The Angels' No. 3 prospect went 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs, but Class A Advanced Inland Empire was beaten by Lancaster, 5-3.

Cron has hit safely in 30 of his last 32 games and has driven in 13 runs in his last seven contests heading into the break for the Cal League-Carolina League All-Star Game.

"Guys are just getting on base in front of me and fortunately, I've been able to drive them in," he said. "I'm hitting in the middle of the lineup, so I'm going to get those opportunities. And I'm just making the most of them."

That isn't always the case -- as Cron demonstrated in the fourth inning. JetHawks starter Bobby Doran left an 0-1 slider over the fat part of the plate and the 22-year-old sent it over the left-field fence for his 11th homer. Of those 11 blasts, eight have been solo homers.

The 2011 first-round Draft pick finally got his first chance to bat with men on in the eighth, when Rolando Gomez reached on a dropped third strike and Brian Hernandez doubled. Cron followed with a two-run single to left that capped the 66ers' scoring.

"I got the barrel on the ball once tonight, and that was the homer," he said. "The base hit was just off it, but it fell in anyways."

Whether it's been luck, skill or a mix of both, the University of Utah product has proved to be at his best with ducks on the pond. Cron's batting .246 (35-for-142) with the bases empty, .373 with runners on base and .400 with runners in scoring position.

Those numbers have produced a league-leading 60 RBIs, a figure that ranks sixth among all Minor Leaguers. Even when Cron was batting .202 in April, he still drove in 16 runs over 24 games.

Asked to judge the first half of his first full season in pro ball, Cron said, "I don't really have a number for you, but I thought I did OK.

"I had a really rough first month, but I was able to get over that. Ever since, I've been hitting how I know I could. Something just clicked here in the last two months and it's been working pretty well ever since."

And while the numbers have been impressive, he believes there's room for improvement.

"You're going to always strive to do better," he said. "All I can do is take it one at-bat, one game at a time here and see what happens. But I definitely expect myself to perform the same, if not better."

Chris Epps went 2-for-3 with a homer and two RBIs for Lancaster. Astros' No. 3 prospect George Springer also had two hits and drove in two runs.

Doran (6-4) allowed two runs on three hits over 7 1/3 frames for the win.