Rockies' Weeks, Fuentes power Yard Goats

Drew Weeks is loving life right now in Hartford.
"It's a fun place to play," he said. "It's amazing. Even if there's 10 people sitting in the stands -- there could be nobody sitting in the stands, and it's amazing."
Weeks, for his part, put on a show for those in attendance on Wednesday -- he homered twice and knocked in four runs while Josh Fuentes went deep and plated five as Double-A Hartford outslugged Bowie, 12-8, at Dunkin Donuts Park.

Weeks, the Rockies' seventh-round pick in 2014, produced his second two-homer game in five days. He hit a two-run shot in the fifth off Baysox starter John Means and added a another two-run drive in the eighth off Jason García for a career-high four RBIs. Fuentes capped a four-run first with a two-run double and added a three-run homer in the seventh, his eighth, for a career-best five RBIs.

An official attendance of just under 6,600 fans came out to see the afternoon offensive barrage, although no one was happier than Weeks.
"It feels good, it was a great time and a great win," the Florida native said. "We put up 10 or 11 hits. I think they out-hit us, but it was timely hitting. That's the key to good baseball, right?"
Indeed, the Yard Goats (44-50) were out-hit 14-11 in the win. Mike Yastrzemski went 4-for-5 with two doubles and Garabez Rosa hit a three-run homer in the sixth for Bowie (50-46) but it wasn't enough to overcome Fuentes' late dinger.
Gameday box score
"We've been rolling as a team lately, it's amazing," said Weeks, who was named an Eastern League All-Star last month. "We took the series against Trenton and we swept Bowie -- we're good, we're really clicking now."
Weeks enjoyed a two-homer night on July 15, when he knocked home three runs against Trenton. His four RBIs Wednesday matched a previous career high set most recently on July 17, 2016 when he went 4-for-5 with a homer for Class A Advanced Modesto. He also had four RBIs on July 11, 2015 with Class A Asheville.
The Rockies outfielder heaped praise on the Yard Goats' hitting coach, Tim Doherty, saying the longtime coach and former Indians scout was among the best in the Minors.

"It's good man, awesome. I've done that (hit two homers) two other times. Once in college and again in Asheville," Weeks said. "I think it's just not trying to press. You take swings every day in batting practice and any Double-A hitter is good enough to leave the yard, but when you're under control, you can take that [power] swing way more often. Just having a plan at the plate and trying to execute it and not abandoning it. Our hitting coach Tim Doherty is amazing when kids are trying to do that. He knows his stuff."
What did Doherty say after another multi-homer game?
"Same thing he always says: 'Keep swinging,'" Weeks said. "He leaves you alone during the game, but when you wanna talk to him one-on-one -- he's forgotten more about hitting than I've learned in my entire life. The mental side, the physical side, he really knows what he's talking about."
Weeks, who hit third Wednesday, is batting .267 with 12 homers and 44 RBIs. Fuentes is batting .239 with eight homers and 47 RBIs. Catcher Jan Vázquez and center fielder Omar Carrizales knocked in the other runs for Hartford.

As for the Goats' recent success, Weeks said everyone in the lineup is just more relaxed at the plate.
"I think everyone took the pressure off themselves," he said. "We've had a couple guys stand up and speak and say what they think the problem is, and people are just taking note of it. Maybe earlier in the year, guys were trying to press too much. Our organization is big on, 'If you can hit in Double-A, you can hit in the bigs.' People try to push and press too much to try and show them they're ready instead of letting their natural ability take over."
He said he hit a hanging slider off Means and then took a fastball out over the middle for his second homer.
"Last night I struggled a bit -- three strikeouts in five at-bats -- but today I told myself, you can't hit a pitch until you realize what pitch it is."
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Reliever Matt Pierpont (6-1) picked up a win after throwing two scoreless frames in the seventh and eighth. Hartford starter Craig Schlitter was charged with five runs on 10 hits and two walks over 4 2/3 frames.
Means allowed six runs on eight hits and a pair of walks in six frames, but Garcia (5-3) took the loss after serving up six more runs in the final two frames.