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2003 season October 19, 2003
Week three of Arizona Fall League action saw the Mesa Solar Sox continue to roll over the rest of the league, finishing the week with a 12-3 record. Team USA finally lost its second game after winning five straight against AFL opponents. Still raking: Jonny Gomes (Devil Rays - OF) and
Jason Dubois (Cubs - OF), both playing for the Solar Sox, refuse
to slow down. Gomes celebrated being named the AFL Player of the Week
for Week two by swatting another pair of homeruns. He leads the league
with five long balls, and is batting .375/.524/.969. Dubois and fellow
Solar Sox teammate Pete LaForest (Devil Rays - C) trail Gomes in
homers with four each ... Scott Hairston (Diamondbacks - 2B)
ended the week with three straight three-hit games to jump on top of the
league batting race at .391 ...
Adrian
Gonzalez is happy to be healthy again, and he's taking it out on
AFL pitchers this fall ... Mound marvels:
Dewon Brazelton (Devil Rays - P) had the most impressive outing of the week, pitching five shutout innings Wednesday night for the Solar Sox against the Scottsdale Scorpions. The big right-handed threw five scoreless innings, yielding only three hits and two walks while fanning five. Brazelton was most effective with a breaking ball in the low 80s, while keeping his other pitches in the high 80s - low 90s range ... Henry Bonilla (Twins - P) had his best minor league season this year in his first trip to Class AA. He pitched very well in yesterday's game against the Javelinas, going five scoreless innings without walking a batter and giving up only two hits. Bonilla allowed only two fly balls to the outfield, with the rest of his outs coming on a pair of strikeouts and 11 groundouts ... Justin Duchscherer (Athletics - P) had another strong outing for Team USA with five shutout innings. In two AFL games, Duchscherer has yet to give up a run. It appears as if Team USA has found its staff ace ... Right-hander Ben Hendrickson had a solid five-inning performance to lower his AFL ERA to 0.69. Mr. Hustle:
John Labandeira (Expos - INF) claimed when having his photo taken that no one ever wants to write about him. That's a real oversight, since the 24-year-old infielder is an undersized (5'7"), scrappy player that constantly hustles à la David Eckstein. Labandeira sprints up to the plate when it's his turn at bat and throws his body all over the field trying to get in front of ground balls. It's easy to write off players with lesser physical abilities like Labandeira, just like many of us did with previous AFL players Eckstein and Bo Hart. But never underestimate the value of a player's heart and soul. Wedding bells: Chris Snyder (Diamondbacks - C) took a leave of absence from the AFL for the weekend to return home to Houston to get married. Snyder will return to the Scorpions this week. The week ahead: Team USA finishes its 12-game AFL stint with games Monday through Thursday. There are no night games this week due to the World Series. --- Bill Mitchell All photos on the Arizona Fall League Report are credited to Bill Mitchell, unless noted otherwise, and are not to be used for any other purpose without express permission.
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