Austin Meadows entered the home run column and enjoyed his best offensive performance of the season Monday as he went 3-for-3 with a three RBIs, two stolen bases and a walk in Double-A Altoona's win against Bowie. The Pirates' No. 2 prospect extended his hitting streak to eight games with the three-hit performance, which raised his batting average from .255 to .277.
Big things were expected from Meadows, MLBPipeline.com's No. 16 overall prospect this year in his first full season at Altoona after he finished 2015 by going 9-for-25 over six games with the Curve at age 20. Instead, the now-21-year-old began the season on the disabled list after suffering an orbital fracture while playing catch with a teammate on March 9 during Spring Training.
The injury cost Meadows the first 17 games of the season, and he got off to a slow start upon returning, hitting .148/.213/.185 in his first 14 games. However, the 2013 No. 9 overall Draft pick has settled in at the plate to collect hits in eight straight games and 13 of his past 15 for the Curve, during which he owns a .426 average (20-for-47) with one home run, six doubles, three triples and 11 RBIs as well more walks (eight) than strikeouts (seven).
The rest of the best performances from top prospects Monday
• No. 1 overall prospect Lucas Giolito (Nationals' No. 1) was solid once again as he tossed six innings and allowed one earned run in Double-A Harrisburg's 3-2 win over Arkansas. He allowed three hits and walked four in the outing while matching his season high with six strikeouts. The 21-year-old righty has rounded into form this month, posting a 1.52 ERA in 23 2/3 innings across his last four starts.
• In his second game back at Triple-A Round Rock after a short stint in the big leagues, No. 9 overall prospect Joey Gallo (Rangers' No. 1) went 3-for-3 with a solo home run to pace the Express in a win over Reno. The homer was Gallo's ninth in 26 games for Round Rock, and he's hitting .292/.443/.674 on the year.

MILB Video - Title: Gallo smashes a solo homer - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=757456583

• No. 34 overall prospect Anderson Espinoza (Red Sox's No. 4) fired five one-hit innings in his second straight scoreless start for Class A Greenville. The 18-year-old right-hander struck out four but also walked a season-high four in the outing while throwing 43 of his 76 pitches for strikes. Espinoza has allowed just three hits in 11 scoreless frames between his last two starts. First baseman Josh Ockimey's (No. 16) ninth home run of the season accounted for the only run in the Drive's 1-0 win against Charleston.
• No. 40 overall prospect Manny Margot (Padres' No. 1) collected multiple hits for the fourth time in seven games in Triple-A El Paso's blowout win against Omaha. He scored three runs in a 3-for-4 performance that included a double, and he also stole his 16th base of the season. After getting off to a slow start, Margot is now hitting .289/.358/.421 through 48 games in his first Triple-A stint.

MILB Video - Title: Watch: Margot belts double - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=759392383

• No. 45 overall prospect Willson Contreras (Cubs' No. 2) powered Triple-A Iowa in a win against Albuquerque with a career night at the plate. The 24-year-old backstop hit a pair of home runs and tallied five RBIs in a game for the first time in his Minor League career while collecting a season-best four hits. The performance gives Contreras eight homers in 43 games this season, which matches the total he posted last season over 126 games at Double-A Tennessee, and he's now gone deep five times in his past six games.

MILB Video - Title: Watch: Contreras drills homer - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=758298083

• A pair of A's prospects starred in Triple-A Nashville's win over Salt Lake as No. 94 overall prospect Matt Olson (A's No. 3) and Jaycob Brugman (Oakland's No. 21) combined to go 6-for-8 with five extra-base hits and six RBIs. Olson hit his fifth home run of the season and plated four as part of a 2-for-4 showing, while Brugman went 4-for-4 with three doubles and two RBIs out of the leadoff spot for the Sounds.

MILB Video - Title: Brugman notches his fourth hit - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=756711983

• Giants No. 3 prospect Phil Bickford continued his strong start to the season with five innings of one-run ball in Class A Augusta's win over Kannapolis. The 2015 first-rounder scattered four hits, walked three and struck out at least seven hitters for the fifth time in nine starts. Bickford has had an impressive full-season debut so far for the GreenJackets, posting a 2.63 ERA with 57 strikeouts in 48 innings.
• Giants No. 6 prospect Sam Coonrod improved his California League-leading ERA to 1.18 with 6 2/3 scoreless innings in Class A Advanced San Jose's win against Modesto. The 2014 fifth-round Draft pick struck out a season-best seven hitters and allowed just two hits and three walks in his second-longest outing of 2016.

MILB Video - Title: Coonrod records his 7th strikeout - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=757656483

• Giants No. 10 prospect Adalberto Mejia came within one out of throwing his first career shutout in Double-A Richmond's 1-0 win over Erie, ultimately allowing four hits and one walk in 8 2/3 innings. The 22-year-old southpaw fanned a season-best 10 hitters and generated nine ground-ball outs in the outing, with 73 of his 104 pitches going for strikes. Opposing hitters are batting a paltry .190 against Mejia in 53 innings this season.

MILB Video - Title: Watch: Mejia notches 10th K - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=759393183

• Giants No. 11 prospectClayton Blackburn turned in one of his better starts for Triple-A Sacramento as he fanned a season-high eight hitters while tossing seven innings of two-run ball (one earned) in a win against Oklahoma City. The 23-year-old right-hander has been sharp during his past two turns for the River Cats, posting a 0.69 ERA and 13 strikeouts and two walks in 13 innings.

MILB Video - Title: Watch: Blackburn strikes out batter - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=759392583

• Mariners No. 3 prospect Drew Jackson was the catalyst for Class A Advanced Bakersfield's offense in a win over Inland Empire as he went 3-for-4 with three doubles and three runs scored out of the leadoff spot. After he paced the Class A Short Season Northwest League last summer with a .358 average in 59 games, the 22-year-old shortstop is hitting .283/.361/.380 through 49 games this season for the Blaze.
• Padres No. 22 prospect Alex Dickerson extended his hitting streak to 28 games in Triple-A El Paso's win against Omaha, going 2-for-4 with three RBIs. He's hitting a robust .454 (49-for-108) with 15 extra-base hits including six home runs and 32 RBIs during the streak, which began back on April 18 before his eight-game stint in the big leagues in early May.