Washington Nationals Minor Leagues: Chris Bostick Hits Two Homers In Salt River Win
By Ricky Keeler
Yesterday was the third day of Arizona Fall League games and one of the Washington Nationals’ prospects had a good day at the plate for the Salt River Rafters. The Harrisburg Senators’ second baseman, Christopher Bostick, went 3-for-4 with two home runs and three RBI’s in his second game of AFL action as the Rafters beat the Peoria Javelinas by a final score of 9-7.
Bostick’s first home run came in the top of the sixth inning. With Peoria leading 4-3, the Rafters had Oscar Hernandez (Diamondbacks) on second with two outs. Then, Bostick hit a 1-2 fastball over the wall in left field for a two-run shot against David Rollins (Mariners) to put Salt River ahead, 5-4.
The 22-year-old second baseman wasn’t the only Nats prospect that played a part in this game. John Simms, who pitched with Potomac and Harrisburg during the 2015 season, had shutout the Javelinas for his two innings of relief. But, in the seventh, after Mike Yastremski (Orioles) was hit by a pitch, Phil Ervin (Reds) doubled to center field to drive in Yastremski and tie the game at five.
Despite Simms giving up the one run, he still picked up the win. The 23-year-old right-hander went three innings, gave up that one run on three hits, struck out two, and walked one on 45 pitches (25 strikes).
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Bostick would come to bat in the top of the eighth inning and give the Rafters the lead back when he hit a two-out, two-run homer to left center on a 2-1 slider against Cody Hebner, who ended up taking the loss. In two AFL games, Bostick, who is in Arizona because of Wilmer Difo’s broken hand, is 3-for-8 with those two home runs, four RBI’s, and four runs scored. Here is what Bostick told MILB.com about what he’s looking to accomplish in Arizona:
"“The biggest thing is I’m trying to be aggressive on pitches I can handle and laying off the pitches that maybe I can’t handle too well. Trying to stay consistent and put my best swing on the best pitch I can get.” (h/t MILB.com)"
After Rowdy Tellez (Blue Jays) hit a two-run home run in the top of the ninth to put Salt River up 9-5, Harrisburg right-hander Abel De Los Santos came in to try to close the game out. De Los Santos gave up a solo home run to Tyler O’Neill (Mariners) to begin the inning. Three batters later, Johan Camargo (Braves) drove in Gabriel Quintana (Padres) to cut the lead to 9-7.
However, de Los Santos was able to finish the game by getting Adrian Marin (Orioles) to ground into a game ending 4-6-3 double play. The 22-year-old right-hander threw 14 of his 17 pitches for strikes in his Arizona Fall League debut.
Tripp Keister’s Salt River Rafters will be back in action tomorrow afternoon when they take on the Javelinas at 9:35 PM ET. Jeremy Gabryszwski (Blue Jays) will take the mound for Salt River against Nick Travieso (Reds) for Peoria.