McClure flashes bat in Saguaros' romp
Royals shortstop doubles twice, drives in two, scores twice in rout of Scorpions
The Kansas City infield shortstop doubled twice, drove in two runs and scored twice of the No. 9 spot in the order as Surprise cruised past Scottsdale, 11-3.
McClure, who had 13 extra-base hits in 119 games between Class A Advanced Wilmington and Double-A Northwest Arkansas this year, hopes to incorporate more power into his offensive game.
"It was great, obviously it's good to get hits and drive some runs in," he said. "It's nice too to get a couple extra base hits, nice to give the guys behind me a chance to get RBIs and put myself in scoring position.
"I think that comes with strength ... just comes with playing and teeing the ball up and hitting it as hard as you can. Hopefully you'll get the gaps and find the holes down the line, and those extra-base hits will come. It's definitely something I'd like to keep doing."
The 23-year-old hit .222 in 58 games with the Blue Rocks this year before a promotion to the Texas League, where he batted .212 in 61 games with the Naturals as his slick glove carried him through the Royals system.
He said he hopes his time in the AFL will help him further develop the bat while continuing to showcase his strong defensive game.
"I'm trying to stay steady playing defense, and show that I can keep getting hits and keep scoring runs. I'm feeling good, [defense] is one of my strong suits, so I'm feeling pretty confident with that," McClure said.
No. 4 Cardinals prospect Kolten Wong collected four hits and co-Player of the Week Chris McGuiness went deep for the third time in five games for the Saguaros. After going 0-for-4 in his AFL debut a week ago, Wong has multiple hits in each of his four games since and now boasts a .476 average. The second baseman, who turned 22 last Wednesday, also drove in a pair of runs.
McGuiness, a Rangers prospect who hit 23 homers for Double-A Frisco this season, finished 2-for-4. He's now batting .360 and slugging .800 in six games for Surprise.
"You can obviously learn a lot here. I've been here a week-and-a-half and I've already learned a lot," McClure said. "Watching guys like Kolten Wong and Chris McGuiness, Bryce Brentz. Obviously they've got it figured out pretty good, so just watching them you can grab some stuff and apply it to your game."
St. Louis' Boone Whiting earned the win for the Saguaros, allowing an unearned run on two hits and two walks while whiffing three over 3 1/3 innings.
Yankees prospect Slade Heathcott reached base safely three times out of the leadoff spot for the Scorpions, going 2-for-4 with a walk and a run. Fellow New York prospect Dellin Betances scattered a pair of hits and a walk while striking out two in 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief.