Kelly knocks in five runs in Chiefs' win

Carson Kelly is well aware of his limits on the basepaths. Still, when he plays like he did on Saturday, he's also absolutely confident in his ability to get into scoring position.

"Knowing my speed, I'm not very fast, so I need to hit it to gaps to get a double," Kelly said. "And I like to drive the ball. I'm known as a hitter that has some power."

The Cardinals' seventh-ranked prospect established career highs with three doubles and five RBIs to lead Class A Peoria to a 9-2 win at Quad Cities.

"It was pretty crazy. I actually was just looking for pitches to drive in those situations with [runners in scoring position]," Kelly said. "They happened to fall through and it was a lot of fun."

The 19-year-old catcher banged out his doubles in three consecutive innings, beginning with a leadoff hit off River Bandits starter Kevin Comer in the second. The right-handed hitter drove that ball to right-center field.

"I have a plan going into each at-bat and I really take pride in working the other way," he said. "I have a lot of trust in my hands on the inner half, and that allows me to focus on driving the ball to right field."

In the third, Kelly was in the middle of a six-run rally. He cleared the bases by again taking Comer to the opposite field.

"I like driving the ball to the gaps, especially right-center," he said. "That's where two of them went tonight, and when I drive the ball there, things start to click for me."

He added two more RBIs in the fourth by going to left-center for another two-base hit off reliever Chris Cotton.

Kelly has five homers this season, but he never entertained thoughts that any of his doubles would clear the fence.

"They were line drives. I'm sticking with that. That's my game," he said. "If I happen to get under one, that's even better, but most of my hits are line drives, and that's what I try to do."

Kelly, who was selected in the second round of the 2012 Draft out of a Portland, Oregon, high school, had 22 doubles between short-season State College and Peoria last year. He's in the midst of a conversion from third base to catching and admitted it's been difficult to concentrate on offensive growth while he learns a new position.

"It has," he said. "But at the same time, I think there's something different than at third base. You can't take at-bats with you out there [when you're catching].

"Catching helps me to flip the switch a little bit better in a sense. 'OK, I'm catching now.' Then, when I'm not catching, I can focus on the offensive side without thinking about the defensive side."

The 3-for-5 night boosted Kelly's batting average nine points to .239 and gave him 34 RBIs in 54 games.

Batterymate Blaine McKnight (3-6) gave up two runs on five hits and a walk while striking out two over 5 2/3 innings to get the win.