Ervin's two homers lead top prospect performers

April 15th, 2017

With one top Reds outfield prospect getting the call to the Majors, another slugged two home runs for Triple-A Louisville on Friday night. headed to Cincinnati to join the big-league club, and Phil Ervin (Reds' No. 20 prospect) had a big night in a 5-3 win over Columbus.
Ervin hit a pair of two-run shots in his first two at-bats, launching one in the second inning and one in the fourth. The 24-year-old outfielder, a first-round pick by Cincinnati in the 2013 Draft, is batting .355 with three homers in the season's first nine games.

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Ervin hit .239 with 22 doubles and 13 home runs for Double-A Pensacola last year, swiping 36 bags in 123 contests.
The rest of the best performances from top prospects Friday
• Austin Meadows (Pirates' No. 2No. 7 overall) homered and drove in all three of Triple-A Indianapolis' runs in a 4-3 loss to Toledo. The 21-year-old center fielder opened the season batting .120 (3-for-25) before Friday's big performance.

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• Dawel Lugo (D-backs' No. 4) hit his fourth homer in as many contests for Double-A Jackson to provide the game's only run in a victory over Mobile. Lugo hit a solo shot that narrowly left the yard to break a scoreless tie in the top of the ninth inning. The 22-year-old infielder hit .311/.339/.492 with 17 home runs in 127 games split between Class A Advanced Visalia and Double-A Mobile last season.

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• Chris Shaw had himself a day with the bat for Double-A Richmond. The Giants' No. 5 prospect was perfect at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a walk, a home run, a double, four RBIs and two runs scored to lead the Squirrels in a 5-3 win over Reading. The 2015 first-round pick is batting .345 to kick off the year after batting .267 with 21 homers across two levels last season.

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•  (Rockies' No. 8) launched his second homer of the season for Double-A Hartford, a two-run shot in the first inning of a Yard Goats' loss to Double-A New Hampshire. McMahon, a second-round pick in 2013, also drove in a run and doubled, powering the Yard Goats' offense to seven runs and improving his average on the season to .371.

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• Scott Kingery (Phillies' No. 11) belted his third homer in the past four games in Double-A Reading's 5-3 loss to Richmond. The 22-year-old second baseman is batting .300 (9-for-30) with three homers in his first eight games of the season. Kingery hit .281/.335/.388 with 36 doubles and five homers in 131 games between Class A-Advanced Clearwater and Double-A Reading in 2016.

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• Meadows wasn't the only top Pittsburgh prospect to thrive on Friday. Luis Escobar (Pirates' No. 14) struck out 11 batters in five innings for Class A West Virginia. The 20-year-old right-hander out of Colombia now leads the Minor Leagues with 23 strikeouts in 11 innings pitched through two remarkable outings so far this season
• Shane Bieber racked up the strikeouts in a dominant outing for Class A Lake County. The Indians' No. 16 prospect mowed down a career-high 11 batters across six frames, allowing one run on four hits with no walks. Bieber's outstanding effort included a span in which he sat down seven straight batters on strikes. The right-hander posted a sparkling 0.38 ERA in nine appearances (eight starts) after being drafted by Cleveland in the fourth round last summer, and he is now 1-1 with a 2.53 mark this year in his first taste of full-season ball.
• Enyel De Los Santos, the Padres' No. 17 prospect, did his part in an attempt at history. The right-hander fired six perfect innings with seven strikeouts in his start for Double-A San Antonio before passing the ball off after 64 pitches (47 strikes). The Missions' hopes would be dashed with one out in the ninth, however, as the Royals' Ruben Sosa reached on an infield single deflected by the pitcher. De Los Santos holds a 0.75 ERA through two strong starts, his first at the Double-A level.

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• Ian Clarkin (Yankees' No. 21) tossed six scoreless innings for Class A-Advanced Tampa in a 3-1 victory over Bradenton. The 22-year-old right-hander yielded only two hits, walked three and struck out eight, lowering his ERA on the young season to 0.82 (one earned run in 11 innings pitched).