Beer racks up career-high five hits

Seth Beer got adjusted to Double-A ball with a strong first two weeks at the level in May before coming back down to Earth last month. He's starting July with a fury.
Houston's No. 8 prospect tallied a career-high five hits and homered for the third game in a row as Double-A Corpus Christi hammered visiting Midland, 22-5, on Thursday.

"I would say this past series when were on the road, I just tried to make it as simple as possible," Beer said. "Just try to see it and hit it, kind of like you would when you were a little kid, not try and think to much and just go out and compete. Things started clicking for me, and I started seeing the ball a little bit better and gaining confidence. That's a big thing when it comes to hitting."
The 28th overall pick in the 2018 Draft lined singles to center field and right in the second and third innings before knocking in his first run of the game with an single to right in the fourth. Two innings later, Beer connected on his 10th Double-A homer -- and 19th of the year -- on a line drive smashed out to left.
Gameday box score
"The starter (Matt Milburn) was kind of working me in, so I think they were trying to mix it up and get me guessing for something like a fastball in or something in," the Clemson product said. "He threw a changeup away and I fouled it off. The next pitch, he threw a fastball away, so I was kind of looking away and not trying to do too much with it. The wind was blowing out to left pretty well, so just trying to find the barrel and execute to the best of my ability."
With Corpus Christi already leading headed into the eighth, 14-5, Beer and his teammates erupted again. Astros No. 10 prospect Ronnie Dawson homered to right to lead off the frame, and two batters later, Beer roped a single to right for his fifth knock. The Hooks built an eight-run inning on six hits, two walks and a hit batsman. The 22-year-old batted for a second time in the inning, but flew out to deep center on a spectacular diving catch by Brallan Perez to end the frame.

The 17-run win was the largest margin in Corpus Christi history.
"It just felt like everybody was going up there with the mentality of, 'All right, I'm going to do some damage right here and not worry about anything else but that,'" Beer said. "Hitting is contagious, and when Ronnie led the inning off with a home run, it just kind of set the tone of, all right, here we go. I think we all just kept passing the at-bats along, whether it was a hit or a walk or a hit-by-pitch. I think that's when success comes is when guys aren't trying to do too much."
Beer torched Carolina League pitching with Class A Advanced Fayetteville to start the year, batting .328/.414/.602 with nine homers and 34 RBIs in 35 games. After getting promoted to Corpus Christi in mid-May, the first baseman compiled a slash line of .327/.453/.500 in his first 14 games at the level, belting two homers and driving in 11.

In June, he cooled off. Over 24 games for the month, Beer hit .241/.313/.437 with a respectable .750 OPS in the slowest offensive stretch of his season. Thursday's five-hit showing gave the Illinois native 12 knocks in 16 at-bats over his last three games, boosting his average from .270 to .318 in that span.
"I think the biggest thing is just staying focused," he said. "You can have a couple good at-bats, come out with a couple big hits, and you can go, 'OK, that's enough for today' and mentally check out. That's been my biggest goal this year, no matter what the score is, no matter the situation, that I never give up an at-bat. I think that's one of the biggest changes I've had playing this many games in professional baseball. That was my goal this offseason, just to not give up any at-bats. That's something I'm trying to stick to."

Beer was one of four Hooks with three or more hits. Second baseman Abraham Toro, Houston's No. 20 prospect, went 3-for-5 with a triple and a double while third baseman Colton Shaver and catcher Chuckie Robinson both went 3-for-5 with a homer and combined for nine RBIs.
Corpus Christi starter Yohan Ramirez turned in his longest and best outing at the Double-A level with five hitless innings. Ramirez struck out 10 and worked around six walks.