On Monday afternoon in the Arizona Fall League, the Surprise Saguaros defeated Salt River by a 3-1 score. Jin-De Jhang and Eric Wood were the only Pirates in the lineup. Wood played third base and batted fifth, while Jhang was the DH and batted ninth.
Eric Wood started his day with a strikeout in the second inning. He grounded out to shortstop in the fourth inning. Wood struck out again in the seventh inning. He finished 0-for-3 at the plate and handled five plays in the field, including a big double play mentioned below.
Jhang singled on a line drive in the third inning to put runners on the corners with one out in a scoreless game. He scored two batters later on a double. Jhang grounded out to second base in the fifth, then popped out to third base in the eighth inning. He finished 1-for-3 with a run scored.
Montana DuRapau pitched the fifth inning and gave up a single, which was followed by a double play started by Eric Wood. The next batter hit a solo homer for the lone Salt River run. DuRapau then struck out the next hitter to finish the inning. He threw 13 pitches total and touched 93 once with his four-seam fastball. The home run came off an 88 MPH cutter. He has a 20.25 ERA in two appearances.
Edgar Santana came on in the ninth to try to protect a 3-1 lead. He started with a ground out to shortstop on a 97 MPH fastball. The next batter grounded out to third base for the second out. Santana then allowed a single up the middle, bringing former Pirate JaCoby Jones to the plate as the tying run. Jones singled on a liner to right field. Santana quickly struck out the next batter, getting him swinging on a slider to end the game. He topped out at 97.6 MPH and while he faced five batters, he threw just 13 pitches, ten for strikes. Santana threw 2.2 shutout innings in his debut last week.
Surprise plays tomorrow night in Salt River. Tanner Anderson will make his second start.