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On Wednesday, the Glendale Desert Dog squared off with the Salt River Rafters in the fourteenth game of the Arizona Fall League.
Desert Dogs 6, Rafters 1
- Harrison Bader (CF): 1-3, R, BB
After being shut out on Tuesday, the Desert Dogs rebounded for a 6-1 victory over the Rafters at Salt River Fields on Wednesday.
What will go overlooked in this game is the fine night the Desert Dogs’ pitching staff pieced together, beginning with Glendale starter Nolan Sanburn. Sanburn of the White Sox organization backed his team’s win by logging five innings of one-run ball and striking out three. Sanburn’s start was followed up by scoreless relief appearances from Corey Copping, Jacob Dorris, Joe Broussard, and Louie Lechich, who combined to allow just two hits over the contest’s final four frames.
At the plate, Desert Dogs left-fielder Courtney Hawkins of the White Sox, who smashed twelve long balls in 106 games during the regular season, hit his first homer of the exhibition season, a two-run shot to further pad Glendale’s sturdy lead. Infielder Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers had a solid day at the plate, too, as the left-handed-hitting 21-year-old went 2-for-4 with his third double of the AFL.
On the Cardinals side of things, Harrison Bader was the only one to manage playing time. The Desert Dogs’ starting center-fielder, Bader recorded a hit in his four plate appearances and accounted for one of his club’s half-dozen tallies.
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On Thursday, the Desert Dogs will return home to Glendale to host the Mesa Solar Sox at Camelback Ranch in a game that will begin at 1:35 p.m. CT. For the hometown ‘Dogs, Chris Anderson of the Dodgers will take the mound. Anderson is 0-2 in his two AFL starts thus far, and he’ll look to reverse that trend against the Solar Sox, who are slated to send Blue Jays prospect Conner Greene to the hill. Greene has allowed three runs across two starts this exhibition season.