Emil Morales is heating up.
The Dodgers’ No. 5 prospect (MLB Pipeline’s No. 52 overall) had three hits on Sunday for High-A Great Lakes, all of which went for extra bases. The performance wasn’t quite enough to earn a win, though, as the Loons fell 8-7 to Lansing at Jackson Field.
Morales opened up the scoring in a back-and-forth affair, pulling a double into the left-field corner in the top of the first inning. He plated fellow Top 100 prospect Charles Davalan (No. 92) in the process. Morales then scored on a Jose Meza single, giving the Loons a 2-0 lead.
With two outs in the fifth inning, Morales narrowly missed a home run when he crushed another double off the wall in center field. It drove in his second RBI of the day, with Chase Adkinson coming home from second, making it a 4-0 game.
Lansing used the sixth inning to turn the tides. Three walks paved the way for a Myles Naylor grand slam, tying the game.
But Morales wouldn’t be denied. He ripped the lead right back, crushing his 13th home run of the season to left-center field. Great Lakes reported it as a 462-foot bomb to lead off the top of the seventh. Samuel Munoz followed later in the frame with a two-run shot, giving Great Lakes a 7-4 cushion.
COMPLETE DODGERS PROSPECT COVERAGE
A three-run eighth, this time via a homer from Gunner Gouldsmith, tied things yet again. Lansing earned the walk-off win in extra innings, as Naylor scored Pedro Pineda on a fielder’s choice in the 10th.
As for Morales, the 19-year-old shortstop appears to be finding his groove after a bit of a slow start at High-A. He was promoted on May 19 after tearing up Single-A, and he’s now recorded a hit in 10 of his last 12 games. Two of those have been multi-hit performances, while he’s also seen six of his last seven knocks go for extra bases.
Morales is now up to a .230/.309/.451 slash line at High-A. Across two levels this year, he’s put together a solid .870 OPS.