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Top prospects shine on Fall League Day 4

Wallner, Wiemer show pop; Donovan continues to rake in desert
Matt Wallner mashed 15 home runs in 66 regular season games with High-A Cedar Rapids this year. (Norm Hall/Getty Images)
October 17, 2021

Scottsdale 8, Peoria 2 Matt Wallner found the seats for the first time in the Fall League with an opposite-field two-run blast to open the scoring for the Scorpions. The 14th-ranked Twins prospect, who missed roughly two months during the season with a right wrist injury, was limited to 68

Scottsdale 8, Peoria 2
Matt Wallner found the seats for the first time in the Fall League with an opposite-field two-run blast to open the scoring for the Scorpions. The 14th-ranked Twins prospect, who missed roughly two months during the season with a right wrist injury, was limited to 68 games this year. Still, the Southern Mississippi product flexed a .508 slugging percentage. Wallner bookended Scottsdale’s scoring on Saturday with an RBI knock to right in the ninth. A pair of Cleveland prospects also contributed to the Scorpions’ victory – Jose Tena and Richard Palacios, Nos. 12 and 14 respectively. Tena lifted a sacrifice fly to left in the seventh, and Palacios notched a pair of RBI knocks – including a double in the fifth. Second-ranked Red Sox prospect Triston Casas and No. 11 Rays prospect Heriberto Hernandez drove in a run apiece in the eighth.

MLB Pipeline’s No. 62 overall prospect Nick Gonzales led Peoria’s offense with a pair of hits – including a two-bagger. Philadelphia’s Bryson Stott (MLB No. 97) drove in the second Javelinas run with an RBI double to center in the fifth. He also worked a walk. Seattle’s sixth-ranked prospect Zach DeLoach reached base three times with a double and two walks. More »

Glendale 6, Surprise 4
Brendan Donovan paced all players with a three-hit output. The 18th-ranked Cardinals prospect laced a double to left in the fifth and came around to score the game-tying run two batters later. Donovan plated the go-ahead run with an RBI knock to left in the sixth and led off the eighth with a base hit into right. Angels No. 20 prospect Robinson Pina took the hill for the Desert Dogs and worked around a hit and a walk to post a pair of shutout frames. MLB Pipeline’s No. 24 overall prospect Nolan Gorman reached on a throwing error by Ivan Johnson and also worked a walk, scoring both times he was on base. Houston’s Grae Kessinger was a smorgasbord of production -- the No. 23 prospect collected a hit, a walk, an RBI and a run scored. Cincinnati’s 16th-ranked prospect Ivan Johnson mashed his second long ball of the campaign – a solo shot to right in the eighth to cap the Saguaros’ scoring. The 23-year-old also drove in another run with a knock in the third. Seventh-ranked Rangers prospect Ezequiel Duran recorded a multihit effort – leading off the fifth with a triple – and scored twice. More »

Salt River 15, Mesa 7 (F/8)
Hitting was certainly contagious for the Rafters as the club combined to tally 13 knocks. Joey Wiemer reached base four times, drove in a trio of runs and scored thrice. The 23rd-ranked Brewers prospect connected on his first long ball of the Fall League with a two-run shot to right in the second inning. The 22-year-old was hit by a pitch in the fourth and scampered home on a wild pitch later in the frame. Wiemer got a second at-bat in the fourth and legged out an infield single before coming around to score again to cap an eight-run frame for Salt River. The 2020 fourth-rounder worked a five-pitch bases loaded walk in his final plate appearance in the seventh.

Colorado’s Michael Toglia (No. 6) found the seats for the second straight night with a two-run blast. The 23-year-old finished with two hits, a walk and a pair of runs scored. Spencer Torkelson (MLB No. 4) notched two hits, a walk, an RBI and scored twice. Brett Baty (MLB No. 45) continued his scorching start with an RBI triple. He also drew a pair of walks, drove in two runs and scored twice. Ezequiel Tovar was the fourth Salt River player to record a multihit game – the No. 11 Rockies prospect also drove in a run and scored. Oakland’s 28th-ranked prospect Austin Beck entered the game as a pinch-hitter and lined a two-run single in the eighth to cap the Solar Sox scoring before the game was called when Mesa ran out of pitchers. More »