched shutout innings to close out the game.

The Yankees will wait on the winner between the Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers, who will play a decisive game five on Saturday.

David Fry hit a go-ahead two-run home run in the seventh inning, and the Guardians were able to hold on to force a game five on Saturday.

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