On Wednesday in the Arizona Fall League, all three position players for the Pittsburgh Pirates were in the starting lineup with an interesting alignment in the outfield. Adam Frazier batted lead-off and he was in center field. Austin Meadows moved over from his normal spot and played right field. He has only played center field as a pro. Reese McGuire was behind the plate and batted eighth. Glendale won this game 7-6.
Frazier led off the game with a triple to center field on the first pitch. Two pitches later, he scored the first run of the game on a ground out to first base. In his second at-bat, Frazier flew out to left field. In the fifth inning, he drove in Glendale’s third run on a bloop single to left field. In the seventh, he connected on his second triple, giving his team a 5-4 lead. Frazier walked in the ninth, reaching base for the fourth time. He went 3-for-4, driving in two runs and scoring once.
Austin Meadows batted fifth and struck out on a full count pitch in the first inning with two outs and a man on first base. He grounded out to shortstop next time up, ending the top of the fourth inning. In the sixth, Meadows flew out to right field. In the eighth, he had a similar at-bat as he had in the first game. Meadows came up with runners on the corner and grounded out to second base, picking up an RBI on the play. It put Glendale up 6-5 at the time. He is 0-for-8 through two games, though he has an RBI in each game.
Reese McGuire lined out to shortstop on 2-0 pitch his first time up. In the fourth inning, McGuire committed an error on a missed catch, failing to make the play on a throw home from Adam Frazier. In the top of the fifth, McGuire drew a walk and came around to score on Frazier’s bloop single. He threw out a runner to end the sixth inning, then doubled in the seventh, scoring on Frazier’s second triple. McGuire reached base for a third time in the ninth inning, drawing his second walk of the game.
Game three of the season will take place on the road Thursday afternoon against Scottsdale, which was the Pirates’ club the last three years. Tyler Eppler will likely pitch 2-3 innings in relief.
