Scottsdale Scorpions 2, Salt River Rafters 4
- Aaron Northcraft: IP, H, 3ER 3BB, 0K
- John Cornely: 2IP, H, 0ER, 3BB, 3K
- Shae Simmons: IP, 0H, 0ER, 0BB, K
Aaron Northcraft made his sixth start of the AFL season, going one inning giving up three runs on a hit and three walks. It took the 23-year-old 30 pitches to get through the inning, with only 13 coming for strikes. The righty clearly labored through the outing, at one point walking three straight guys. Mechanically, part of Northcraft's problem was he was throwing "flat" and not generating any downward action on his pitches, causing his spotty location. Northcraft was TC's 19th ranked prospect mid-season.
John Cornely came in to throw two innings of relief, walking three and striking out three. He threw 37 pitches, 21 of them coming for strikes. After a rough start to the season, Cornely has made six straight shutout appearances. Shae Simmons also got an inning in relief, blanking Salt River while striking out one. I've talked about SImmons a lot on here, but for good reason. His fastball slider combo is killer, making him one of the top (if not top) relief arms in the Braves system.
No Braves position players appeared in Thursday's game. Scottsdale will host Glendale Friday night. The game will again be broadcast on MLBN (or MLB.com for free) at 9ET.