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The tune-up for the World Baseball Classic also gave the D-backs a chance to run out some young players, with the absence of a number of regulars, now off to play for their country. Those actually include Alek Thomas, who was in the opposition dugout here, and went 2-for-3, driving a run against his regular employers. Six of the eight Arizona pitchers used put up a zero today. That included starter Zac Gallen, who worked two innings in his second start of spring. It only took him 22 pitches for Zac to get through his work today, allowing one hit, without a walk or a strikeout.
After that, there were zeroes put up by Taylor Clarke, Joe Ross, Andrew Hoffmann, and in his debut, Grant Homan, of the players expected to be competing seriously for a roster spot. Hoffman looked particularly good, striking out two of the three batters he faced in the sixth. Most of the damage came off Juan Morillo, who was ambushed for four hits in his first handful of pitches, on his way to a four-run fourth for Mexico. Dylan Ray allowed a home-run in the eighth to land mammal Rowdy Tellez, and another in the ninth to Alejandro Osuna. ABS was not in play this afternoon, so nothing to report there.
On offense, both sides notched eleven hits. Tim Tawa and Jordan Lawlar each had a pair of hits among the starters, while LuJames Groover went 2-for-2 off the bench. James McCann had an RBI single and a walk, but the D-backs spurned a number of chances to come back after falling 4-0 down. They were 3-for-15 with runners in scoring position – significantly more chances than the Mexican squad, who were 3-for-9 with RISP. Still, a better performance by the D-backs than the Giants, who were murdered to the tune of 15-1 by ‘Merica. Hey, and the British team beat the Brewers 7-3, Kristin Robinson notching a pair of hits for Blighty.
Normal Cactus League service will be resumed again at Hohokam, with a game against the Athletics. Brandon Pfaadt is your scheduled starter there, in a 1:05 pm first pitch.