Overstreet walks off Missions on career night
Kyle Overstreet is the first person to say he's not a home run hitter. On Saturday night, the results said otherwise.The Padres prospect hit a walk-off grand slam to cap a two-homer, six-RBI night and give Double-A San Antonio a 9-8 comeback victory over Corpus Christi at Nelson Wolff Stadium.
The Padres prospect hit a walk-off grand slam to cap a two-homer, six-RBI night and give Double-A San Antonio a 9-8 comeback victory over Corpus Christi at Nelson Wolff Stadium.
Gameday box score
Overstreet's slam capped a six-run ninth inning for the Missions, who had trailed, 8-3. The 24-year-old took a ball before he found his pitch from left-handed reliever
"He was trying to throw his changeup," Overstreet said. "In a hitter's count, I was kind of sitting on it and he left it up. I was lucky enough to catch it and hit it out."
Without a multi-homer game and only 11 roundtrippers in his four-year Minor League career, he recorded several firsts on Saturday night. His first career grand slam came at just the right time.
"To be put in that situation, I'm lucky," the 2015 14th-round pick said. "I was just looking for something to help the team. With a man on third and less than two outs, I was looking for something to drive to the outfield and score a run and was lucky enough to just drive it farther."
Overstreet's first dinger came in the second inning when he drove a fastball from starter Josh James over the left field fence to score Padres No. 18 prospect
"They had a really good starter on the mound, but I was ready for a fastball," Overstreet said. "Like the second one, I was looking to drive something. I'm not much of a home run hitter but got out in front of it."
Following the first homer, Overstreet singled to left in the third and walked in the eighth.
The University of Alabama product came to the plate in the ninth after Padres No. 15 prospect Josh Naylor and
"We were one game ahead of them going into tonight and you're down by five runs going into the ninth -- it's easy to give up in those situations," Overstreet said. "This team all year so far, we've been fighting until the end. Guys got hits and walks, and tonight I was that player that was lucky enough to win it."
In the midst of a six-game hitting streak, Overstreet was confident in his approach.
"I've been more selective. Early in the season, I was chasing pitches out of the zone," he said. "I'm focusing on staying in the strike zone and finding something I can drive, and it's been working for me."
Overstreet split last season between Class A Fort Wayne and Class A Advanced Lake Elisnore, combining for a .322/.397/.473 slash line, and career highs of six homers and 35 RBIs. Since making his Texas League debut to start the year, he's hitting .273 with four homers and 13 RBIs.
Marisa Ingemi is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow her on Twitter @Marisa_Ingemi.