Engel stays hot, leads Desert Dogs in victory

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Since he arrived in Arizona, all Adam Engel has done is hit.

The No. 17 White Sox prospect has strung together five straight multi-hit games, has a six-game hitting streak and leads the Arizona Fall League with a .420 batting average.

"Any hitter will tell you that if you find something that works and you can get that feel every day in BP and in your work before the game, it makes the game a little bit easier," Engel said after leading the Glendale Desert Dogs to a 5-3 win over the Mesa Solar Sox at Camelback Ranch on Monday night.

Engel continued his hot stretch with a 2-for-3 performance and a trio of runs scored in the victory. He also drew a walk.

"[I was] seeing the ball well, just making the pitcher try to throw good pitches to get me out," Engel said. "I'm not trying to swing at any pitchers' pitches, looking for something that I can drive and every now and then they make a mistake and you've got to be ready for it."

The former 19th-round Draft pick is coming off a season in which he hit .251 with a career-high 39 extra-base hits for Class-A Winston-Salem, and on Monday he continued to hit the ball into the gaps.

Engel led off the game with a double and added a triple in the seventh.

The speedster showed off his wheels with the pair of extra-base hits, but also flashed his speed when stealing a base.

Engel stole a career-high 65 bases this season, and after his double to lead off the game, he promptly stole third.

"I felt like I had a really good chance of being safe," Engel said. "He looked twice and after the second look I started running. He picked up and delivered and I had a running start. If I hadn't had a running start I wouldn't have gone. Sometimes if the guy has certain tendencies, you can be aggressive and that was one of those times so I went."

The Chicago farmhand excelled at the plate and led the Desert Dogs to a win, but Cubs No. 20 prospect Jeimer Candelario certainly did his part to keep Mesa in the game.

Candelario, now hitting .358 in the AFL, went 3-for-5 with a solo homer and was a big reason that the game was tied through six.

However, Candelario's efforts weren't enough as Pirates' No. 2 prospect Austin Meadows drove in Engel with the go-ahead RBI double in the seventh.

"It's been a lot of fun, really good group of guys," Engel said of his stint in the AFL. "The coaching staff here is a lot of fun. They let us be loose and we're trying to enjoy ourselves out here and I think it shows on the field with the way we play. It's a lot of fun and it's just been a great experience so far."