The KC Royals contingent in the Arizona Fall League helped the Surprise Saguaros go 3-3 last week. Overall, the Saguaros are 9-7, 1.5 games back of first place in the West Division.
In Monday’s loss, Jon Keck pitched an inning of relief. Surprisingly, it was a good inning. He allowed one hit while striking out one during the scoreless inning. Keck threw 15 pitches, nine for strikes.
On offense, Brian Fletcher batted seventh and went 1-for-3 with a strikeout. He played left field. Whit Merrifield was a late inning replacement in centerfield and went 0-for-1.
In Tuesday’s ten-inning victory, Fletcher went 1-for-3 with a two walks, a run scored, and an RBI. He did strike out again. Alex McClure was back at shortstop and went 2-for-4 with two runs scored, an RBI, and two stolen bases. Unfortunately, he also struck out twice.
Edwin Carl was the reason the game went into extra innings, as he picked up the blown save. He allowed a homerun to Washington Nationals prospect Matt Skole in the 7th inning. In one inning, he allowed two runs (none earned) on one hit while striking out one.
In Wednesday’s loss, it was another rough outing for Keck. He entered with the bases loaded in the 5th inning and allowed an inherited runner to score. In the 6th inning, he allowed four straight singles. He left with the bases loaded and a run in. Keck threw 11 of his 20 pitches for strikes. Overall in the game, he recorded just two outs and allowed four runs on four hits.
On offense for the Saguaros, Merrifield batted second and played left field. He went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. Orlando Calixte played third base and went 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
In their final loss of the week on Thursday, Fletcher had another rough day at the plate. He batted fifth and went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts (he was the DH). Carl pitched a scoreless inning of relief, despite the fact that he threw 31 pitches (16 for strikes).
In Friday’s win, a full contingent of Royals got into action.
Justin Marks improved to 3-0 as he allowed just one run over four innings of work. He allowed four hits (three doubles) and walked one while striking out four. Marks threw 73 pitches, 43 for strikes. For more on Marks‘, click HERE.
Malcom Culver followed him in relief (his first AFL appearance) and pitched a scoreless inning of relief. He needed just nine pitches to record three outs (six for strikes).
On offense, Merrifield batted leadoff as the DH and went 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, a run scored, and a stolen base. Fletcher batted seventh (and played left field) and went 1-for-3 with a walk, two runs scored, and two RBIs. He hit his first homerun of the AFL season, a two-run shot in the 2nd inning. McClure batted ninth and went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
In another win on Saturday, Merrifield went 1-for-4 with a run scored, an RBI, and two stolen bases. Calixte played shortstop and went 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
Here are the Royals stats thru Week 3 in the AFL:
Calixte: .346 (9-for-26), 3RS, RBI, 0BB, 8K
Carl: 0-1, 1.42 ERA, 6.1IP, 4H, 3R (1ER), 2HR, 3BB, 4K
Culver: 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
Fletcher: .189 (7-for-37), 8RS, 4RBI, 11BB, 17K
Keck: 0-0, 16.20 ERA, 3.1IP, 10H, 9R (6ER), 4BB, 2K
Marks: 3-0, 2.19 ERA, 12.1IP, 11H, 6R (3ER), 5BB, 10K
McClure: .217 (5-for-23), 4RS, 3RBI, BB, 9K, 2SB (0CS)
Merrifield: .289 (11-for-38), 10 RS, 3RBI, 7BB, 4K, 6SB (0CS)
