Storm's Perez drives in career-high seven runs

Heading into the eighth inning Sunday, Fernando Perez was hitless. Two innings later, he had a career night.
The Padres prospect drove in seven runs with a three-run homer in the eighth and a go-ahead grand slam in the ninth as Class A Advanced Lake Elsinore rallied for a 12-8 win over Lancaster at The Hangar. It was Perez's second two-homer game in four weeks for the Storm.

Gameday box score
"It was a crazy day," he said. "I was 0-for-3, so I was just going up there, not trying to do too much. Things went my way and we got the win. ... We were down by seven runs and I was just trying to save the day and have a good at-bat. And then I had the other one and things got even better with the grand slam."
The 2012 third-round pick surpassed his previous career high of six RBIs, which he accomplished twice -- in 2012 in the Rookie-level Arizona League and with Class A Fort Wayne on Aug. 7, 2014. Taking into account all of the circumstances, Perez was especially proud of his effort Sunday.
"They were obviously great days," Perez said. "But it's obviously great to help the team because ultimately you want to win games. When you help the team that much, you feel even better. It's just an amazing experience and I'm just enjoying it." 
Through his first three plate appearances Sunday, Perez did not hit the ball out of the infield and struck out once. Then came the eighth inning.
After Lake Elsinore plated two runs, the Central Arizona College product came up with two runners on and two out. Perez took the first pitch from left-hander Jonny Drozd, then smacked the next one over the right field wall for his ninth homer of the season and sixth with the Storm. Coming into the game, the lefty-swinging designated hitter was 9-for-63 against southpaws this year. 
"I was facing a lefty, kind of a sidearm lefty," Perez said. "I've faced that guy before, so he's always trying to throw me a two-seamer running in. I was just trying to see something up and in. That was my approach, but I ended up hitting an off-speed pitch. But just having that approach helped keep my body in there. I was able to put a good swing on it and the ball left the yard."

The Storm still trailed by two in the ninth but rallied to tie it, 8-8, against reliever Scott Griggs. With the bases loaded and two outs, Logan Cozart came in to face Perez, who deposited a 2-2 pitch over the right field fence. Perez was greeted with plenty of high-fives and praise from his teammates as he returned to the dugout after hitting Lake Elsinore's first grand slam in its 120th game of the season.
"They told me [Cozart] had a pretty good sinker, so I was just trying to see the ball up," he said. "I missed the first two pitches. He threw me a first-pitch fastball and I missed it -- just missed it, hit it straight back. I felt pretty good about it and wasn't trying to do too much, just trust my hands. I got to 2-2 and shortened my swing a little bit and he threw me a fastball up in the zone and I turned on it.
"It was amazing because we were down the whole game. The first inning, [the JetHawks] scored seven runs and we were losing, 7-1. The whole game was a grind just getting back. Obviously, hitting a home run and giving us the lead pumped everybody up. It felt great celebrating with my teammates."
After posting a .212/.279/.302 slash line with Double-A San Antonio through mid-July, Perez has come back to the California League and hit .301 with seven homers and 24 RBIs in 28 games. Working with Storm hitting coach Raul Padron, the 23-year-old said he's feeling more confident at the dish. 
"The last time I was in the Texas League I was working on just being on time and taking a lot of movement from my swing," he said. "I was trying to be on time and ready to hit. I got here working with my hitting coach and told him I just wanted to work on being ready, on time and just be able to see the ball better -- make a better decision. My swing's always been there, but sometimes I'm just not consistent with the timing and that was what got me struggling. I've been just trying to focus and grind on that."
• Get tickets to a Storm game »
Padres No. 21 prospect Michael Gettys also went deep and scored three runs, while Rod Boykin and Wilfri De La Cruz had two hits apiece for the Storm.
Rockies No. 8 prospect Garrett Hampson and Chris Rabago both had three hits and three of the JetHawks' 10 stolen bases.