Johnson City's Santiago slugs two homers

Benito Santiago the elder wasn't known for his hitting prowess as much as he was revered for his throwing arm behind the plate during his heyday, but he could still punish a pitcher's mistake, particularly during his 30-homer season with the Phillies in 1996. 
Turns out his son, also named Benito Santiago, takes after his father. Despite getting sporadic playing time and hitting just one homer in his first 46 pro at-bats, the Cardinals prospect slugged a pair of homers and plated five runs in Johnson City's 15-5 rout of Bristol on Tuesday at TVA Credit Union Ballpark. 

Santiago had to think back to recall the last time he recorded a multi-homer game.
"The last time that I did that was in high school," he said. "It was like freshman year of high school. I don't consider myself a power hitter, but I can definitely drive the ball to all sides of the park."
Gameday box score
Facing Pirates starter Colin Selby in the second inning, St. Louis' 34th-round selection in June's Draft battled to a seven-pitch walk. One inning later, he came up with two outs and nobody on against Bristol reliever Luis Nova. Staked to a 2-0 count, Santiago clobbered his first home run of the day to right-center field. 
"Just keeping everything simple, basically just slowing the game down and letting the at-bats come through." 
The left-handed hitter strode to the plate with the bases juiced in the fifth against right-hander Vince Deyzel. On the fifth pitch of the at-bat, he drove everyone in -- including himself -- by cracking a grand slam to right-center. 
"The first one was a 2-0 count, so I was definitely looking to put the barrel on the ball," the 23-year-old said. "When it comes to both home runs, it comes to what I've been focusing on in practices: just keeping the bathead straight and putting it on the ball and letting the ball dictate what it's going to do." 
Santiago struck out in the sixth and eighth to end his day. He is batting .200 with nine RBIs and 24 strikeouts in 50 at-bats through 15 games. The University of Tennessee product has played in just three games since July 27. During his senior season with the Volunteers, he batted .261/.327/.448 with seven homers, 34 RBIs and 15 doubles while starting 54 games. 
Even with the limited playing time, Santiago has evoked images of his father with his prowess behind the dish. He's yet to commit an error and has caught four of nine would-be basestealers. 
But the best part of turning pro, Santiago said, is working with a new pitching staff and aiding their success. 
"It's been great. It's been a good time," the backstop said. "It's definitely one of those things that I love to do, which is catching the game and calling my own game. Coming out here and being able to handle the staff has been tremendous.
"I definitely keep my focus in getting to know the staff and just being able to handle the staff in this organization."  

Although it's his first season of professional baseball, Santiago prides himself on tutoring the Johnson City hurlers and maximizing their potential. 
"Knowing the staff and the plan [begins] by knowing the guys and knowing what they can and cannot do," he said. "Obviously what they can't do we work on in practice. The one thing I tell the pitchers here is to never take a rep off and listen to the coaches and the pitching coordinators that have a plan for us. All we have to do is come over here and [execute] it." 
And in his dad, Santiago has a valuable mentor he's not afraid to seek advice from. 
"He's given me a couple of tips," he said. "We definitely keep in contact when it comes to learning the game. So it's definitely one thing that I have the privilege to just be able to reach out and gain some insight on the game." 
Dariel Gomez smacked a three-run homer and finished with 4 RBIs for Johnson City. 
Jonah Davis hit a leadoff home run for the Pirates.