Ryley Gilliam, Photo by Ed Delany of MMN

Arizona Fall League (AFL)

Scottsdale Scorpions (2-0) 8, Surprise Saguaros (1-1) 6 Box Score

• C Patrick Mazeika: 3-for-5, R, 2B, K | .600 AVG/1.400 OPS
• RHP Ryley Gilliam: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 K, 0 BB, Hold(1) | 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1.000 WHIP

With Joey Bart starting as the DH in the game, Mets catching prospect Patrick Mazeika got his first start behind the plate and showed off the “bat first, defense second” skill-set that has him on the back-end of most prospect rankings. He led off the second inning with a sharp line drive the other way to right field and scored three batters later on a sacrifice fly by Atlanta’s Justin Dean. He added another line drive single to right field in the third inning and led off the ninth inning with bloop double that dropped in between the shortstop and left fielder.

On the defensive end, Mazeika had a more mixed day as he have a passed ball in the fourth inning which allowed a runner to advance third base and score on a ground-out. The battery of him and JoJo Romero also allowed a stolen base in that same inning, although, Mazeika did throw out the speedy Josh Stowers trying to steal second base in the sixth inning.

On the mound, Ryley Gilliam made his first appearance and pitched well despite really poor defensive play behind him. Gilliam retired five of the first six batters he faced before back to back fielding errors by Toronto prospects, Kevin Smith and Logan Warmoth, and a double resulted in two unearned runs scoring. Gilliam would get out of the inning though with no further damage. In total he threw 19 of his 30 pitches (63%) for strikes.