Gonzalez, JetHawks cap huge weekend

In 25 California League games, Alfredo González had not hit a home run. On Sunday, he hit two in a span of less than an hour.

The Astros catching prospect went yard twice in a 10-run sixth inning as Class A Advanced Lancaster rolled to a 21-6 drubbing of High Desert. When the dust settled, the Jethawks tied the California League record with eight homers, outfielder Derek Fisher pushed his two-day RBI total to 15 and the team wrapped up a 37-run weekend.

"With the guys we have, it we stay aggressive on the fastball, we're going to get runs," Jethawks hitting coach Darryl Robinson said. "It's about getting good pitches and when that [pitch] comes, don't miss it."

Gonzalez's first homer followed a leadoff walk by Jack Mayfield and a single by Chase McDonald.

"I was trying to make some adjustments," Gonzalez said through manager Omar Lopez, who served as a translator. "I got a couple good pitches to swing at and was able to get the bat on the ball."

Gameday box score

The 22-year-old from Venezuela lined reliever Felix Carvallo's pitch over the left field fence for a three-run shot. After returning to the bench, he thought his work for the inning was done.

"I had no idea I was going to come up again," he said.

Yet after watching Fisher homer for the fourth time in two games and McDonald club his second of the game, Gonzalez found himself striding back to the plate.

"After I hit that first one, I felt more comfortable going up for the next at-bat," he said. "I just wanted to get a good pitch to hit like the at-bat before."

Gonzalez, the 12th batter of the inning, launched Ryan Ledbetter's offering over the left-field wall for Lancaster's 10th run of the frame and a 20-4 cushion.

The non-drafted free agent is one of six JetHawks to homer in the last two games, a stretch during which the team totaled 37 runs on 36 hits, including 11 roundtrippers.

Gonzalez cited the arrival of Fisher, who hit three homers and drove in 12 runs to eclipse the Cal League record in his Lancaster debut on Saturday, as sparking the team's offensive success.

"There's more balance in the lineup," Gonzalez said. "Guys are getting more pitches to hit. Guys hitting in front of other guys are being protected."

While High Desert pitchers have surrendered the most homers in the league and Heritage Field is considered a hitters' park and the wind was blowing out, Robinson said he thinks the weekend outburst was more than just circumstance.
"I saw them being really aggressive, getting after the good pitches," he said. "The guys were confident going up to the plate and getting after it.

"We've been showing signs of being able to drive the ball consistently, but we've been up and down this year. We have some guys in their first year in a professional league. We've been riding a roller coaster, but the intuitiveness they have is great and they get after it every day."

James Ramsay -- who hit the JetHawks' first homer of the game -- finished 3-for-6 and fell a triple short of the cycle, while Astros No. 13 prospect J.D. Davis chipped in three hits and four RBIs. Fisher, ranked 11th in the system, is 5-for-12 with four homers and 15 RBIs in his first two Cal League games.

Joe Musgrove (3-0), Lancaster's third and final pitcher, was credited with the win after giving up two runs on five hits with five strikeouts over four innings.

Luis Marté fell a triple shy of the cycle for the Mavericks, while Rangers No. 12 prospect Ryan Cordell and Alex Burg smacked solo homers.

The teams equaled another league record by combining for 11 home runs.