Kingery continues power tear with two homers for Reading

May 22nd, 2017

Scott Kingery has found his power stroke.
The Phillies' No. 11 prospect hit a pair of solo homers, in the seventh and ninth innings, as part of a 4-for-5 day, but it was not enough for Double-A Reading as the Fightin Phils fell 8-7 to New Hampshire.
The homers are part of a recent power surge in what has already been a bit of a breakthrough season for the 2015 second-round pick, who now leads the Eastern League with 13 homers.
"Everyone keeps asking me if I'm a home run hitter and I keep telling them no," Kingery told MiLB.com. "I'm honestly just trying to put a good, line-drive swing on the ball, and for some reason I'm hitting them in the air and they're getting some carry on them. For me, it's not about hitting home runs, but they just happen to be going out right now."

MILB Video - Title: Kingery hits second homer - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=1414744683

Kingery has gone deep four times over his past three games -- including a two-homer game on Friday -- and six times over his past seven games.
While those numbers would be impressive for anyone, they are even more remarkable when put in context with the rest of his career: Kingery began the season with just eight homers in 197 games.
Other top prospect performances from Sunday's action:
No. 39 overall prospect (White Sox No. 4) was stuck with a no-decision despite another strong start for Triple-A Charlotte. Lopez gave up one run on three hits in six innings, throwing 53 of his 85 pitches for strikes. The 23-year-old righty has a 2.94 ERA through 49 innings and has surrendered one earned run or fewer in four of his past five starts.
No. 100 overall prospect Luis Urias (Padres' No. 4) extended his hitting streak to eight games with a 3-for-5 effort for Double-A San Antonio. Urias, just 19 years old, has hits in 13 of his past 14 games and is slashing .344/.429/.485 through 41 games.
• Bryan Reynolds (Giants' No. 3) set a career high with five hits, going 5-for-6 with four RBIs for Class A Advanced San Jose. Reynolds' three-run triple highlighted a five-run fourth in a game in which practically everything went right for the former second-round pick.
• Pirates No. 4 prospect Ke'Bryan Hayes put together his third consecutive multi-hit game in Class A Advanced Bradenton's win over Fort Myers. Hayes, who has hits in six of the past seven games, finished 3-for-5 with four RBIs.
• Cubs prospects Mark Zagunis (No. 6) and (No. 12) combined for five hits, two homers and four RBIs, but it wasn't enough as Triple-A Iowa fell to Tacoma, 8-7. Zagunis collected a season-high three hits, going 3-for-5 with a homer, two doubles and an RBI. Caratini, who finished 2-4 with a homer and three RBIs, continues to hit well. The 23-year-old has back-to-back multi-hit games and is batting .458 (11-for-24) over his past six games.

MILB Video - Title: Caratini belts two-run shot - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=1415299083

• Kyle Funkhouser (Tigers' No. 6) may have faced stiffer competition, but he found a way to dominate anyway. The 23-year-old set a career high with 10 strikeouts over 7 2/3 innings in his Class A Advanced Lakeland debut. Funkhouser, who had a 3.16 ERA through seven starts at the Class A level this season, gave up two runs on three hits without walking a batter.
• Steven Brault (Pirates' No. 8) tossed seven scoreless innings, a season high, for Triple-A Indianapolis in a 3-2 win over Toledo. The lefty threw 65 of his 98 pitches for strikes, struck out four and gave up just a trio of hits.

MILB Video - Title: Brault fans Watkins for fourth K - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=1415821683

"I was just attacking hitters -- staying athletic, not overthinking things," Brault told MiLB.com. "Toledo is more of a strength team; they're a little more aggressive. There was a lot of decent or weak contact and then I kept my defenders engaged, not taking too much time in between pitches. I think that always helps."
Angels No. 11 prospect David Fletcher set season highs in both hits and RBIs, going 4-for-4 with a trio of of runs driven in for Double-A Mobile. The shortstop plated two with a single in the first and another with a base hit in the fourth.

MILB Video - Title: Fletcher's fourth hit - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=1416067283

(Athletics' No. 15) bumped his hitting streak to six games with a perfect 4-for-4, three-RBI day at the plate for Triple-A Nashville. Olson also hit his 10th homer of the season, a solo blast in the eighth, as the Sounds beat Sacramento, 4-0.

MILB Video - Title: Olson's fourth hit is a homer - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=1415213283

• Yankees No. 19 prospect Nick Solak hit his second homer of the season and reached base five times for Class A Advanced Tampa. Solak, 22, notched his third three-hit game of the season, going 3-for-4 with two walks, a homer and two RBIs.
Brewers No. 20 prospect Corbin Burnes lowered his ERA to 1.00 through 54 innings for Class A Carolina after shutting out Winston-Salem over seven innings. Burnes, who struck out a career-high 10, has held opponents scoreless in five of his nine starts this season, including three of his past four.

MILB Video - Title: Burnes notches 10th K - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=1414681783

• Monte Harrison (Brewers' No. 22) matched his season high in both hits and RBIs as he went 3-for-5 with a homer and three RBIs for Class A Wisconsin. Harrison, 21, has seven homers and 20 RBIs through 38 games this season.

MILB Video - Title: Watch: Harrison goes yard - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=1416867583

Phillies No. 24 prospect threw a gem for Triple-A Lehigh Valley. The 25-year-old posted his first scoreless start of the season as he threw six strong innings against Syracuse. Lively lowered his ERA to 2.79 and struck out nine, the most he's fanned in a game this season.