Walker, Lookouts wrap strong homestand

The month of May has been kind to Adam Brett Walker II and the Chattanooga Lookouts. On Sunday, they ended a dominant homestand with arguably their best performance yet.

Walker homered, doubled and matched Miguel Sano with a game-high four RBIs as Double-A Chattanooga wrapped an 8-2 stay at AT&T Field with a 16-3 rout of Jackson.

The Lookouts started to take over the game in the third inning. With a run already in on a sacrifice fly by Sano, Walker belted a two-run homer to right field for his Southern League-leading eighth blast of the season.

"I ended up getting a pitch out over the plate and was able to get it out to right-center," the Twins' No. 13 prospect said. "I was able to find some barrel, and luckily, it got out of the ballpark."

Walker doubled to left for two more RBIs in the sixth. The 23-year-old's two extra-base hits gave him a league-leading 15 on the year. Walker ranks second in the Southern League in slugging percentage (.539) and total bases (55).

"You start to tell that pitchers have more control over all their pitches [in Double-A]," Walker said. "The years before, you've got some guys who just had command, maybe just fastball command. Guys with two pitches were doing well, but [here] you start to see guys with three quality pitches.

"I've been working, trying to become a better hitter, have a better approach at the plate, make sure I'm swinging at good pitches."

On Sunday, it seemed as though almost every Lookouts hitter was swinging at the right pitches. Eight of Chattanooga's nine starters registered at least one hit. Top Minnesota prospect Buxton stretched his RBI streak to nine games, and No. 7 Twins farmhand Jorge Polanco led all players with four hits. Polanco is batting .311/.351/.495 through his first 25 games.

"It's a blast. I think it helps everybody individually," Walker said of the big offensive day. "You get your teammates up there, and they're getting big hits, driving in runs. You just want to join the fun."

Minnesota's No. 2 prospect Sano continued his resurgence with two hits, including a double. After exiting April as a .159 hitter, Sano has lifted his average to .211. The third baseman is batting .389 over his last five games and .314 over his last 10.

"He's started to slow the game down a little more," Walker said of Sano. "I think you can definitely see he's starting to use the whole field at the plate. I think that's really helped him lately. He's really been coming along, having some good at-bats. That's definitely good to see."

"It seems like he's relaxing a little bit."

Lookouts starter D.J. Baxendale (3-0) saw his ERA rise to a still-paltry 1.24 while allowing two runs on six hits over five innings.

Chattanooga victimized Jackson starter Stephen Landazuri (0-2) for seven runs on seven hits in 3 2/3 innings.