Judge delivers for Scorpions in AFL debut

Aaron Judge and his Scottsdale teammates didn't lose their cool when Glendale scored three runs in the eighth inning to take the lead on Friday night.

The Scorpions responded by putting four tallies on the board in the bottom of the frame, with the Yankees' fifth-ranked prospect delivering a game-tying two-run double. Judge came home on a base hit by Greg Bird for a 6-5 victory over the Desert Dogs.

"I was a little nervous to begin with before the game," Judge said after his first taste of Arizona Fall League action. "Once I got out there and started seeing live pitching again, I was fine. There's good competition here and I want to see how I stack up."

The 22-year-old right fielder split 2014 between Class A Charleston and Class A Advanced Tampa, playing 65 games in the South Atlantic League and 66 games in the Florida State League. He posted a .308/.419/.486 slash line with 17 homers and 78 RBIs, drawing 89 walks and striking out 131 times.

"More the mental side of the game," Judge said about the lessons learned in his first pro season. "Everyone has the physical tools, it's just about the mental side now. Some days you go 4-for-4 or throw a shutout and some days you might go 0-for-4 or give up four or five runs if you're a pitcher. You just have to stay even-keeled and compete, compete, compete."

The SAL midseason All-Star is dedicating his time in the Fall League to refining his approach at the plate.

"I'm getting with our hitting coach, P.J. [Pilittere]," Judge said. "Me and him talk about getting championship at-bats every time. I may go 0-for-50 while I'm here, but if I have 50 quality at-bats, I'll be happy with that."

Scottsdale (2-2) got its first run of the eighth on an RBI single by Giants prospect Blake Miller. After Glendale (1-2) grabbed an early 2-0 lead, Daniel Carbonell (Giants) hit an RBI groundout in the third. An inning later, Logan Moore (Phillies) followed a triple by Mets No. 20 prospect Matt Reynolds with a single to right.

Top Dodgers prospect Corey Seager lashed an RBI triple in the first for the Desert Dogs and top Brewers prospect Tyrone Taylor made it 2-0 with a run-scoring single in the second.

Glendale forged ahead in the eighth on RBI singles by Orioles prospects Garabez Rosa and Jason Esposito and a throwing error by Carbonell at third base.

Yankees right-hander Alex Smith improved to 1-1, despite allowing three runs -- one earned -- on four hits and a walk with one strikeout in pitching the eighth. Kyle Haynes (Yankees) picked up his first save, fanning one in a perfect ninth.

Tigers righty Chad Smith (0-1) took the loss after retiring one of the seven batters he faced in the eighth for the Desert Dogs.