Tucker parks a pair in Express' romp

The Pacific Coast League has a new co-leader in the home run category.
Kyle Tucker posted his third two-homer game of the month and drove in five runs to power Triple-A Round Rock to a 14-0 blanking of Tacoma on Saturday night at Dell Diamond. He connected on a three-run blast and a solo shot to tie former teammate Yordan Alvarez with 23 big flies.
The Astros second-ranked prospect was 3-for-5, notching his seventh multi-hit game in the last 10 contests.

MLB.com's No. 9 overall prospect was quick to collect his first jack of the night. Batting cleanup, he came up against Anthony Misiewicz with two runners on and one out in the bottom of the first inning. After falling in an 0-2 hole, Tucker sent the right-hander's next pitch over the right-field fence to give Round Round a 3-0 lead.
Tucker added an RBI single to right in the next frame, extending the advantage to 6-0. In the sixth, after Joshua Rojas led off with a double against reliever Ryan Garton, Chas McCormick barreled a two-run homer. Tucker followed by belting Garton's 1-1 offering to right for another dinger. 
Gameday box score
"He's a good player, any way you look at it," Express hitting coach Ben Rosenthal said. "He started out a little bit slow, but now he's getting the results that show who he is. He's controlling the zone really well, and when he's swinging it, he's squaring it up.
"When he swings at pitches he can handle and drive, good things happen," he added.

The two-homer effort was Tucker's third in the last 11 games, also accomplishing the feat on June 4 and June 6 against Las Vegas. During the stretch, the 22-year-old is hitting .370 with seven roundtrippers and 17 RBIs. For the season, he has a .282/.356/.649 slash line and a PCL-leading 42 extra-base hits.
"He has a very high ceiling, if he continues to do what he's been doing," Rosenthal said. "He's not trying to do too much and make things happen."

Drew Ferguson went 4-for-5 with two doubles for the Express while Rojas had three hits, including a homer and double. Nick Tanielu added two RBIs. It's the sixth time in 13 games in June that Round Rock has scored in double figures.
Cy Sneed (5-6) picked up the win after scattering two hits and two walks across 6 2/3 shutout frames. He struck out five.
Mariners No 12 prospectShed Long and Jose Lobaton both singled to account for Tacoma's offense.