Purke, Goodwin part of Mesa's 8-1 win over Salt River

By Byron Kerr

Nationals

October 11, 2013, 5:15am

Comments

For the second game in a row, Mesa's pitching and hitting was far better than their opponent. The Solar Sox rolled past the Salt River Rafters 8-1 in Arizona Fall League play behind Matt Purke. The left-hander was outstanding, going three innings and allowing one unearned run on two hits with one walk and two strikeouts. Purke tossed 46 pitches, 30 for strikes, inducing six groundouts and two flyouts. That is also back-to-back games a Nationals southpaw prospect was a winner, as Mesa improved to 2-0-1. Brian Goodwin batted second and played center field again, and went 1-for-5 with a run scored and two strikeouts. But his hit was a big one, an RBI single in a five-run ninth where the Solar Sox opened it up. He also had an RBI on a fielder's choice in the fifth. Matt Skole played first base for the first time this season in Arizona. Skole went 0-for-4, but scored a run, walked and struck out. Mesa has scored 29 runs in three games and pounded out 41 hits. The pitching has been very good, especially the last two games with Sammy Solis and Purke.