6:22 AM UTC
SCOTTSDALE, Arizona – The 30th season of the Arizona Fall League ended with the longest championship game in history. The Surprise Cactus recovered from five separate deficits and scored two in the bottom of the 11th inning for a 7-6 victory over the Glendale Desert Dogs.
There are 11 bits here Prospects who stand out in Saturday’s finals, one per inning.
1. Luisangel Acuña, SS, Rangers
Acuña saves twice The game Saguaros was in the last inning. At the top of the ninth inning, the infield came in and he jumped on Austin Martin (Twins)’s helicopter with quick transfers and powerful throws to the plate, pinning Matt McLean (Reds) and preventing a run that could have been won . In the bottom of the 10th, Surprise doubled down to the right field to tie the game after a hit.
2. Nick Gonzales, DH, Pirates
Gonzales in his On the first three at-bats, he had a surprise on the opposite side, with a pair of singles and a homer into the right-field bullpen. His third-inning outburst was the only real mistake made by Glendale starter Ryan Middendorf (the Brewers).
3. Colton Gordon, LHP, Astros
Gordon to Saguaros A strong 4 1/3 inning started with strikeouts (strikeouts) while allowing one run, two hits and two walks. He mixed his ’90s low speed balls well with his drive-thru pitches and threw 38 strikes in 60 overs.
4. Matt McClain, SS, Red Army
Christian Hernandez (Phillies) succumbed to winning just once in the AFL regular season, but McLean greeted his home run by hitting a dangling slider in Game 5 . He was inconsistent in several games at shortstop, including a frantic pitch that resulted in a run, but he also singled out in the ninth and could have served Glenn had Acuña hadn’t knocked him down on the plate Dyer scored the winning goal.
5. Ryan Middendorf, RHP, Brewers
Since Brewers at 6 May signed him out of the indie Frontier League, but Middendorf opened the curtain for the Desert Dogs. Thanks to a lively ’90s lowball and a tight slider, the winger recorded six of his seven strikeouts and blasted the zone with 32 strikeouts on 45 pitches.
6. Francisco Morales, RHP, Phillies
Morales entered the game in seventh and immediately hit McLean with three 80s-plus sliders, a prelude to hitting the wing for the surprise. He blew two more breaths in the eighth inning, both on the slide, as his fastball peaked at 96 mph. He left with full bases and two outs, but center fielder Carlos De La Cruz (Phillies) rescued Saguaros with a Noelvi Marte (Redskins) liner catch.
7. Andy Pages, RF, Dodgers
Glendale’s Pages got 6th — Opened an inning at the very top of the midfield wall 425 feet from home plate and missed a home run by inches. He also performed a nice situational hit with a hit-and-run single in the eighth.
8. Jose Ramos, CF, Dodgers
Ramos was the only desert dog to reach Gordon, swooping in with a flat fastball in the second inning and delivering a long home run at right center. But he failed to take down second baseman Edward Julian (Twins) in a sixth-inning popup from Jes Easley (Rangers), making it a crucial two-double.
9. Lane Ramsey, RHP, White Sox 6 feet – 9 Ramsey needed just 22 pitches to run a scoreless eighth and ninth for Glendale, hitting four strikeouts with a mid-80s slider while also hitting a mid-90s fastball. He sat Gonzalez down with three consecutive sliders.
10. Scott Schreiber, 1B, Astros
Schreiber finished third A player in the Fall League 30 years to win the title with a slam, joining Mike Hessman (2001) and Braxton Davidson (2018). He closed out two rallies in the bottom two of the 11th inning with a run in Tanner Dodson’s (Dodgers) left-center clearance and reached base four times in six sets ( Two singles, two walks).
11. Zavier Warren, 3B/1B, BrewersWarren 3 – for-5 with Glendale’s two RBIs, spraying singles left, center and right. He could have been a hero after a first-half comeback on the 10th hole, but Acuña denied him with an equalizer in the second half.
