The former first-round pick homered twice and drove in a career-high six runs Sunday to power the Lake Elsinore Storm to an 18-6 thumping of the High Desert Mavericks.

"It was a pretty good night," Decker said. "I guess things are clicking right now and I am seeing the ball really well."

Decker, MLB.com's No. 50 prospect, batted .140 with one homer in May after missing Spring Training with an injured hamstring. As the All-Star break approached, however, the 20-year-old outfielder began to find his stroke.

Decker hit .282 with three homers in June and continued to improve in July as he started seeing the ball better and showing more plate discipline. Now, after putting in time in the batting cage with hitting coach Bob Skube, he's starting to light up California League pitching.

The Arizona native is hitting .349 with seven homers and 20 RBIs in 12 games in August, and Sunday marked his second multi-homer effort in the last two weeks. Decker also has hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games.

"I started off slow with the injured hamstring, but I changed my stance around halfway through the season and I am seeing the ball a whole lot better and getting to the same spot," he said. "[My stance] is more closed now and I have my hands lower, which means I can repeat the same action.

"I lost a bunch of weight coming into the season, but I pulled my hamstring doing sprints before a game and I missed all of Spring Training, which set me back and disappointed me. I just didn't have the at-bats at the start of the year, but my swing is back."

At hitter-friendly Mavericks Stadium on Sunday, Decker flashed his power to all fields. He hit a grand slam the other way in the first inning, then drilled a two-run shot to the deepest part of the ballpark in the third. Decker pulled a single to right field in the fifth.

"[Maikel Cleto] seemed pretty wild and walked the first three guys [in the first inning], but he settled down with the four-hole hitter and it looked like he found his release point," Decker said. "He threw me a first-pitch fastball and I was able to put it over the left-field fence."

Decker struck out in the second but helped key a six-run third that gave the Storm a 10-4 cushion.

"They brought in a left-hander and when I was standing on-deck I figured I could see his release point pretty well," he said. "He threw me a first-pitch changeup and then a fastball away, but he left a fastball middle-away that I hit to center field."

Decker flied out in the sixth and felt something pull in his left hand. He left for a defensive replacement an inning later.

"When I made my second out I felt a tweak in my left wrist and because we were up by so much the coach didn't want to risk anything else happening," he explained. "It was just precautionary."

The 2008 Arizona League MVP has 53 RBIs in 77 games, crediting his production to a lineup that includes Vincent Belnome, Cody Decker, Jesus Lopez and Johermyn Chavez.

"They have done a huge job," he said. "We have swapped the order because we have been struggling lately with the bats, but we are taking what the pitcher gives us and saying, 'What can we do for the guys behind us.' We're working more as a team now."

The victory moved the Storm a game ahead of the second-place Mavericks and Rancho Cucamonga in the California League South Division second-half standings. Lake Elsinore won the first-half title by seven games.

"Every game is tough, but we have the pitching and the bats to win both halves of the season," Decker said. "We are still right at the top and we don't want to give this half up. We want to be able to say that we won both halves."