The East beat the West 9-4 in the Arizona Fall League Rising Stars Game on Saturday night.

That put KC Royals left fielder Brian Fletcher on the losing end of the game. He started in left field and batted ninth, but had an uneventful evening. He went 0-for-2 and unfortunately struck out yet again.

The West scored two runs in the top of the first inning, led by Cincinnati centerfielder Billy Hamilton. He walked to lead off the game and stole second and third base before scoring on Rymer Liriano‘s double (San Diego). Liriano then scored on a foul pop from second base (the third baseman fell into the stands). He went 3-for-4.

Washington Nationals prospects Brian Goodwin

The East got on the board with Brian Goodwin‘s (Washington) lead off homerun. He had two hits, as did DH Nick Castellanos (Detroit).

The West actually led 4-3 after a two-run top of the 5th inning. However the East scored six runs in the bottom of the inning to finish off the game’s scoring. David Adams (NYY) drove in two runs with a double. The East collected five hits, a hit batter, a sac fly, and the West committed an error.

For the East, two pitchers’ performances stood out: Chase Anderson of Arizona and Mark Montgomery of the Yankees. Anderson, one of two starting pitchers on the team, threw two innings and struck out four. Montgomery, who could be the Yankees closer of the future, struck out the side in his only inning of work.

*Next Saturday, MLB Network will once again be televising an AFL game. It will be the Military Appreciation Game, pitting Scottsdale against Surprise at 8pm ET. That means that some Royals prospects can be seen on TV.

**Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer was voted one of the AFL’s top 20 all-time players. He was named the 2010 season’s top player.

KC Royals outfielder Brian Fletcher will be starting in tonight’s Arizona Fall League Rising Stars Game. He is starting in left field and batting ninth for the road team. It will be televised shortly (at 8pm ET) on MLB Network.

I know I was critical of Fletcher being named to the West squad, mainly because his numbers don’t exactly scream PROSPECT or ALL-STAR. But I am excited to see how he does. And isn’t it cool to see someone you’ve covered play on TV?

Houston prospect (via Philadelphia) Jarred Cosart will be taking the ball for the East against Minnesota’s Kyle Gibson. I saw Gibson pitch back in 2010 when he was an Eastern League All-Star, but he is coming back from Tommy John surgery.

Here are the lineups for tonight’s game:

WEST: CF Billy Hamilton (Cincinnati), SS Hak-Ju Lee (TB), RF Rymer Liriano (San Diego), 1B Hunter Morris (Milwaukee), 2B Nick Franklin (Seattle), 3B Cody Asche (Philadelphia), DH Bryce Brentz (Boston), C Tommy Joseph (Philadelphia), and FLETCHER.

EAST: LF Brian Goodwin (Washington), CF Gary Brown (SF), 1B Jonathan Singleton (Houston), DH Nick Castellanos (Detroit), 3B Kaleb Cowart (LAA), C Austin Romine (NYY), RF Corey Dickerson (Colorado), 2B David Adams (NYY), and SS Chris Owings (Arizona).

I am most looking forward to watching the bottom four in the West’s order bat tonight. That’s mainly because I have seen all four (Asche, Brentz, Joseph, and Fletcher) play this season.

Oh and I want to see Hamilton run!

KC Royals minor leaguer Brian Fletcher will be playing in Saturday’s Arizona Fall League Rising Stars Game. It will be broadcast LIVE on MLB Network at 8pm ET.

I get that Fletcher was the Royals‘ priority player heading into the AFL season, meaning he would get PLENTY of playing time. However, his numbers suggest he should have been left off the roster of prospects. (That statement was hard for me to type considering I am a fan of Fletcher’s, but it is the truth.)

As a member of the Surprise Saguaros in the West Division, he has played in 13 of the team’s 19 games, mainly in left field. The team is tied for first place, but Fletcher has not exactly helped the team on offense.

Fletcher is hitting a whopping .158 with just one homerun and five RBIs. The upside is that three of his seven hits have gone for extra bases (including two doubles).

The glaring negative is the strikeouts: he has 20 of them. That means, he has struck out in almost half of his at-bats (he has 44 at-bats). The upside is that he has walked 12 times.

Hopefully, Fletcher can have a nice game on national television and restore my faith in him that he can be successful at the plate.

The Arizona Fall League Rising Stars Game will be held tonight at 8pm ET on MLB Network. I will be comfortably stationed in front of my TV watching the future of the game in action. Four KC Royals will be participating in the game, two of which are in the starting lineup. As members of the Surprise Saguaros, leaders of the AFL West Division, right fielder Wil Myers and second baseman Christian Colon are in the starting lineup. Myers will be batting third, while Colon will be batting ninth. The West squad will face the first pick of this June’s draft Gerrit Cole (Pittsburgh Pirates), who will be making the start for the East. Royals pitchers Nate Adcock and Jeremy Jeffress are also members of the West squad. Starting for the West is Danny Hultzen (Seattle Mariners), this past June’s number two pick in the draft.

For me, the game is an intriguing one. I like to watch the future of baseball in action. Minor league baseball is my true love and some of these guys I have watched play in the minors (or even in college). I’m excited to watch both Cole and Hultzen get the start tonight. In the starting lineups alone, I had a chance to watch four of the players play in person this season in the minors (Brian Dozier with the New Britain RockCats, Mike Olt with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, and Joe Terdoslavich and Christian Bethancourt with the Lynchburg Hillcats).

Being a South Jersey girl, I’m excited to see Mike Trout represent.

Shortstop Joe Panik is on the East squad and I covered him during the Big East Tournament while he was with St. John’s. Another members of this year’s draft set to play in the Rising Stars Game is Jed Bradley (Milwaukee Brewers). I also had a chance to see two pitchers from the Cleveland Indians organization pitch this year and both are closers: Cory Burns with Akron and Preston Guilmet with Kinston. I also had a chance to see lefty reliever Jake Diekman pitch this year for the Reading Phillies. Forgot to mention that I got a chance to see Toronto’s Anthony Gose win a minor league title with the New Hampshire FisherCats this season.

As you can tell, I’m excited about tonight’s game.

*Keep it here for all the updates throughout the game. I will be live updating as the game goes on as to who did what.

LINEUPS:

AFL East: Robbie Grossman RF, Mike Trout CF, Junior Lake SS, Nolan Arenado 3B, Bryce Harper DH, Derek Norris C, Ben Paulsen 1B, Brian Dozier 2B, and Tim Wheeler LF.

P: Gerrit Cole

AFL West: Kevin Mattison CF, Nick Franklin SS, Wil Myers RF, Mike Olt 3B, Michael Choice DH, Joe Terdoslavich 1B, Jaff Decker LF, Christian Bethancourt C, and Christian Colon 2B.

P: Danny Hultzen

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