Walker records long ball hat trick

Adam Walker has found his groove. And that groove is sending the ball out of the park.

The Twins' 10th-ranked prospect launched homers in his first three at-bats Saturday night to power Triple-A Rochester to a 12-2 romp at Durham.

With the game tied, 1-1, one in the second inning, Walker slugged a two-run shot over the left-center field wall at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Two innings later, he struck again for another two-run blast to the same spot.
The 24-year-old capped his career night with an absolute blast to left in the fifth.

"At that point, I had a couple of strikes on me," Walker said of his third homer. "So I was trying to battle up and just compete. I got a fastball up in the zone a little bit and I was able to get to it. That third one, I really was just able to get a decent pitch and didn't miss it."

Walker became the first Rochester player to homer three times in one game since Leo Gomez on April 9, 1990.
"I'm feeling pretty good. That was definitely fun," he said. "The last two at-bats didn't go the way I wanted, but it was definitely fun. We went out there and swung it well, it was a fun game."

Walker was only two days removed from his first two-homer game of the season, having launched a pair of solo shots in Thursday's 6-3 win.

"Definitely feeling pretty good," the Wisconsin native said. "I've been a little up and down this season, but I think it's starting to come around: feeling comfortable in the box and just not missing my pitches. Feeling locked in a little bit. Just want to keep it going and build a little consistency."

Walker's historic night came in support of Twins top prospect José Berríos (3-0). Making his first start since returning from the big leagues, he allowed a run on five hits and five walks while striking out eight over five innings for the win.

"Little bit of a rough first inning, got behind on some hitters. After that, he did a good job of attacking and going after hitters and trying to force them to put the ball in play and make them swing," Walker said of MLB.com's No. 16 overall prospect. "He really bounced back after that first inning and did great after that."

Tommy Field drove in three runs, while Byron Buxton was 2-for-5 and scored twice out of the leadoff spot for the Red Wings.

Rays No. 11 prospectRichie Shaffer drove in the Bulls' lone run.