Sounds' Fowler falls single shy of cycle

Although he hasn't gotten off to the kind of start he'd hoped for in his first season playing in the Oakland organization, Dustin Fowler has been consistent.
The A's No. 5 prospect has not gone more than two games without a hit, a trend that continued Sunday as he was 3-for-5 and fell a single shy of the cycle in Triple-A Nashville's 7-2 victory over New Orleans at First Tennessee Park.

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"I'm getting my timing back and rhythm back, feeling comfortable at the plate, more aggressive at the plate," the 23-year-old said. "Rather than tracking pitches, I'm staying through the ball like last year and my power is starting to come back."
Fowler, a key part of the trade that sent right-hander Sonny Gray to the Yankees last July, is showing why the A's coveted him, despite a debilitating knee injury in his Major League debut that cost him the final two months of the 2017 season. He said he was feeling some pressure to justify the trade.

"Yeah, of course, it's hard not to," the Georgia Southern product said. "But I was with the guys in Oakland for about a month and a half after the trade, so I know everybody well. But still I wanted to show them what I had. It was natural for me to come into Spring Training and want to show them.
"Then, when they sent me down, I kind of settled down. They wanted me to get my swings in and get my work in and I understand that."
The 2013 18th-round pick seems to have settled in with Nashville, collecting three hits in half of his last six games. He's slugged both of his homers in the past four contests, although he acknowledges he's not a home run hitter.
"I'm not changing anything [to hit home runs], I just have my contact point farther out front," Fowler said. "I'm getting my rhythm back and catching the ball out front. But it's about keeping that approach and not starting to pull off the ball."
The left-handed hitter said his knee is back to 100 percent after he crashed into an electrical box at Chicago's Guaranteed Rate Field in his Major League debut on June 30. Fowler had just gotten called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after batting .293/.329/.542 in 70 games and had not had a chance to bat when the injury occurred. His promising season was over and it looked like his career might be in jeopardy.
The injury was so severe that Fowler sued the agency that runs Guaranteed Rate Field and the White Sox for negligence. The lawsuit claimed that Fowler sustained "severe and permanent" internal and external injuries.
The Georgia native declined to discuss the lawsuit but said the knee feels great and that he experiences no issues in the outfield or on the basepaths, where he already has five stolen bases.

"That's one thing I was worried with, but I was able to steal a couple of bases," he said. "The speed is there, and it's showing."
Fowler started slowly Sunday, flying to center field in the first inning against Baby Cakes starter and Marlins No. 2 prospect Sandy Alcantara. But he tripled to center and scored in the fourth, doubled to right and scored again in the fifth and lined a two-run shot to right in the seventh. With a chance to hit for the cycle for the second time in his career -- he accomplished the feat last April 30 for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre -- Fowler grounded out in the eighth.
Franklin Barreto, MLB.com's No. 64 overall prospect, went 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, an RBI and a run scored for the Sounds.
Another former Yankees prospect, Jeremy Bleich, got the win in relief, allowing a hit and two walks over 3 1/3 scoreless innings. 
Alcantara (0-1) gave up four runs on seven hits and three walks over five innings, striking out four.
Meanwhile, Fowler is happy to be hitting his stride, but admits he can't help but look at what the big club is doing.
"Yeah, I want to keep up with the guys," he said. "It's nice seeing them doing well.
"I'm just grinding and making sure that when the call comes I am good and ready to stay up [in the Majors] for good."