We’re heading down the stretch in Arizona, as less than two weeks remain in the regular season for the six teams playing in the desert. The Salt River Rafters have fallen to 11-10 after a hot start and seem doomed to have to get through the postseason the hard way, but there’s still plenty of time to fix that. They’ll need the Yankees’ contingent to be a big part of it; they had an up-and-down week headlined by some titanic tanks from Kyle West. As a reminder, if you want a quick rundown on who’s
in the desert this month, check here.
October 24 (Rafters 3, Saguaros 5): The Rafters started the week with a sluggish, seven-inning loss that was shut out until pretty late. Dax Kilby got things started by going 2-for-4 with a pair of singles and a stolen base. On the mound, JT Etheridge struggled with command, allowing two runs on four walks in three innings. Mack Estrada worked around a pair of walks in a scoreless fourth, as did Antonio Gomez in the fifth, as he got his fastball up to 98. The highlight of this game was West, who annihilated his first home run of the spring at 111.9 mph and 409 feet late in the game.
October 26 (Rafters 20, Saguaros 4): Do you think Salt River was angry about how the game on Saturday went? They put up a staggering 20 runs in a blowout on Monday, partially from the Yankees’ contingent. Core Jackson went 0-for-5 with a walk, RBI, and four strikeouts; Anthony Mena tossed a pair of scoreless innings late in the blowout, but the star was once again West. He pummeled a pair of home runs a combined 912 feet. He ended the day with three hits, two homers, a double, and four RBIs with exit velocities of 112.0, 109.2, and 100.4.
October 27 (Rafters 0, Desert Dogs 1): One day after scoring 20, the Rafters were shut out across nine innings. That’s baseball, Suzyn! Kilby went 0-f0r-4 and Chris Veach tossed two scoreless innings to continue a strong month down in the desert. Not much going on here.
October 28 (Rafters 4, Scorpions 0): A second straight day of strong pitching vaulted Salt River to a shutout victory on Wednesday. Kilby went 1-for-3 with two walks and a few hard-hit balls, including a roped 107.9 mph single. Jackson went 0-for-2 with a walk and a strikeout, West went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, and Gomez had his best day in a while on the mound, striking out two in a scoreless inning. His velocity was a lot more stable around 98 and generated a lot of called strikes.
October 29 (Rafters 5, Solar Sox 21): Ouch. Not a great way to finish the week, especially after the games were cancelled on Friday. Fortunately, the Yankees weren’t really at fault. Kilby tripled twice, including with a 109.3 mph, 409-foot booming shot off the wall in center field. He did make a pair of errors at shortstop in an ugly game for Salt River’s defense that included one from West as well. In an ugly game for pitchers, Estrada didn’t allow a run in two-thirds of an inning.
AFL totals thus far
Dax Kilby: 17-53 (.304), 2 HR, 8 RBI, 6 2B, 3 3B, 6 BB, 7 K, 5 SB
Core Jackson: 5-40 (.125), HR, 3 RBI, 2B, 3B, 14 BB, 16 K, 10 SB
Kyle West: 11-46 (.239), 3 HR, 10 RBI, 2B, 7 BB, 11 K, 3 SB
JT Etheridge: 9 IP, 7 H, 6 R (5 ER), 7 BB, 13 K
Mack Estrada: 5.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 7 BB, 2 K
Chris Veach: 9.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 BB, 12 K
Anthony Mena: 9.2 IP, 9 H, 4 R (3 ER), 5 BB, 7 K
Antonio Gomez: 5.1 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 6 BB, 5 K
