Wednesday's best: Hays, Santander power Bowie to victory

August 10th, 2017

Austin Hays and combined for three homers and nine RBIs as they led Double-A Bowie to a 14-2 win over Harrisburg on Wednesday.
Hays, the Orioles' No. 2 prospect (No. 100 overall), went 2-for-5 with a homer and five RBIs, while Santander (Orioles No. 9) went 3-for-5 with two homers and four RBIs.
Santander struck first as he highlighted the Baysox's four-run first with a two-run homer. However, it was Hays that put the game away in the middle innings.
The 22-year-old drove in a run with a triple in the fifth and then put the game out of reach when he hit his second grand slam of the season in the sixth. With the game already well in hand, Santander capped his night with a solo homer in the eighth.

MILB Video - Title: Hays belts grand slam - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=1709036583

"I was happy," Hays told MiLB.com. "I'm always happy when I see the ball go over the fence, so I had a smile on my face. We were all laughing when I got into the dugout because all three outfielders had at least one home run."
Hays extended his hitting streak to nine games with the performance and is hitting .340 with 12 homers over his first 39 games at the Double-A level.
Meanwhile, Santander, who is with Bowie while on a rehab assignment, is hitting .417 with four homers in 10 games. While Santander's numbers are certainly impressive, his presence has also been beneficial to the team.
"The guy's a beast, he's huge, he takes up the whole box," Hays said. "So knowing that the pitcher's looking at the on-deck circle with that guy standing behind me, I know they definitely don't want to put me on base and have that guy come up."
Other top prospect performances from Wednesday's action:
No. 24 overall prospect Triston McKenzie (Indians No. 2) rebounded nicely for Class A Advanced Lynchburg. After a pair of rough outings, during which he was tagged for 13 earned runs over 10 innings, McKenzie threw five innings of one-run ball. The 20-year-old gave up five hits, walked one and struck out eight on 91 pitches (56 strikes).
No. 56 overall prospect Scott Kingery (Phillies No. 3) hit his 24th homer of the season and extended his hitting streak to eight in Triple-A Lehigh Valley's win over Norfolk. Kingery, who finished 3-for-5, hit a solo shot in the sixth and J.P. Crawford (No. 4) followed it up with as blast of his own as the duo went back-to-back.

MILB Video - Title: Kingery, Crawford go back-to-back - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=1708926183

No. 71 overall prospect Rhys Hoskins (Phillies No. 6) had a big game for Triple-A Lehigh Valley amid callup rumors as he hit his 29th homer and matched his season high with five RBIs. Hoskins hit a three-run homer in the seventh, his third in the past five games, and also drove in two runs with a fourth-inning double as he finished 3-for-5.

MILB Video - Title: Hoskins hammers three-run shot - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=1709532283

Red Sox No. 3 prospect Michael Chavis hit his 29th homer, which is tied for second in the Minors, in Double-A Portland's win over Richmond. Chavis, who finished 2-for-4, has been on a power surge lately with homers in each of his past two games and five in his past 10.

MILB Video - Title: Chavis clears the fences - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=1708844383

Cubs No. 8 prospect hit his 13th homer of the season and went 2-for-4 in Triple-A Iowa's win over Sacramento. Zagunis, batting .270 on the season, has been red-hot lately, notching multiple hits in three straight games and batting .346 in August. (No. 6) also had a good day, going 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles, boosting his average to .344 through 76 games.

MILB Video - Title: Zagunis hits homer to center - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=1707271583

Mariners No. 12 prospect Dan Vogelbach helped lead Triple-A Tacoma to a win over Nashville with a three-RBI night at the plate. Vogelbach put the Rainiers on the board early with a two-run homer, his 15th, in the first and later added an RBI single, finishing 2-for-3.

MILB Video - Title: Watch: Vogelbach launches homer - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=1709592783

Cardinals No. 15 prospect Austin Gomber extended his scoreless streak to 17 innings with his second straight scoreless start for Double-A Springfield. Gomber struggled with command a bit as he walked four, which tied his season high, but gave up just three hits and struck out five over seven innings.

MILB Video - Title: Gomber fans the side - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=1709274783

Astros No. 19 prospect Corbin Martin notched his first professional save with four hitless innings for Class A Short Season Tri-City. Corbin also set a career high with nine strikeouts as he threw 36 of his 56 pitches for strikes in the scoreless outing.
Astros No. 20 prospect Jason Martin hit a walk-off grand slam to send Double-A Corpus Christi home with a win over Tulsa. The home-run, which capped a six-run ninth-inning rally, was the 17th of the season for Martin, who finished 3-for-5.

MILB Video - Title: Martin belts walk-off grand slam - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=1709239783

Giants No. 20 prospect Garrett Williams spun a gem for Class A Advanced San Jose and has now totaled 12 scoreless frames in two starts since his promotion. Williams struck out eight and gave up two hits over six scoreless innings.
D-backs No. 22 prospect extended his hitting streak to nine games with the first two-homer effort of his career in Triple-A Reno's win over Las Vegas. Vargas, who finished 4-for-6, now has multiple hits in six of his past seven games, including each of the past three. The two homers also brought Vargas' season total to eight, a career high.

MILB Video - Title: Watch: Vargas launches 2nd homer - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=1709616883

Twins No. 22 prospect made his presence felt early in Triple-A Rochester's win over Columbus. The 25-year-old hit his 12th homer of the season, a solo shot, in the first inning and later added an RBI single in the fourth before finishing 3-for-4.

MILB Video - Title: Palka puts one out to center - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=1709349783

Mets No. 25 prospect David Thompson stayed hot in Double-A Binghamton's win over Erie. Thompson didn't manage to homer for the third straight game, but he did extend his hitting streak to six games with a 3-for-4 performance that included his first triple of the season.