The third week of the Arizona Fall League is now in the books! As a reminder, the Yankees’ representatives this year for the Mesa Solar Sox are Bryce Cunningham, Cade Smith, Brady Kirtner, Coby Morales,
Hueston Morrill, Manuel Palencia, Adam Stone, and Enmanuel Tejeda. Here’s how they performed in their third week in the desert:
October 21st – Solar Sox 0, Rafters 7; Solar Sox 3, Rafters 6
The Solar Sox began their week with a doubleheader, and lost both seven-inning games while scoring three runs total and conceding 13. They were shutout 7-0 in the first game, as a close 1-0 competition became ugly in the final inning when the Rafters erupted for six runs. No Yankees prospects came to the plate in Game 1, and Adam Stone was the only one of their pitchers to see the mound. Stone pitched a scoreless top of the sixth inning, working around a walk to Esmerlyn Valdez. Cade Smith started Game 2 for Mesa and turned in his second impressive performance in as many appearances. Smith pitched 3.2 innings with five strikeouts, including one of the power-hitting Charlie Condon, who then singled in his second at-bat to end Smith’s night and scored to produce the only earned run on his line. Enmanuel Tejeda and Manuel Palencia were in the starting lineup; Tejeda went 1-for-3 with a two-run single in the first to open the scoring, and Palencia went 1-for-2 with a single in the fifth and a sac fly.
October 22nd – Solar Sox 1, Rafters 14
The struggles for the Solar Sox continued into Wednesday, as they were pummeled by the Rafters and fell in defeat by a score of 14-1. Bryce Cunningham was again ineffective on the mound, allowing five runs (four earned) in a 2.1-inning start. He got through the first two innings with the only run on the board coming from an error, but it all unraveled in the third inning after David Mershon led off with a home run. Two singles, two wild pitches, and a walk ended Cunningham’s night. He was replaced by Brady Kirtner, who allowed two runs of his own on two singles and a double before getting out of the inning. Hueston Morrill also pitched later in the game, allowing two hits over 1.1 innings though managing to escape without conceding a run. Tejeda and Palencia were again in the starting lineup; Tejeda went 1-for-4 with a single and Palencia went 1-for-3 with an RBI single.
October 23rd – Solar Sox 5, Saguaros 7
Another day, another loss for the Solar Sox. No Yankees prospects appeared in the game.
October 25th – Solar Sox 11, Saguaros 10
The Solar Sox earned their first win of the week in an offensive slugfest by a score of 11-10. Tejeda and Palencia were again the Yankees’ representatives at the plate; Tejeda went 0-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts, and Palencia went 2-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored. He singled and later scored in the second inning, then hit his first home run of the Fall in the fifth inning. Morrill earned the save in extra innings, working around a walk to pitch a scoreless tenth.
October 26th – Solar Sox 4, Scorpions 7
The Solar Sox wrapped up their week with another loss. Tejeda was the only Yankees prospect in the lineup, and he went 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts. Stone pitched the bottom of the sixth and induced a lineout and a groundout from the first two batters of the inning, but back-to-back singles from Jeron Williams and Seaver King produced a run before King was thrown out at second base to end the inning.
Here are the stats for the Yankees prospects in the Arizona Fall League:
Enmanuel Tejeda: 5-37, 1 2B, 6 R, 5 RBI, 9 BB, 13 SO, 4 SB
Coby Morales: 5-16, 1 HR, 1 2B, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 6 SO, 1 SB
Manuel Palencia: 5-24, 3 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 7 SO
Bryce Cunningham: (0-3) 8 IP, 13 H, 13 R (9 ER), 5 BB, 6 K
Brady Kirtner: (0-1) 4 IP, 11 H, 9 R (5 ER), 3 BB, 3 K
Adam Stone: 3 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
Hueston Morrill: 4.2 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 2 K
Cade Smith: 6.2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 10 K
