Chukars' Jones delivers first five-hit game

Travis Jones continues to rake, no matter where he plays or what kind of bat he uses. 
In his second Pioneer League game and playing for his third team in less than a month, Jones had a career-high five hits and two RBIs in Rookie-level Idaho Falls' 13-1 rout of Helena on Friday night at Kindrick Legion Field.
"My approach has been pretty consistent since the beginning of my career and it's simply just trying to find the barrel early in the count," the Royals' 29th-round pick in last month's Draft said. "Realistically, I'm just trying to put the ball in play every at-bat and letting God do the rest because you can't control where the ball goes once you hit it.

Box score
The 21-year-old outfielder reached on a bunt single in the first inning before collecting a single in the third and a double in the fourth. 
"[Bunting] used to be a huge part of my game, but getting on base is really the ultimate objective," Jones said. "The defense gave me an opportunity and I tried to take advantage of it."
After striking out against reliever Cody Martin in the fifth, the University of Texas product reached on an infield single in the seventh and roped a two-run single to right in the eighth before getting thrown out trying to stretch it into a double.
"I hit a line drive down the right-field line, but the outfield grass slows the ball down quite a bit and the right fielder made a great play and a great throw to the bag and hosed me at second," Jones said.
The Humble, Texas, native, joined Idaho Falls on Wednesday after going 9-for-23 (.391) over seven games with Rookie-level Burlington in the Appalachian League. Jones began his professional career on June 27 by going 16-for-33 (.485) over nine games in the Rookie-level Arizona League. 
"In Arizona, I switched bats halfway through, then moved to Burlington and continued to use the same bat," he said. "But when I got to Idaho, I stumbled upon a new bat that I liked and started using it. After my first game going 0-for-3, I was skeptical about continuing to use it, but I stuck with it and it paid off tonight.
The Chukars recorded 16 hits with five other players each posting two knocks. 

"The biggest thing the past couple of games really is getting after the fastball early," Jones said. "Damond Hall, our hitting coach, has really been emphasizing attacking the fastball and I would credit that to being the reason why we've had so much success as a unit."
Geoffrey Bramblett (2-1) allowed one run on seven hits and four walks with four strikeouts over five innings, while  Garrettson Harris and Danny Hrbek combined for seven whiffs in four innings in relief for the Chukars.
Darrell Miller homered and drove in three runs for Idaho Falls.