Bulls' Adames finishing strong in August

While wrapping up an impressive August, Willy Adames continued to show how far he's come this year.
The Rays' second-ranked prospect drove in four runs with a homer and a double on Wednesday, helping Triple-A Durham defeat Charlotte, 10-6, at BB&T Ballpark.

Gameday box score
Adames opened the scoring in the first inning by ripping a 3-0 pitch from Knights starter Tyler Danish into center field for an RBI double. The 6-foot, 200-pound infielder added on an inning later when he crushed Danish's 3-1 offering off the top of the scoreboard in left-center field for a three-run shot, his 10th of the season.
"He's got [the power] in there," Bulls manager Jared Sandberg said. "It's only a matter of time before it comes out a little more consistently. At times he overswings, but when he stays within himself and he works himself into good counts, he has the ability to do that."

The Knights retired Adames in his final three at-bats. He lined to second base leading off the fourth,  struck out to open the sxith and grounded into a double play to end the eighth. Sandberg said he was pleased with the quality of the 21-year-old's at-bats.
"He definitely came into the game with some confidence and swinging the bat well," the skipper said. "He had good at-bats, he hit the ball hard. We're talking about a special talent."
Adames has grown significantly more comfortable near the top of the Bulls lineup since putting up a .210/.309/.333 slash line in 20 games in April. He's raised his average 63 points in the four months since, hitting .350 with a .999 OPS in July. August has been one of his more productive months, with a .311 average and season highs in home runs (four) and RBIs (19).
"He's worked good at-bats all year, but as he's gotten more comfortable at Triple-A the at-bats are getting better," Sandberg said. "He understands the strike zone, but he continues to learn the strike zone and learn what he can and can't do and try to stay within himself. When he does, really good things happen."
MLB.com's No. 18 overall prospect sports a .273/.360/.414 line with 43 extra-base hits and 59 RBIs in 124 games with the Bulls. With six games left in the regular season, he's closing in on career highs in several offensive categories.

Sandberg said Adames has succeeded by focusing on short-term goals rather than worrying about the season as a whole.
"We continue to talk to him about how there's a first half, there's a second half, there's individual months and just keeping the goals small," the manager added. "He's continued to think small and this season has turned around for him and he's had a really good season. He's turned around defensively and he's been a huge part of our offense."
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Rays No. 5 prospect Jake Bauers also had two hits and drove in two runs for Durham, while Shane Peterson went 3-for-5 with a double. Patrick Leonard clubbed a two-run homer in the ninth.
Reliever Adam Kolarek improved to 3-4 after striking out two in 1 1/3 perfect innings.
Danish (4-14) surrendered seven runs -- six earned -- on eight hits and a walk over two innings.