Cards' Kelly bops two out for Triple-A Redbirds

After Carson Kelly hit his second home run of the game Tuesday night, he couldn't help taking a quick trip down memory lane.
"Running around the bases, I was actually thinking about the time I had two homers in high school, and then immediately, I switched over to thinking about the next inning, catching-wise, because that's how I am. I can flip a switch," St. Louis' No. 2 prospect said. "But it was very enjoyable. I really think it was something special." 

Box score
Kelly's pair of solo shots helped Triple-A Memphis to a 5-1 victory over visiting Colorado Springs. After six games, the Redbirds have gone yard 12 times -- a number last year's squad didn't reach until 25 games in.

Harrison Bader -- the Cardinals' No. 5 prospect -- and No. 3 hitter Luke Voit also homered. Voit has teed off in three straight games and he's 10-for-18 (.556).
"When you come up through the system and there are a lot of guys you've played with coming up with you, and you're all hitting on all cylinders, that's a great thing," Kelly said. "I hope we continue to play this way and swing the bats like this.
"[Voit's] a beast. He really is. He's a good buddy of mine, and ... he won the [Texas League] batting title last year, so it's great to see him continue to get better and learn."
As for the No. 36 overall prospect, Kelly's 2-for-4 performance made him 5-for-16 (.313) over four games and 4-for-6 in his last two after going 0-for-6 on Opening Day. His two-homer showing was his first as a pro and second ever. 

"The only other time I've had two homers in one game was in high school. Little League? No, never," Kelly said. "It never happened for me except in high school and tonight. It's pretty special. After the first one, I was able to just stay in the moment and I hit another one. I hope I can do that again sometime."
The right-handed hitter went the other way for his first dinger, taking top Milwaukee pitching prospect and No. 35 overall prospect Josh Hader out of the yard on a 2-2 pitch in the second inning.
"I was getting into a good count with him. He was battling with me," Kelly said. "He threw a couple good changeups early, and then he threw a fastball on the outer half. I was able to get good wood on it and it found its way to the seats."

The 22-year-old welcomed Sky Sox reliever Michael Blazek to the game with another homer with two outs in the sixth, this time knocking a 1-2 pitch over the left-field wall.
"It was a slider. Blazek, he pitched for the Cardinals for a little while," the 2012 second-rounder said. "He was throwing a lot of sliders to me and he brushed me back with a fastball. After that, I was ready for the slider, because I know he likes to go to it. It caught more of the plate than I think he wanted it to. All of my teammates were really happy for me."
In fact, they egged him on to leave the park again when he struck out against Tristan Archer in the eighth.
"Yeah, they actually were," he said. "Before I hit the second homer, I broke my bat. I capped it, and the whole barrel flew off. In my last at-bat, I broke my bat again and I did it the same exact way. Everybody was joking about that, and it would have been great if I hit another, but that didn't end up happening."
No. 11 Cards prospect Paul DeJong also went 2-for-4.
Daniel Poncedeleon (1-0), a ninth-round pick in 2014, allowed a run on two hits and a walk while striking out eight over 5 1/3 innings to pick up the win. The Redbirds sport a 5-1 record -- the best start in the Pacific Coast League and the franchise's best since 2001.
Hader (1-1) was tagged for three runs on five hits and a pair of walks over three innings. He sports a 3.38 ERA after two starts.