Oakland's Sheldon Neuse continued to establish himself as a major power threat in the Arizona Fall League on Monday, whacking his third homer in 13 games and collecting an extra-base hit in his fourth consecutive showing.The 14th-ranked A's prospect smacked a three-run jack in the sixth inning, providing Mesa (10-7)
Oakland's Sheldon Neuse continued to establish himself as a major power threat in the Arizona Fall League on Monday, whacking his third homer in 13 games and collecting an extra-base hit in his fourth consecutive showing.
The 14th-ranked A's prospect smacked a three-run jack in the sixth inning, providing Mesa (10-7) with some insurance in a 8-4 win at Salt River (6-10).
Gameday box score
The 22-year-old third baseman, who was named to the AFL East's Fall Stars roster earlier in the day, played at shortstop for the third time since the season opened on Oct. 10. Batting in the three hole, he grounded out three times before stepping in against Colin Poche (D-backs) with two out and two on in the sixth. The right-handed hitter took the lefty deep to left-center on a 2-2 count.
Neuse's dinger put him in a four-way tie for most in the AFL, and he's second to Scottsdale's Billy McKinney (Yankees) with 16 RBIs, tied with Peoria's Alex Jackson (Braves) for the league lead with eight extra-base hits, in a four-way tie for the lead with five doubles and fifth on the circuit with 29 total bases. He's hitting .300/.364/.580.
Victor Robles, baseball's No. 2 overall prospect, also chipped in for the Solar Sox. The 20-year-old Nationals outfielder went 1-for-2, but got aboard four times and tallied a sacrifice fly. After walking in his first two plate appearances, he reached on a throwing error by Ben Meyer (Marlins) in the fourth. He plated a run with a fly to center against Poche in the sixth, then poked a single through the left side against Kirby Bellow (D-backs) in the eighth.
Washington right-hander Kyle McGowin, who started the game for Mesa, improved to 2-0. He allowed two runs on four hits with four strikeouts over three innings.
Corey Ray (Brewers) -- the No. 58 overall prospect -- collected an RBI single and walked twice for Salt River. Steve Wilkerson (Orioles) homered, doubled and scored twice while No. 14 Rockies prospectBrian Mundell also went yard, walked and scored twice.
In other AFL action:
Desert Dogs 3, Scorpions 2
Mitch Keller (2-0) bounced back from his toughest AFL start with his best one yet as he continued to build on a breakout regular season. The top Pirates prospect allowed one hit over five scoreless frames for the Desert Dogs. He didn't allow a walk and struck out two. Dodgers No. 8 prospectWill Smith backed up the dominant start with a two-run homer -- his first roundtripper of the campaign. Third-ranked Angels prospectMatt Thaiss collected two doubles and an RBI for the Scorpions. Gameday box score
Saguaros 6, Javelinas 3
Cardinals No. 27 prospectAndrew Knizner went 3-for-3 with a double and two runs scored to raise his average with Peoria to .286. Nick Dini (Royals) had three hits and two RBIs while Kansas City's 11th-ranked prospectNicky Lopez went 2-for-4 with a triple and a run out of the leadoff spot. Max Povse, the Mariners No. 9 prospect, gave up two runs on four hits and two walks while striking out five over five frames. Gameday box score
