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Zach Thompson rocked in ugly AFL day for Sox

Rivera and Basabe go hitless in Glendale loss

Short Game, Big Crash: Thompson saw his strong AFL season to date get all shook up at the hands of the Javelinas.
Kim Contreras (@Cu_As)/South Side Sox

Peoria Javelinas 3, Glendale Desert Dogs 1 (7)

Laz Rivera (2B, batting seventh): 0-for-2 (.255)

Luis Basabe (CF, batting ninth): 0-for-2, K, assist (.192)

L: Zach Thompson (RP, sixth inning): 23 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 BB (4.15)

It was probably good this one only went seven innings (I believe with the AFL All-Star Game tomorrow, all Friday games were trimmed to seven innings), because Glendale’s effort — buoyed by three different White Sox prospects — wasn’t so hot.

The two White Sox hitters in the game did nothing to advance the Desert Dogs cause. Rivera flied out to center in the third and and out to right in the fifth. Basabe flew out to right in the third and was called out on strikes in the sixth.

Basabe redeemed his efforts on offense a bit in the bottom of the sixth. The strong-armed center fielder helped fellow Chisox prospect Thompson, in the middle of the hurler’s meltdown, by throwing out San Diego Padres prospect Hudson Potts, who tried to stretch his double to a triple but was re-jected by Basabe.

Thompson was simply awful. He entered clean to start the sixth, and promptly soiled the bed. The only out he earned came on his first batter, and even that was a sharply-smacked ground out to third. Next, Thompson gave up a double to left, followed by an intentional walk (it being, essentially, the “eighth” inning, I suppose the IBB was done for the inning-ending double play “late” in the game). With runners on first and second, Potts doubled in two, with Thompson getting a second out courtesy of Basabe’s arm.

Rather than seizing the good fortune and getting out of the inning, Thompson began to re-fill the bases, giving up a single to Tampa Bay Rays prospect Joe McCarthy, a passed ball getting McCarthy to second, and then a walk to Weston Wilson.

At that point, Thompson got the hook, with reliever Tanner Chleborad failing to pick up his teammate by letting in one run, on Thompson’s tab.

It was a pretty miserable game for Glendale, which had been playing at a better clip over the past week. But only four hits, no walks in any game, even one trimmed to seven innings, isn’t going to get things done.

Regular play is off for All-Star weekend, so perhaps the Desert Dogs come back hard on Monday and continue a pursuit to get back to .500.