Kieboom, Bautista, Simms and Bacus shining in winter play

Right-hander Abel del los Santos took the loss in the Arizona Fall League Rising Stars Game on Saturday night as the West beat the East 8-3.

With the game tied at 2-2 in the fifth inning,, de los Santos allowed a couple of hits, a wild pitch, a passed ball and a sacrifice fly. He did finish the inning, allowing only the one run.

The Salt River Rafters (12-8) are one game back of Scottsdale for first place in the East Division as the second half begins in AFL play. The Rafters have lost two in a row.

Catcher Spencer Kieboom is hitting .281 through 10 games. His on-base percentage is good at .395 with six walks and seven strikeouts. He has yet to commit an error. Chris Bostick is hitting .213 and has a double, a triple, two homers and six RBIs.

John Simms (3-0) has a 1.69 ERA in four games. Dakota Bacus (0-0) has a 1.59 ERA in five games. Nick Lee (0-1) has a 3.38 ERA in five games.

Salt River can get back in a first-place tie with a win at Scottsdale (13-7) today at 3:35 p.m. Eastern time.

span-running-gray-smile-sidebar.jpg* CBSSports.com baseball writer Jon Heyman came out with his list of top 50 free agents and it has several Nationals on the list, including right-hander Jordan Zimmermann (No. 8) and shortstop Ian Desmond (No. 10) in the Top 10.

Also making the list is center fielder Denard Span (No. 25) and right-hander Doug Fister (No. 34). Former Nationals reliever Tyler Clippard, now with the Mets, is No. 33.

Orioles catcher Matt Wieters is at No. 22, ironically with a curly W Nationals emblem next to his name. Foreshadowing? There have been rumors that the Nationals might be interested in the switch-hitting catcher.

* Outfielder Rafael Bautista is leading the Dominican winter league in batting average at .415 through 15 games. He is second with 22 hits and has four doubles, one triple, two stolen bases and four RBIs.

Catcher Pedro Severino is hitting .265 through 11 games for Aguilas. He has three doubles, two homers and four RBIs. He is tied for the team lead in slugging percentage at .529 with Wilin Rosario.

Center fielder Brian Goodwin is hitting .231 thorugh 10 games with Margarita in the Venezuelan winter league. He has a double, triple, homer, two stolen bases and six RBIs in 10 games. He is controlling strikeouts a bit, with six walks with six strikeouts in 39 at-bats.




Dylan Bundy scratched from today's AFL start
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