Harrison slams Rafters to victory in Arizona

A 1-for-11 start to his Arizona Fall League campaign wasn't exactly what Monte Harrison had in mind, so he did something about his slow start Friday. But chances are he didn't expect to cram a week's worth of run production into nine innings.
Harrison homered twice -- including a grand slam -- while driving in seven runs as the Salt River Rafters cruised past the Glendale Desert Dogs, 10-4. The Brewers No. 14 prospect also delivered a two-run homer and an RBI single. 

Harrison has recorded five multi-homer games in his four-year professional career, including two this past season  He drove in a career-high five runs on June 10, 2015 with Class A Wisconsin and had a pair of four-RBI games in 2017, both with Class A Advanced Carolina.
Gameday box score
"It's just trusting the process and letting the whole thing work," the 22-year-old told MLB.com. "I got some good pitches to hit and drove them out of the ballpark."
Harrison, who had struck out five times in his first three games in the AFL, flied out to left field to open the third before rallying Salt River in the fourth. With two outs and the bases loaded, he blasted a 1-2 pitch over the left-field fence for a 4-3 Rafters lead.
"[Desert Dogs pitcher Argenis Angulo] had a fastball that had a little rise to it," Harrison told MLB.com. "Once I fouled off a couple of those, he really couldn't throw me anything that could get me out, so I was very confident at the plate. He gave me a pitch that I could drive and I tried not to do too much to it, just put the barrel on it."
The 2014 second-round pick added an RBI single to center in the fifth and struck out in the sixth. Harrison extended Salt River's lead in the ninth with his second jack of the game, a two-run blast to left-center. 
The outfielder enjoyed a breakout season in 2017, setting career highs with 21 homers and 67 RBIs while hitting .272/.350/.481 in 122 games with Carolina and Wisconsin. He entered this past year with 12 roundtrippers in 204 career games, and his six home runs in 20 April contests matched his total from all of 2016.
Harrison's strong first half with Wisconsin earned him a spot on the West Division squad in the Midwest League All-Star Game, where he went deep twice and drove in three runs to claim MVP honors on June 21. He was promoted to Carolina the next day and was named Carolina League Player of the Week for the week ending Aug. 6.
"Just trusting and believing that the stuff I worked on in the offseason was going to work, and then injuries the past few seasons really held me back," Harrison told MLB.com about his breakout season. "I just trusted that my body was in a good position -- I worked out hard enough, did what I had to do and whatever was going to happen, would happen."

Orioles No. 3 prospectRyan Mountcastle doubled, singled and drove in a run while No. 14 Rockies prospectBrian Mundell added three hits and scored twice. Milwaukee's second-ranked prospect Corey Ray singled and scored three times.
Francisco Mejía -- the Indians top prospect and MLB.com's No. 13 overall -- went 4-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored for Glendale. Dodgers fifth-ranked prospectYusniel Díaz drove in three runs and finished 3-for-3 while White Sox outfielder Tito Polo collected four hits.
In other AFL action:
Solar Sox 7, Saguaros 6
Cubs infield prospect Jason Vosler delivered a walk-off double to cap a four-run ninth inning for Mesa. Astros top prospectKyle Tucker, ranked seventh overall, smacked a run-scoring single in the sixth and plated a run with a double in the ninth. Luis La O (Rangers) cracked his first homer of the fall and Sean Murphy (A's) added a pair of RBIs for the Solar Sox. No. 27 Cardinals prospect  Andrew Knizner belted a pair of homers to drive in three runs while No. 17 Twins prospect LaMonte Wade Jr fell a triple shy of the cycle and drove in two runs for Surprise. Gameday box score
Javelinas 2, Scorpions 0
Blue Jays No. 5 prospectT.J. Zeuch turned in his second straight scoreless start, allowing three hits and striking out four over five innings for Peoria. Second-ranked Red Sox prospectMichael Chavis accounted for the game's only scoring with a two-run double in the eighth. Scottsdale starter Mickey Jannis (Mets) yielded one hit and walked two while fanning three over four scoreless frames. Gameday box score