AWL Scorpions falter late, can't cool off red-hot Chill

The Yuma Scorpions were three outs away from completing a brilliant comeback and slowing down the hottest team in the Arizona Winter League.

But a team doesn't win 12 in a row without catching a few breaks along the way.

After blowing a 6-1 lead and falling behind by a run going into the ninth inning, Palm Springs struck for two runs in its final at-bat to prolong its winning streak with an 8-7 victory Wednesday at Desert Sun Stadium.

Mike Thompson hit an RBI double that was carried by the wind to tie the game, and Joe Dempsey drove in the winning run with a base hit.

"We've been struggling a little bit to win games, and the guys put together a couple nice innings to give us a lead," Scorpions manager Mike Marshall said. "It was a little unfortunate in the ninth. Thompson hit that fly ball and a 40 mph wind took it to the wall.

"I was happy the guys battled and played a good ballgame. We hadn't been doing that."

Trailing 6-1 in the bottom of the seventh, Yuma's Pat Cummins hit a two-run triple, and Calderon plated him with a two-out RBI single to make it 6-4.

The Scorpions came back with three more in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI double by Pete Farina, and RBI singles by Mike Porchas and Cummins. Cummins' hit came with two out and broke the tie. He went 3-for-5 with three RBIs.

Palm Springs starting pitcher Jason Cline went six innings, striking out eight while only allowing one unearned run. He got into a bases loaded, no-out jam in the sixth, only allowing a run on a passed ball. He struck out two in the inning.

"That kid, Cline, is one of the best arms here," Marshall said. "I'm sure he'll be one of the higher picks. He shut us down there for about five or six innings, and then we got to their bullpen a little bit."