Stone Crabs' Boldt breaks out with four hits

Ryan Boldt finally had a breakout game, and he helped his team break away.
The Rays' No. 30 prospect belted a grand slam as part of a four-hit, six-RBI night Tuesday as Class A Advanced Charlotte pulled away for a 10-1 rout of Daytona at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.

Box score
"I felt I've been having good at-bats so far this season," Boldt said. "I got a few more pitches I was able to hit today and they just fell for me."
The 22-year-old outfielder had at least one hit in seven of the nine games he'd started this season, but it wasn't until he lined an RBI double to left field in the sixth that he notched a multi-hit effort. That followed a single to right in the third.
"It felt awesome and it was big for the team," Boldt said. "We were stuck in a pitchers' duel for the first six innings and it was just nice to break out and score a run and add on to it."
The 2016 second-round pick and the Stone Crabs added plenty in the seventh when they pieced together an eight-run inning, highlighted by Boldt's grand slam that doubled the lead to 8-0.
"That was big," he said. "It just kind of put the game out of reach at that point. They were kind of hanging around and getting baserunners, but our pitching staff did really well to shut them down and it was nice to put the game away."

The long ball was the second of Boldt's fledgling Minor League career, with the other coming last July 21 for Class A Short Season Hudson Valley, where he compiled a .218/.280/.276 slash line and 15 RBIs in 43 games.
"It just got to be a long year," the University of Nebraska product said. "I played a full college year and then going into short season, it wore on my body and I got mentally drained a little bit toward the end. But it was a good experience and a good place to get my feet wet in pro ball and hopefully set me up to have a good year this year."
Boldt wrapped up his night with an RBI single to right in the eighth.
Jake Cronenworth and David Olmedo-Barrera contributed two hits apiece for the Stone Crabs, who got six scoreless innings from starter Tyler Brashears. The 23-year-old right-hander allowed two hits and a walk while striking out seven.
Jonathon Crawford -- a 2013 first-round pick -- matched Brashears for five innings by limiting Charlotte to two hits while walking five and fanning one. He lowered his ERA to 0.66 over 13 2/3 innings in his third season with the Reds since coming over from the Tigers in the Alfredo Simon trade.