Bats of Padlo, Cronenworth propel Charlotte

Kevin Padlo brought the power and Jake Cronenworth handled the consistency Monday for Class A Advanced Charlotte.
Padlo, the No. 18 Rays prospect, homered twice and drove in five runs while Cronenworth doubled twice to extend his hitting streak to 25 games in the Stone Crabs' 7-5 triumph over the Lakeland Flying Tigers at Joker Marchant Stadium.

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"All year, our guys have been swinging it," Padlo said. "From Cronenworth to [Brandon] Lowe, to [Brett] Sullivan, those three guys have been getting on base a lot. They've been able to put me in good RBI situations, so I'm definitely thankful for that. Our hitting has been outstanding, 1-9, and hopefully it keeps up."
Leadoff hitter Cronenworth set the tone by taking the fourth pitch of the game from Tigers No. 18 prospect Matt Hall down the right-field line for his fifth double of the year.
"I think I've had close to 20 at-bats in the last two years off Matt," the 23-year-old shortstop said. "He's got good stuff. He's got a pretty deceiving fastball, because he throws a good 12-6 curveball, but he left a pitch up a little bit. I was able to hook it down the line."
Hall got the better of Cronenworth with a strikeout in the third, but after Lowe and Sullivan reached on singles, Padlo bashed his first long ball of the season to left-center.
"It felt good to made some solid contact, especially after I felt I couldn't see the ball the previous game," said Padlo, who went 1-for-3 on Sunday. "So it felt great to get back in the swing of things a bit."
Cronenworth helped tack on another run in the fourth. He roped a ground-rule double to center with two outs and scored on a single by Sullivan.
The two hits off Hall boosted Cronenworth's average against southpaws to .471 (8-for-17) on the season, after the lefty-hitting 2015 seventh-round pick batted .294 against them last year across two levels.
"I wouldn't say I'm more focused against lefties, but I think I amp it up a little bit against them," Cronenworth said. "Everybody talks about the lefty-lefty matchup and I like that challenge. I like when guys are bringing it a little bit. I think I just try to take the same approach I do in every other at-bat, and that is to get a good pitch to hit."
The University of Michigan product sports a .389 batting average through 22 games on the season. He went 7-for-13 in his final three games with Class A Bowling Green last season to begin the streak, now the third-longest in Rays' Minor League history, following Aubrey Huff's 28 in 1999 and Darnell McDonald's 27 in 2006.
"I bring the same approach every day since the first game, and that's just having quality at-bats, whether it's the first inning or ninth inning," Cronenworth said. "I'm just taking the same approach every day and I think it's helped me stay consistent up to this point. I hope it helps me stay consistent in the future too."
Padlo, who has benefited from the production atop the Charlotte lineup with 20 RBIs so far this year, has been in awe of Cronenworth's streak.
"I feel like every time you look up and he's either on base or squaring up a baseball. It's been unbelievable to watch him do what he's been able to do in the first part of the season," he said of his teammate. "He's squaring balls up like I haven't seen before. It's pretty cool."
Cronenworth is just as impressed by Padlo's first stint in the Florida State League.
"I would say that since the season started, he's been seeing the ball as well as I've ever seen him," he said. "He's taking pitches close to the zone that are balls and not swinging at guys' best sliders in the dirt. Tonight, I think we got in the right ballpark and he put on some really good swings. He's really locked in right now."

Padlo's final at-bat of the night was a case in point.
With the Stone Crabs leading by two heading into the ninth, the 2014 fifth-round pick belted a two-run homer to left for what turned out to be the game-winning runs after the Flying Tigers rallied for two in the bottom of the frame.
"I wasn't sure how big the home run was at the time, especially with Joe Serrapica coming out of the 'pen after having such a good season like he did last year," the 2014 fifth-round pick said. "We didn't think we'd be in that type of game, but those were definitely some key runs there. I'm glad we got them."
Eduar Lopez (2-2) picked up the win after allowing three runs on eight hits and one walk while striking out two over seven innings. Bryan Bonnell locked down his third save of the season by getting the final two outs.
Detroit's No. 12 prospect Jose Azocar collected three hits and three RBIs, and Ross Kivett added three hits for Lakeland.