Sounds' Almonte plates seven in rout
The 33-year-old, outrighted from the Milwaukee Brewers to the Triple-A Nashville Sounds on May 28, proved Monday night that he can still rake with the best of them.
Almonte went 5-for-6 with a franchise record-tying seven RBIs and four runs scored in Nashville's 19-1 rout of the New Orleans Zephyrs. The Sounds fell one run shy of the team's single-game record, while the 18-run win was the club's largest margin of victory in the 13-year history of the Pacific Coast League.
"I've had a few games like this in my career, but this is the first time I've had seven RBIs," Almonte said. "I don't really know if I've ever had that many at any level. When the team is playing good, you come up to that level and today was one of those days."
Almonte doesn't expect to play every day in Nashville, but after just 12 at-bats in his previous six games -- which included three consecutive appearances off the bench, he was grateful to get the chance to start.
"I'm just going to pinch-hit and play once or twice a week, so I want to contribute in any way I can," Almonte added. "They sent me down here, but they also gave me a chance in Spring Training and I made the team, so I will always be thankful for that.
"Maybe another chance will open up for me, but right now, I just have to do whatever the manager needs me to do. I'll work with the younger guys and be supportive, but I have to keep doing what I know how."
On Monday, Almonte -- primarily used as a right fielder when he does play -- made a rare start at first base.
He pulled a two-run single to left field in the first inning, flew out to right field in the third and singled the other way in the fifth. Almonte then blasted a three-run homer down the third-base line in the sixth, singled to right in the eighth and doubled home two more runs on a shot to center field in the ninth.
"I'm a guy that always tries to look the other way, but I got a couple hits to left field. The home run was to left field," he said.
"Teams try to work me away a lot, but in the at-bat before [the homer], he pitched me inside and jammed me a little. When I came up in the sixth, I thought they might try it again and I was looking for a pitch inside and I got my first-pitch fastball."
Almonte, signed by the New York Yankees as a free agent in 1996, has had three brief stints in the Majors. He appeared in eight games as a 23-year-old in 2001 and he batted .260 with a homer and 11 RBIs in 31 games in '03. After an unsuccessful season in the Colorado Rockies' Minor League system and less than a month on the Cleveland Indians' payroll in the 2004 offseason, Almonte's contract was purchased by the Nippon Ham Fighters of the Japanese Pacific League.
Almonte came back to North America in '07 and spent a year with the Detroit Tigers before moving on the Chicago Cubs. He joined the Brewers in '09 and appeared in 215 Pacific Coast League games with Nashville before being invited to Spring Training earlier this year.
Almonte made the Opening Day roster as a right-handed bat off the bench, but he recorded just three hits in 29 at-bats over 16 games with Milwaukee. He went on the seven-day DL with a concussion April 26 after being hit in the head with a ball during a workout, and he was later placed on the 15-day DL after a slow recovery.
Almonte was 2-for-10 during his rehab with Nashville and he has remained on the team since. "The Brewers are playing well at the big club and all I worry about is what happens here," he said.
He is 8-for-18 (.444) with 11 RBIs after starting 3-for-12 (.250) with four RBIs.
Ashley Marshall is a contributor to MLB.com.