Tucker goes deep twice for Express

The power surge Kyle Tucker experienced at the end of May has carried over into June. 
The second-ranked Houston prospect smacked two homers and drove in three runs, but Triple-A Round Rock fell to Las Vegas, 19-9, on Tuesday at Las Vegas Ballpark. It marked Tucker's first multi-homer effort since last Aug. 24. 

MLB.com's No. 13 overall prospect got off to a tough start this season, hitting .165 with a .599 OPS through 23 games in April. But Tucker didn't stay down for long, amassing 11 dingers and a 1.169 OPS in 28 games in a torrid May. He finished the month on a nine-game hitting streak in which his average jumped up 14 points to .259. 
Though he went 0-for-4 in his first game in June, Tucker came back Tuesday and flashed the 60-grade power grade he was given by MLB Pipeline. In the fifth against Aviators right-hander Tanner Anderson, the 2015 first-round pick cranked a 2-1 offering over the right-field wall for a solo roundtripper. 
Gameday box score
Two innings later, Tucker stepped in against righty Miguel Romero (2-0). On the fourth pitch, he sent a long drive well over the wall in right-center for his 18th long ball of the year. Tucker has six career two-homer games, four of them coming in the Pacific Coast League since the beginning of last year. 
The Tampa, Florida, native drove in his third run of the game with a sacrifice fly to left in the ninth. 

The two-homer night improved Tucker's average to .259 and OPS to .935. In 153 games in the PCL, the 22-year-old has 42 long balls. Tucker has collected at least 16 home runs in each of the past three seasons in the Houston system. 
Teammate Yordan Alvarez, the third-ranked Astros prospect, also went deep for his Minors-leading 22nd homer of the year.
For Las Vegas, Franklin Barreto fell a triple shy of the cycle, collecting four hits and six RBIs while Nick Martini delivered four hits and scored three times. The Aviators notched 22 total hits.