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Rafael Ynoa continued his hot hitting with a home run and a single, and scored two runs as the Mesa Solar Sox outslugged the Surprise Saguaros 12-6 in the fourth game of the Arizona Fall League season.
Ynoa singled to open the third inning and scored later in the inning, the first of five runs in the frame for Mesa that erased a 4-0 deficit.
Dodgers 22-year old Puerto Rican pitcher Andres Santiago got the start for the Solar Sox on Friday but struggled early. He allowed singles to each of the first three batters he faced to open the game. Santiago induced a ground ball double play in exchange for a run, then induced another ground ball that would have ended the inning were it not for a throwing error by shortstop Jonathan Schoop (Baltimore Orioles). One more error in the inning, plus a passed ball and a single put Mesa in a 4-0 hole.
But Santiago rebounded to retire his final seven batters faced, including three by strikeout. In his three innings, he allowed four runs, one earned, on four hits. He struck out three and walked nobody, though he needed 61 pitches to get through his three innings.
Surprise rallied to tie the game at 5-5 in the fourth inning, but Chris Reed followed with a scoreless fifth inning in his second appearance of the AFL. The southpaw Reed retired both right-handed batters he faced, getting Whit Merrifield (Kansas City Royals) to fly out and Bryce Brentz (Boston Red Sox) to ground out. But the lone left-hander Reed faced, Kolten Wong (St. Louis Cardinals), singled. Reed was able to recover by picking Wong off first base for the second out of the inning.
The Solar Sox rallied for three runs in the bottom of the fifth to take the lead, giving Reed (1-0) the win. It was the first win for Reed since April 22.
Ynoa, who also walked in the fourth inning, hit a solo home run in the sixth inning, his first of the AFL. In three games, Ynoa is hitting .500/.615/.900 (5-for-10) with three walks and a stolen base. He was the only Dodgers position player to play Friday.
But a scoreless seventh inning by Red Patterson, including one strikeout, gave the Dodgers five innings worth of mound work on Friday. Reed has pitched scoreless innings in each of his two AFL games.
Coming up: The Solar Sox on Saturday afternoon host the Phoenix Desert Dogs, a team comprised of players from the Braves, Brewers, Marlins, Athletics, and Rays. Onelki Garcia, the Dodgers' third round pick in the 2012 draft, and Luke Putkonen (Detroit Tigers) are the only two (of 21) pitchers yet to toe the rubber for Mesa, so it's a safe bet they might pitch on Saturday.