Rawhide's Palka finds twice as much power

On Monday, Daniel Palka was looking for a home run, but didn't get it. The following night when he wasn't trying, he went yard twice as Class A Advanced Visalia topped Lake Elsinore, 9-3, at The Diamond.

"I wasn't thinking about it too much. It's just kind of being in the [moment], and once I got the first one, the second one kind of came," D-backs' No. 27 prospect said. "I think any time you try to overdo it, you're going to miss and make mistakes."

In the previous contest against San Jose, Palka hit a double, a single and a triple in his first three at-bats, but popped out his fourth time up. The 23-year-old first baseman shook it off and went into Tuesday's game with a clear mind.

 After striking out in this first at-bat against the Storm, Palka crushed a two-run shot to right-center field.

"[Starter Zech Lemond] kind of left a ball up and I got into it. Two strikes -- I was just trying to get it into play honestly," he said. "I was definitely trying the last at-bat [Monday] and it didn't work out too good.

"It didn't even come cross my mind today until after it happened. I was like, 'At least I got a cycle in two games.'"

While he didn't get the milestone, Palka was still in for a memorable game. In his next at-bat, the Georgia Tech product belted a solo shot to center for his first multi-homer game since June 24 with Class A South Bend.

"It felt good," he said. "It was the fifth run at the time, so it was good to give us more padding."

With a single to center in the eighth, Palka notched his third straight three-hit game. In that stretch, he is 9-for-14 with five extra-base hits and five RBIs. He credited small adjustments he's been making during the season, most recently a change in his stance.

"I usually get off to a slow start, this year wasn't as slow. I felt comfortable," he said. "About 10 games ago, I was a little bit too open in my stance, once I got back to where I normally am, everything's been hit well and [I'm] seeing the ball a lot better."

Visalia starter John Omahen (4-0) allowed three runs -- two earned -- on nine hits and a walk while striking six in 6 2/3 innings.

"It seemed like he was ahead the whole game. They got just a couple hits off him and he came out, but he always looks good," Palka said of his starter. "He's a bulldog. He just goes out there and throws lots of strikes and even when he doesn't have his best stuff, he's still good."

Lemond (2-2) -- the Padres' No. 10 prospect -- yielded five runs on five hits and two walks while notching seven strikeouts over six frames.