Bucs batterymates lead Scorpions in duel

The Pirates organization had plenty to be pleased with on Friday night in the Arizona Fall League as batterymates Joely Rodriguez and Elias Diaz proved a winning combination.

Rodriguez scattered four hits and a walk while striking out four over four innings, setting the tone in Scottsdale's 1-0 victory over visiting Glendale. Diaz caught the whitewash, made a game-ending putout, went 2-for-3 at the plate and scored the game's only run.

"We've been working together for five years, so I know him really well," Diaz said of the 22-year-old left-hander "Tonight, he was aggressive and attacked the hitters. His changeup was really good and his slider was really good against left-handers."

Rodriguez is 3-0 with a 0.95 ERA in six starts for the Scorpions (11-16). He went 6-11 with a 4.84 ERA in 30 games, including 21 starts, for Double-A Altoona during the regular season.

The native of the Dominican Republic was followed by Paul Seward (Mets), who pitched the fifth and sixth, and Tyler Rogers (Giants), who recorded four outs. Angel Sanchez (1-0), another Pirates prospect, worked the final 1 1/3 innings to earn his first AFL decision.

"The pitchers made it easy for me tonight," Diaz said. "They attacked the zone and threw their changeups, breaking balls and good sliders. When they pitch like that, it's easy to call the game. I tried to call the right pitches all the time."

After Sanchez struck out the first two batters in the ninth, Tigers prospect Daniel Fields got to him with a single. Dodgers No. 13 prospect Darnell Sweeney lined a double to left field, but 15th-ranked Yankees prospectTyler Austin fielded the ball cleanly and threw to Scorpions shortstop Matt Reynolds. The Mets' No. 20 prospect made a perfect relay to Diaz, who applied the tag to Fields.

"The run, they're going to tie the game, so I just had to catch the ball and tag him," Diaz said. "When I saw the runner, I said I had him. It was a good throw and [that] made it an easy play for me."

The 23-year-old backstop singled in the fifth and led off the eighth with another base hit. He took second on a sacrifice by fifth-ranked Phillies prospect Roman Quinn and scored on an error by Sweeney at second base.

Diaz, a native of Venezuela, hit .312 between Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis this year. He's batting .279 in the AFL.

"My goal is to finish the season strong on both sides, on defense and hitting," he said. "I work every day on my defense and I want to finish strong."

Brewers left-hander Wei-Chung Wang turned in five scoreless innings for the Desert Dogs (10-15), fanning five and yielding three hits and a walk.

"Wang was really good," Diaz said. "He struck out a lot of people tonight. He struck me out. His fastball and changeup were good. He threw the ball really well tonight."

Sweeney was 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and top Dodgers prospect Corey Seager singled twice.