The first week of the Arizona Fall League came to a close on Saturday afternoon. The Glendale Desert Dogs came into the day with a 3-1 record. They had all three Pittsburgh Pirates in the lineup together for the first time this fall season. Glendale won 4-3 and one player provided all of the offense.
Kevin Kramer played his second game of the season on Saturday. He batted lead-off for the first time and played shortstop again. Kramer had two walks, a single and a double in his season debut on Thursday. He led off today’s game with a line drive single to center field. In the second inning, he flew out to center field, then lined out to left field to begin the fifth inning. Kramer struck out in the seventh inning. He finished 1-for-4 with that lead-off single in the first.
Logan Hill batted seventh and played left field. In his first two games, he played right field. Hill got his day off right, slugging a three-run homer in the second inning. He grounded out to shortstop in the fourth inning, then homered again in the seventh. The second homer gave Glendale a 4-3 lead, with Hill accounting for all of the runs. He had a chance to add to the lead in the eighth with two men on, but struck out swinging to end the inning. He finished 2-for-4 with his first two homers of the AFL.
Mitchell Tolman formed the double play combo with Kramer and batted ninth. He flew out to center field in his first at-bat. He hit a hard grounder to first base to end the fourth inning. Tolman doubled in his third at-bat. He also doubled in his previous game. He finished 1-for-3 on the day.
None of the three Pirates were busy in the field. Kramer handled three chances. Tolman had four, with one of them being a grounder to Kramer, who threw to Tolman for a force out. Hill had just one putout.
** Glendale has off tomorrow. They return on Monday night and play their first of three night games over four days. Those will be the only night games for them this fall.