Homer-happy Schwindel belts another one

Frank Schwindel admits he's been a streaky power hitter from time to time, but he's never had a run quite like the one he's currently on.
"It's crazy," the Royals first-base prospect said. "It's kind of hard to believe. I'm just trying to ride it out and take it day by day. I try to keep it simple and good things are going to happen."
On Tuesday, Schwindel went 2-for-5 with two RBIs and his fourth home run in four games, to lead Triple-A Omaha to a 5-1 win over Albuquerque at Isotopes Park. He's gone yard eight times in his last 10 outings.

The recent surge gives the 2013 17 dingers on the year and a .303/.323/.520 slash line across 94 games between the Storm Chasers and the Double-A Northwest Arkansas Naturals. Over an 11-game Pacific Coast League hitting streak dating to July 15, he's 21-for-51 (.412) with 18 RBIs and 13 runs scored.
"I've been working really hard with Tommy Gregg, our hitting coach, and also talking with my hitting coach back home [Mike Sutlovich]," the New Jersey native said. "I made a couple minor adjustments, just keeping things simple, not trying to do too much."
After getting into a 2-0 count, he socked his 11th PCL homer to left-center field to lead off the fourth inning against Rockies left-hander Ryan Carpenter.
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"He's one of those guys who's more of an off-speed guy," Schwindel said. "I was looking for a changeup and I got a changeup and put a good swing on it. A lot of guys will lay a fastball in. I try to think with the pitcher and it worked out there."
Running around the bases, the 25-year-old first baseman couldn't help but notice how often he's been making that trip lately.

"I've always hit them in bunches, but never like this," said Schwindel, who's hit 20 or more homers in two of his three full seasons of pro ball. "It's awesome. I'm just going to ride it out and keep doing what I've been doing."
He lined out twice in Tuesday's win and roped a single up the middle for another RBI. Despite his slugging success, the St. John's product hasn't felt tempted to get into the box with long balls in mind.
"It hasn't really been overswinging. I'm just getting good pitches to hit and putting good swings on the ball," he said. "A calmer approach has been what's really worked out, helping me make more good swings, so that's what I'm going with. Because of that. I've been the hitting ball hard more and that's been working."
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Onelki Garcia (3-2) allowed a run on eight hits and four walks while fanning four over six innings for the win. No. 17 Kansas City prospectKyle Zimmer allowed a hit and got two outs over two-thirds of an inning of relief before exiting with an apparent injury.
David Dahl went 2-for-5 with a run scored for the Isotopes.