O'Neill continues power surge for Rainiers

For several weeks, the narrative surrounding Tyler O'Neill's season was that the slugger was turning things around. Now it may be time to simply say he's back.
The Mariners' second-ranked prospect belted home runs in both games of Tuesday's doubleheader, extending his homer streak to three as Triple-A Tacoma earned a split with Albuquerque. He went 4-for-8 across the twinbill as the Rainiers dropped the opener, 5-3, before taking the nightcap, 9-3.

O'Neill's day started in the first inning of Game 1 against Isotopes starter Matt Flemer when he connected on a two-run blast to left field to cap a three-run frame.

After going hitless in his final two at-bats of the opener, O'Neill got into the mix often in Game 2. The British Columbia native singled to left and scored in the Rainiers' four-run second before hammering a leadoff homer to left in the fourth.

O'Neill tacked on a leadoff single in the sixth for his second three-hit game in as many days.
A .214/.293/.369 hitter with six homers through June 22, O'Neill has put himself on track ever since. The 22-year-old boasts the sixth-best OPS in the Pacific Coast League since then at 1.173 with a .333/.414/.759 slash line that includes 11 homers and 25 RBIs in 22 games.
Game 1 box score
"I'm finally on time with fastballs, getting good pitches to hit and not missing them like I was in the first few months of the season," he said earlier this month. "Things are obviously turning around here."
Game 2 box score
Through 14 games in July, MLB.com's No. 29 overall prospect is batting .327/.393/.691, by far his best marks for any month this year in all three categories. His six homers in July match the total in 26 games in June and outpace the five he hit in 51 contests between April and May.

"I don't think Double-A level guys really care too much," he said of his adjustment from 2016 to this year. "They really just want to challenge you, see if you can hit their heater, throw good off-speed stuff in there also. But guys in Triple-A, from what I've seen, they don't give in. In hitters' counts, [they throw] a lot of off-speeds, 3-2 [counts] a lot of changeups, a lot of off-speeds, too. It's really just adjusting to that, maturing and being able to deal with it."
Mariners No. 8 prospect Dan Vogelbach reached base five times on the day, going 3-for-3 with a double and RBI in the opener and 1-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored in the finale.