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Solis Pitches Mesa To AFL Title Game

Arizona-Fall-League-2013-27Mesa’s 2013 Arizona Fall League season began and ended in Glendale, and Sammy Solis was on the hill for both the 1st and title-clinching 19th wins as the Solar Sox scorched the Desert Dogs, 9-3 to earn a berth in the AFL Championship game.

The 25-y.o. southpaw allowed one run on six hits over five innings to notch his league-leading fifth win. He walked none and struck out four, throwing 68 pitches, 49 for strikes. His 29 K’s also led the circuit.

Brian Goodwin and Adrian Nieto were also in the starting lineup for Mesa.

Goodwin was the DH and went 1-for-4 with a double and a run scored, as the 23-y.o. North Carolina native came in from second base on an infield single that the shortstop knocked down just past the infield grass. He also walked and struck out twice.

Nieto caught and batted seventh. He went 1-for-5 with an RBI single and made seven putouts and one assist on a dropped third strike.

Mesa finishes the season at 19-11-1, winning their last six games consecutively to edge Salt River, which fell a half-game short at 19-12 and were winners of seven straight. Surprise was the AFL West title winner with a mark of 18-12-1.

The Solar Sox will face off against the Saguaros, who will send Baltimore prospect Eduardo Rodriguez to the mound in tomorrow’s AFL Championship game. Matt Purke, who has not pitched since last Saturday, is among the possibilities for Mesa, which has not yet announced its starting pitcher.

16 Commments

    1. Purke might make his debut ahead of Solis, but I believe Solis is more likely to stick around longer when he gets the call.

      1. Interesting – is that because Purke has been burning through his minor league options? Solis is two years older and pitched more effectively at Potomac last year. They both likely start 2014 in Harrisburg, but if I had to bet money which debuts first I’d pick Solis.

    1. Josh Johnson and Sean McCauley, though the latter is almost assuredly as a player-coach again.

  3. Isn’t it getting to be about time to look at who is eligible for the Rule 5 draft this year? I think I saw that one slot opened up on the 40 man with Mauro Gomez going overseas … do you think anyone else will get added to protect them, or was Souza the only one and Rizzo maybe wants to save that slot for a FA / trade?

    1. Solis will be added to fill Gomez’s spot. It’s possible Aaron Barrett gets a spot at Tyler Robertson’s expense. I doubt anyone else gets protected.

    2. Deadline is the middle of this week, so odds are good I’ll write something about it on Tuesday. You’ll forgive me for not commenting further so as to preserve some of that material 😉

  4. Jeff and company , How about a blast from the past name. We had the lefty Manno and traded him for Jonny Gomes. If my calculations are correct Manno is a rule 5 guy this year. He was awesome for us, why not take a shot and bring him back. Love that kid

    1. Manno would be a good shout to pick in the minor league part of the Rule V draft, but his numbers aren’t good enough to warrant a spot on the Nats 25 man roster. Guys like Mirowski, Krol, Abad, Roark, Davis, Cedeno, Barrett, Holland, and Garcia would all have a better case for taking the last spot in the bullpen over Manno (who I don’t think the Nats were ever very high on, since they traded him in the midst of a spectacular season).

  5. Will and Waly I love the idea of bringing Manno back. I was just looking at his number and I am very impressed. I spoke to a friend that is a baseball nut in pensacola, and he said Manno is well equipped to make the next move up. He had a very very strong second half, after having a difficult 1st half. I think he is someone that will be targeted by some team, he may be a nice fit with us left middle reliever 89-92 with a high strike out per nine . I remember him in Hagerstown and he was something special

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