Games

(4-2) Peoria Javelinas 6, (2-4) Salt River Rafters 2 Box Score

(4-3) Peoria Javelinas 3, (3-4) Surprise Saguaros 10 Box Score (No Braves Participated)

(5-3) Peoria Javelinas 6, (3-5) Surprise Saguaros 4 Box Score

Ronald Acuna

2-9, 2 BB, SB, .286/.423/.286

Acuna had a bland couple of the games at the plate for Peoria, but still did reach base twice in each game and has reached base safely now in all 6 games this fall. His only game without a hit was the game he left early with injury. Acuna struck out and flew out in his first two plate appearances in game 1, but in the sixth inning put up a strong battle at the plate by fouling off 3 pitches with 2 strikes and eventually coaxing a 9 pitch walk. Acuna struck out in his 4th plate appearance before knocking a base hit through the left side in the top of the ninth for his first hit of the game. Acuna opened the game on Wednesday with a base hit to left field, but was eventually stranded at third with 2 outs. Acuna drew a 6 pitch walk in the 5th inning and followed that by stealing his first base of the AFL season. Acuna only struck out twice in the opening week of the season but struggled more over the last games with two strikeouts in each.

5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, 0.00 ERA

Max Fried didn’t manage the strikeout totals from his game one performance but dominated yet again for the Rafters. Fried set down the first 12 batters he faced in the game in order, with just two balls leaving the infield. Fried struck out 4 batters in the game, and got 7 ground ball outs. Fried allowed a double to open the 5th inning and walked the next batter to end his perfect streak, but forced a double play to the next man up and benefitted from AJax gunning a man down on a pickoff to end the inning. Fried topped out at 96 mph in the game, though in the last inning he was sitting closer to 92-94 as he possibly was running out of steam just a bit. Fried is third in the league in innings pitched and has the most of any pitcher who has yet to allow an earned run, and is tied for the league lead in strikeouts with a guy who has pitched 2 more innings.

DNP

6-11, 2 2B, HR, 2 RBI, .381/.435/.762

Alex Jackson is making a name for himself early in this AFL season, and is now ranked 4th in the league in OPS. Jackson flew out in his first at bat of the week but singled his next time up and scored on a double that opened the scoring in Peoria’s 6-2 win. Jackson singled his next time up as well to load the bases preceding a sacrifice fly that extended Peoria’s lead in the game. Jackson walked with one out in the 7th inning to open up a rally for Peoria, as they loaded the bases and scored 3 runs to break the game open and put it out of the reach of the Rafters. Jackson was a catalyst again in game two, and opened his day and Peoria’s with the second inning home run shown below. Jackson struck out in his next at bat for his only out of the day, then singled up the middle as part of a rally that saw Peoria get an RBI walk to make it a 3-1 game. Jackson doubled with two outs in the seventh inning but Peoria couldn’t make anything of it, but his 9th inning at bat was key to victory for the Javelinas. Peoria led 4-2 in the game, but Surprise managed to score two in the bottom of the 9th inning, making Jackson’s 2 out RBI double the difference in the game. Jackson struggled again in the first game at throwing out runners and allowed 2 stolen bases, but threw out his first runner of the fall in Wednesday’s game.

#Braves Alex Jackson just went yard in #AFL. He knew it was gone immediately. pic.twitter.com/0uEygYcaGd — William Boor (@wboor) October 18, 2017

Austin Riley

DNP

Josh Graham

DNP

Corbin Clouse

DNP

Jared James

2-4, 2 2B, BB, .333/.438/.500

James was a key component for Peoria in their Wednesday win with 2 hits and an RBI. James flew out in his first at bat but in the fourth inning doubled with 2 outs and came in to score Peoria’s 3rd run of the game. James struck out in the 6th inning and drew a walk in the 7th. Following AJax’s RBI double in the 9th inning James worked the count full before knocking a double of his own to score Jackson and extend Peoria’s lead to 6-2. James ranks among the leaders in the AFL in OPS and is 9th in the league in on base percentage.