Robertson smacks five hits in Mesa's rout

Coming into Saturday, Daniel Robertson had already put together several strong games in the Arizona Fall League, but even for him, this was an anomaly.

"Just one of those days, you don't really know how to explain it," he admitted. "Just finding holes."

Robertson was 5-for 6 with four RBIs and two runs scored to power Mesa to a 14-0 thrashing of Surprise. The A's top prospect now leads the AFL with a .444 batting average, and he has nine RBIs in 10 games.

"Coming up to the plate today I felt pretty confident just staying in my approach," he said "Not trying to do too much as you can tell, five of my hits - all singles."

The 20-year-old shortstop smacked an RBI single against Red Sox right-hander Keith Couch in the first inning, then led off the fourth with another base knock against Couch (2-1). He came around to score on a triple by Toronto prospect Dwight Smith Jr.

He welcomed Saguaros reliever and Rangers prospect Cody Kendall to the game by knocking another RBI single in the fifth. The Solar Sox had a 8-0 lead by the end of that frame. They didn't let up, as Robertson plated two more in the next inning. After grounding out in the seventh, he singled in another run against Sam Wolf (Rangers) in the ninth.

"Everyone is loose, it's Saturday. Everyone knows we've got a day off tomorrow. We put a lot of hard work in during the week. Coming into this game we were all pretty loose and just having fun," said the native of Upland, California. "We came out here hitting the ball pretty hard and once you put the quarter in the merry-go-round it doesn't stop going. It was a fun day to be out here."

Dalton Pompey, the Blue Jays' No. 3 prospect, was 4-for-6 with two doubles, two runs scored and an RBI for Mesa, and two other A's farmhands were major contributors. Matt Olson, ranked just behind Robertson, was 3-for-5 with a triple, three RBIs and two runs scored. Boog Powell, No. 20 in the system, went 3-for-5 with a walk, two doubles, three stolen bases and two runs scored.

Robertson was excited to see his organization-mates perform so well. 

"It's awesome. All these guys out here are tremendous pitchers, tremendous players, but when you see it coming within the organization it's a good sight to see just to know these are the guys you could be playing with in the future," he said. "Boog and Matt are heck of ballplayers and hopefully we're together for a long time.

"In my eyes [Powell] has an advanced approach. He controls the strike zone well. If he's not walking, he's battling with two strikes, putting the ball in play and using his speed to get hits left and right. He's a good hitter."

Eleventh-ranked Toronto prospect Sean Nolin twirled three perfect frames, striking out five, to improve to 1-1 with a 6.48 ERA over four AFL starts.

No. 4 Rangers prospect Nick Williams was 2-for-3 for Surprise.