SURPRISE, AZ – Greg Bird (NYY) homered twice and Pirates pitching prospect Tom Harlan tossed three innings with just one hit and no earned runs (two runs), but the opposing Surprise Saguaros (5-4) rallied for five runs and a 7-3 victory over the Scottsdale Scorpions (5-4) on Thursday night at Surprise Stadium.

Harlan was charged with a pair of unearned runs when his first two batters reached and scored on a series of Scorpions errors in the first. The right-hander then rebounded to retire eight of the final nine Saguaros and face the minimum through the remainder of his otherwise scoreless outing.

Bird drew Scottsdale even with a two-run homer in the fourth. After Surprise responded with three runs in two frames, the Yankees farmhand again put Scottsdale on the board by lifting a solo shot that cut the deficit to 5-3 in the sixth. Bird’s multi-homer effort extends his hitting streak to each of his first eight AFL games, a span in which he is 13-for-33 with three doubles, three homers and nine runs scored and nine RBI.

The Scorpions threatened in the eighth when singles from Daniel Carbonell (SF) and Blake Miller (SF) put the tying run on base with only one out. However, reliever Josh McElwee (TEX) halted the rally with back-to-back strikeouts in his scoreless from.e

Brandon Alger (SD) slammed the door in the ninth, capping a combined three shutout innings from Surprise’s bullpen.

Author’s Note:
This content was originally published on the Indianapolis Indians’ official blog, “The Inside Pitch.”