Purke dominant, Skole homers in Mesa's 6-1 defeat of Peoria

Left-hander Matt Purke was outstanding again in the Arizona Fall League, going four innings for his second win as Mesa trumped Peoria 6-1. Purke (2-0) struck out seven hitters in gathering 12 outs, allowing no hits, no runs and walking only one. He tossed 54 pitches, 36 for strikes. Purke allowed only four groundouts and no flyouts. Peoria failed to make good contact against Purke. He had one hit by pitch. Brian Goodwin went 2-for-4 with a run scored. Goodwin is batting .364. Matt Skole played third base again and smacked his second home run of the season, a solo shot in a four-run fourth, finishing 1-for-3 with a run, walk, strikeout and RBI. Reliever Robert Benincasa, the 2012 seventh-round selection out of Florida State, fired one inning, allowing only one hit, no runs, no walks and striking out one. Mesa used five pitchers to strike out 14 Javelina hitters, and allowed only three hits and one run. The Solar Sox are 7-0-1 to begin the season. This is big news for Purke to have such a dominating performance and helps him gain confidence because he is facing the best prospects in baseball. Nationals prospects Sammy Solis and Purke are both off to very pleasant starts in the AFL and it is a very good sign for next season. Skole hasn't played since April and yet, he has two homers in a span of 11 days.