Garcia posts career night for Nashville

With two big swings Tuesday night, Anthony García did something he'd yet to accomplish in 835 professional games. But that didn't stop the A's outfielder from putting the icing on his cake.
Garcia belted a pair of homers, including his third career grand slam, and recorded a Triple-A Nashville-record eight RBIs during an 11-1 victory against Omaha at First Tennessee Park. The 26-year-old also plated a run on a first-inning groundout and walked with the bases loaded in the eighth to set the mark in the franchise's 40th season in operation.

"It feels amazing. I feel excited and happy about tonight," Garcia said. "I didn't even know [about the record]. ... It's something special for me in my career. I was completely happy about it." 
The native of Carolina, Puerto Rico, spent nine seasons in the Cardinals system, reaching the Pacific Coast League with Memphis in 2015. He batted .232 in 102 Triple-A games over the past three seasons, with stints with Double-A Springfield each of those years.

Garcia elected free agency in November after batting a combined .282 with 18 homers across two levels. He signed a Minor League contract with the A's less than two weeks later.
"He takes a lot of pride in his craft," Sounds manager Fran Riordan said. "He takes a lot of pride in his ability as a hitter and he wants to show the people in Oakland that he can be an impact big league player."
The 2008 18th-round pick improved his average to .252 on Tuesday night and the pair of long balls gave him 17 on the season, drawing him closer to the personal best mark of 19 he set with Class A Quad Cities in 2012. The second blast made him the first Nashville player to drive in seven runs in a game since Erick Almonte's five-hit performance on June 6, 2011 against New Orleans.
"I've enjoyed the time I have here with the A's. I learned a lot about the game," Garcia said. "I've enjoyed my ... new teammates here. It's fun to be here and have the chance to enjoy another season."
Gameday box score
Riordan said the raw power and plate discipline stood out from Garcia's profile.
"He's been as advertised," the skipper said. "He's been one of our more consistent hitters. ... If you look at what he's done, he's really, really comfortable in his new surroundings and he's thriving here." 
In the second inning, the Sounds had already tagged Storm Chasers right-hander Zach Lovvorn for three runs on four singles and two walks before Garcia more than doubled that by turning on a 1-0 fastball for a grand slam to left-center field.
"Throughout the entire lineup, we made [Lovvorn] work. We made him throw a lot of pitches," Riordan said. "We made him come over the middle of the plate when we he got behind in counts."

Garcia bounced to third for a forceout in the fourth and followed Beau Taylor's one-out double in the sixth with his second roundtripper to left-center, jumping on a 2-1 hanging slider from left-hander Eric Stout.
"I put a good swing on it and I [would have been] just fine driving the ball to the gap," he said with a laugh.

His eighth-inning walk came on four pitches after Sam Selman walked the bases loaded to open the inning. Though double-digit RBI totals were in reach, Garcia said he had no inclination to swing away and did not want to run up the score.
"The game was [blown] open, so we made sure not to disrespect the other team," he said.
A's fourth-ranked prospectJorge Mateo went 0-for-4 with a walk and a run scored, but reached two times in the seven-run second and stole second base twice in the inning. Nineteenth-ranked Ramón Laureano had an RBI single and scored twice. Frankie Montas (2-5) yielded three hits and two walks while striking out three over five scoreless innings.
Royals No. 11 prospectJosh Staumont struck out five and walked three in three hitless innings of relief, lowering his ERA to 2.82.