Mullins erupts in Baysox season opener

The only thing that could cool off Cedric Mullins on Opening Day was Mother Nature. 
Baltimore's No. 19 prospect went 4-for-5 -- finishing a double shy of a cycle -- scored four times and drove in two runs as Double-A Bowie outpaced Akron, 13-7, in a snow-shortened affair Thursday at Canal Field.

Mullins wasted no time taking Indians No. 25 prospect Julian Merryweather (0-1) deep to right field to lead off the game.
"I didn't think it was going to get up and over the fence," Mullins said. "It didn't feel like I got all of it. I think it kind of caught the end of the bat, but I was happy to see it go out. It was definitely cool to have my first hit at Double-A be a home run, but I wasn't really thinking about too much when I was rounding the bases."

The 22-year-old collected a single in the second inning and another in the third. 
"Hitting the ball to all fields is a big part of my game as a speedy leadoff man," Mullins said. "I'm just happy to do my job and help the team by doing whatever I can to get on base and start the offense."
The switch-hitting center fielder spent all of 2016 with Class A Delmarva in his first full season and finished second in the South Atlantic League in extra-base hits (61) and triples (10), and third in hits (141), doubles (37) and runs scored (79).
The impressive full-season debut allowed the Orioles to be aggressive with Mullins' development this season, opting to start him with Bowie instead of at Class A Advanced.
"It gave me a lot of confidence when I got assigned to Bowie," he said. "Knowing that the organization believes in me, that helps me stay relaxed at the plate and stick to my gameplan."
Mullins drove an RBI triple to center in the seventh, leaving the South Carolina native within a double of an Opening Day cycle.

"I tried my best not to think about it, because if I did then there's no way it would have happened," he explained. "Nobody in the dugout said anything about it either, it's kind of like when a pitcher is throwing a no-hitter. You don't want to mention it and mess it up."
The Campbell University product wouldn't get another chance at the plate as snow forced the game to be called after Indians No. 11 prospect Yu-Cheng Chang hit a three-run homer in the eighth. 
"I've never had a game snowed out before, and this being my first game in the Eastern League, it was kind of crazy," Mullins said. "It was cold out and when [Chang] hit that home run, I couldn't see the ball at all through the snow."
Orioles No. 24 prospect D.J. Stewart and Gabarez Rosa hit back-to-back homers to key a four-run third.
MLB.com's No. 38 overall prospect Francisco Mejia doubled twice and drove in a run in his RubberDucks debut.
"When their guys are going like that, we just had to keep doing our jobs at the plate to help our pitchers," Mullins added.
Ryan Meisinger (1-0) allowed a hit and struck out four in two innings of scoreless relief to notch the win.
Merryweather allowed five runs and five hits with two walks in two innings. 
Prior to the game, members of the 2016 Akron RubberDucks received their Eastern League championship rings.