Desert Dogs' Sweeney homers, plates five

Darnell Sweeney knows that two-out hits can turn a baseball game on its head. When runners are in scoring position, an inning-extending base knock can be even more demoralizing.

So it should come as no surprise that the Dodgers' 13th-ranked prospect came to the plate with two outs three times on Tuesday afternoon and delivered all three times.

Sweeney went 3-for-5 with a homer, double and five RBIs as Glendale beat Scottsdale, 8-4, in Arizona Fall League action.

"You're always trying to have good at-bats, no matter what, but two-out hitting does win games, and I know that's what the Dodgers harp on," Sweeney told MLB.com. "You get another level of intensity when there are two outs, so that's all that's happening."

After grounding out against Mets right-hander Rob Whalen to lead off the game, the 23-year-old second baseman ripped Whalen's 3-2 offering down the right-field line for a two-out two-run double in the second inning.

Sweeney lined out to open the fourth before sending Mets prospect Julian Hilario's 1-1 pitch over the right-field fence for a two-run homer in the sixth. Selected in the 13th round of the 2012 Draft out of the University of Central Florida, he added an opposite-field RBI single with two outs in the eighth.

"I faced [Hilario] twice before early in the Fall League, so I knew he had a really good changeup," Sweeney said of his second AFL homer. "He likes his changeup, so I was sitting on the changeup the whole at-bat. He threw it the first two pitches, then the third pitch he threw a pretty good changeup but just left it up and I put a good swing on it.

"I was just trying to continue to have good at-bats. I know we are running low on at-bats and games and coming toward the end, so I just wanted to make sure to finish strong and continue to have a good year."

The five RBIs pushed Sweeney's total to 12 in 17 Fall League contests. It also was his seventh multi-hit game and his second four-RBI effort in Arizona. Sweeney, who has reached safely in all but two starts, also drove in four runs while going 4-for-5 against Peoria on Oct. 22.

The switch-hitter batted .288 with a .387 on-base percentage and .463 slugging percentage in 132 games with Double-A Chattanooga this season. He hit a career-high 14 homers, plated 57 runs and stole 15 bases in 31 tries. Sweeney also increased his walk total from 43 to 77 while lowering his strikeouts from 151 to 117, despite moving up a level from the hitter-friendly California League.

Sweeney helped make a winner of starter Matt Magill (2-3), a fellow Dodgers prospect who gave up a run on three hits with four strikeouts in four innings. Brewers top prospect Tyrone Taylor was 4-for-5 with a run scored and Jason Esposito (Orioles) contributed a pair of hits and two RBIs.

"He was pounding the strike zone, and that's one of the good things that he does," Sweeney said of Magill. "He pounds the strike zone with multiple pitches and that's what makes him a good pitcher.

"We're just playing good baseball right now. Pitchers are throwing strikes, defense is playing good defense and timely hitting. That makes you a good, winning team."

Whalen (0-2) took the loss after surrendering five runs on seven hits and a walk over 2 2/3 innings.

Phillies No. 5 prospect Roman Quinn homered and plated two runs out of the leadoff spot for the Scorpions, while Pirates No. 3 prospect Josh Bell was 2-for-4 with an RBI double.