AFL Update:
In a preview of this Saturday's AFL Championship game, the Phoenix Desert Dogs welcomed Peoria, Arizona's second-favorite team, the Javelinas, into Phoenix Municipal Stadium for a tightly-contested one-run game that ended with the Washington Nationals' second 1st Round pick, pitcher Drew Storen striking out two of the five batters he faced and giving up one and two-out singles to put two runners on before the fifth hitter, Seattle Mariners' outfield prospect Joseph Dunnigan, chased an 0-2 pitch out of the zone for a swinging strike three. Desert Dogs win, 7-6 final. Storen throws 19 pitches, twelve for strikes, and earns his 4th save while lowering his ERA to 0.66 in 12 G and 13.2 IP in which the 22-year-old right-hander has allowed 16 hits, 3 runs, 1 earned and 3 walks while striking out 13 AFL batters and winning two games, (2-0).
The top of the Desert Dogs' lineup gets it done, combining for 9 hits in 17 at bats with 7 RBI's and 3 runs scored between them. DC infield prospect Danny Espinosa, batting second, goes 3 for 3 with a walk, two runs scored and a two-out RBI single in the ninth that keeps the game alive long enough for Oakland A's outfielder Corey Brown and Espinosa's fellow future-National Chris Marrero to tie and then win it with Brown hitting a two-run double and scoring on Marrero's go-ahead single to complete a 6-run bottom of the eighth. Brown ends the game 3 for 4 with a walk, a run scored and two RBI's. Marrero's now hitting .342 with a .398 OBP, .532 SLG, a .929 OPS, 6 doubles, 3 HR's and 20 RBI's in 19 games and 79 AFL at bats. Espinosa's RBI is his 14th in 23 games and 85 AB's over which he's hit for a .353 AVG with 5 doubles, a triple and 1 HR, a silly .442 OBP, a .471 SLG and a .913 OPS.
• Final Score - Desert Dogs, 7 Javelinas 6. MLB.com GameDay.