Senzel smacks four hits for Blue Wahoos

Since being selected with the second overall pick in last year's Draft, Nick Senzel has not only progressed through the ranks of the Reds' farm system very quickly, but he's done so with consistency.
On Friday night, Cincinnati's top-ranked prospect homered and tripled in his first Double-A four-hit game as Pensacola defeated Biloxi, 4-3, at Blue Wahoos Stadium. Senzel is hitting .331 with four homers and 18 RBIs in 32 games since his promotion from the Florida State League.

Gameday box score
"I'm just trying to get pitches I can handle," he said. "I'm just trying to lay off some pitches out of the zone and take advantage of some of the ones he threw over the plate."
In nearly half as many contests with the Blue Wahoos, MLB.com's No. 11 overall prospect matched the homer total he amassed in 62 games with the Class A Advanced Tortugas. Senzel's long ball Friday was his second against Biloxi right-hander Freddy Peralta, who he took deep in his 15th Double-A contest on July 7.

"I just think I'm seeing the ball real good, hitting the pitches that you know you can drive instead of missing them," the University of Tennessee product said. "Baseball is a cruel game and sometimes you get some bad luck and other times you foul pitches off that you know you can drive."
Senzel collected four hits for the first time since a June 10 game against Palm Beach in which he tallied three doubles and a season-high four RBIs.
The 22-year-old left Daytona hitting .305/.371/.476 with 31 RBIs and 32 extra-base hits and held similar numbers in Pensacola before his average jumped 23 points Friday.
"At this level, you don't get as many [good pitches] to hit," Senzel said. "The ones you do get to hit in each at-bat you need to take advantage of. You just grind out at-bats and I feel like I've done a pretty good job of that."

With one out in the opening inning against the No. 11 Brewers prospect, Senzel plated Gabriel Guerrero with his first Southern League triple on a line drive beyond the reach of center fielder Johnny Davis.
"I knew I hit it good, but I also know their center fielder covers a lot of ground," the Atlanta native said. "When I saw him turn, I just hoped I got enough of it to burn him."
Senzel tagged Peralta for a two-out solo shot in the third, and with one out in the fifth, beat out a ground ball that was knocked down by third baseman Javier Betancourt for an infield single. He then got caught trying to swipe second by Shuckers catcher René García.
Senzel has 10 stolen bases in 16 attempts this season, the first nine of which came with Daytona.

After Guerrero led off the eighth against righty Tayler Scott with a line drive to center, Senzel took a hack at the first offering from Scott and sent a fly ball down the right-field line that came within two feet of the double he needed for the cycle.
"I knew about [the cycle possibility] ... but I try not to think about it, I'm just trying to take a good at-bat in general," Senzel said. "The foul ball was close, maybe two or three feet, but I knew it was going to be foul right when I hit it. I saw it slicing a little bit, so I knew I just had to get ready for the next pitch."
• Get tickets to a Blue Wahoos game »
He bounced a single back through the middle for his fourth hit and Guerrero tried to take third on the play, but was mowed down by Davis. 
Dustin DeMuth belted a two-run homer in the ninth while Peralta contributed an RBI single in the fifth, his first hit in eight at-bats this season.