Helena's Feliciano flexes on career night

Rookie-level Brewers manager Nestor Corredor has seen Jay Feliciano deliver clutch hits time after time this season, but even he was in awe of what the slugger put together Monday.
The Milwaukee outfield prospect homered twice and drove in a career-best nine runs during a 5-for-6 game in Rookie-level Helena's 20-13 win over Missoula on Monday at Kindrick Legion Field.

"Every time we have runners on base, that's the guy you want at the plate," Corredor said. "He's a big power guy but he doesn't strike out that much. So as a manager, when you've got runners on base, you want guys who can make contact at the plate. Jay is that guy. He's making contact, but he's also doing it with power, so a game like this doesn't surprise me. Obviously, you don't see nine RBIs very often, but with the way Jay swings with men on base, he can really make some memories."
Gameday box score
Feliciano helped the Brewers break the game open in the early going. He grounded an RBI single down the left-field line against Franklyn Soriano during a five-run first inning and another RBI single to left off reliever Damian Defrank in the second.
The 21-year-old -- who came in the game batting .308 with bases loaded this season -- then jumped on the first pitch he saw from the righty in the third for a grand slam to center -- the first of his career -- to put Helena up, 12-1.
"His plan was to be aggressive on the fastballs and he executed the plan in the perfect way," Corredor said.
After popping out in the fourth, the native of Puerto Rico native delivered his second home run of the game -- and 12th of the season -- in the sixth, taking Casey Kulina's 1-0 offering over the left-field wall for a three-run shot.
"Jay showed powered early in the season and he's leading the team in home runs and RBIs, so the power doesn't surprise me," Corredor said. "But the consistency that he showed lately is really good to see. It was an up-and-down season for him early on, but now he's one of the best hitters on my team and obviously in the league."
In the eighth, the Southeastern Community College product capped his night with another line-drive single to left, pushing his average to .290 after beginning the day at .274.

"Jay has been working very hard during the season, so a game like this is really good to see," Corredor said. "Earlier in the season, he was swinging at basically everything, and when the pitcher makes a mistake he would hit the ball hard. But lately, he's been sticking to his plan, be aggressive on the fastball and not swinging at bad pitches in the dirt. That's been the key for him."
Feliciano went on to score one of Helena's three runs in the eighth -- the most for the ballclub since Aug. 26, 2010 against the Casper Ghosts -- but Missoula fought back in the ninth with a nine-run outburst.
"This is a weird game," Corredor said. "Even after the game, the coaches and I were talking about how it's hard to see a game like this. As a manager, I was really surprised that [Missoula] never gave up. They scored 13 runs on 18 hits, but every time they scored one, we came back and scored one or two. It was offensive battle today."