Olson homers twice, ends AFL slump

Heading into Saturday, Matt Olson was hitless and Mesa was winless in the Arizona Fall League. With a couple of swings, he erased both zeros.

The A's No. 2 prospect smacked a pair of solo homers to power the Solar Sox to a 6-3 victory over Peoria.

"I felt pretty good, pretty relaxed up there. I got a couple pitches to hit," Olson said. "It's definitely good to get our first win under the belt. After the off day, hopefully, we'll be able to keep winning baseball going into Monday."

A year after finishing second in the Midwest League with 23 homers, the 20-year-old first baseman led the California League with 37 for Class A Advanced Stockton.

"[I was] just maturing as a hitter, trying to put together good at-bats and getting good pitches to hit," he said. "I had a lot of walks this year, and I think that in turn helped my power numbers in the end -- being selective and making guys come to me."

Six weeks after he was named a Cal League postseason All-Star, however, Olson had trouble finding his stroke in the AFL.

"I think anytime you get some time off, it can be tough to get back into the swing of things," he said. "I settled down and let the ball come to me and got back into a rhythm."

In his eighth Fall League at-bat, the 2012 first-round pick went yard against Indians No. 15 prospect Dylan Baker. Three innings later, Olson did it again, this time off Royals No. 5 prospect Miguel Almonte.

Angels No. 17 prospect Cal Towey plated a pair of insurance runs with a double in the sixth and Dalton Pompey, the Blue Jays' third-ranked prospect, legged out an RBI triple in the seventh.

Solar Sox starter and Angels No. 18 prospect Nate Smith (1-0) got the win after allowing one hit and striking out two in three scoreless innings.

Tony Wolters, the Indians' 18th-ranked prospect, put the Javelinas on the board with a three-run double in the seventh.

Baker (0-1) gave up a run on two hits in two innings and took the loss.