Red-hot Frazier powers Hillcats' big night

When Carolina League OPS leader Bradley Zimmer went up to Double-A on July 16, his Lynchburg teammates strived to fill the gap left by his departure. The Hillcats did so by committee on Wednesday, with Clint Frazier continuing to take on a sizable portion of that load.

The Indians' No. 2 prospect went yard and drove in three runs to help Class A Advanced Lynchburg beat Myrtle Beach, 10-4. The Hillcats swatted a team-record five homers.

After striking out and popping out in his first two at-bats, Frazier launched his third long ball in seven games, a three-run blast over the left-center field wall of Calvin Falwell Field. The 20-year-old outfielder later lined a single to center and stole his 12th base in the sixth.

"[I was feeling] confident and relaxed," he said. "I just went out there and tried to have fun like I have the last couple of games. [Jonathan Martinez] had pitched me tough all night, throwing his breaking ball for strikes. I was expecting him to throw me a first-pitch breaking ball. I put a good swing on it and it ended up being a home run. I knew it was gone."

Frazier extended his hitting streak to 11 games, during which he is batting .475 (19-for-40) with three homers, eight runs scored and six RBIs for the Hillcats. That stretch has helped move him onto the Carolina League leaderboards, and he's tied for second in the league with 11 dingers, fourth with 50 RBIs and seventh with an .813 OPS.

"I'm just having a positive mind-set," the Georgia native said. "Going up there, trying to visualize base hits before I step into the box. Just going up there and trying to have fun. That's the biggest thing. It's a game and I'm trying to play it like I did when I was in T-ball.

"It's a tough game, so finding ways to go out there and have fun every single night is the way I'm trying to play. The results have been positive, so I'm going to try and ride this hot streak as long as I can.

Indians' No. 27 prospect Nellie Rodriguez contributed two homers for Lynchburg. 

"Having Nelly behind you is awesome," MLB.com's No. 41 prospect said. "He's such a threat at the plate. Having a group of guys, it leads to a lot of runs and a lot of home runs as well. We have a very talented team."

Since Cleveland's third-ranked prospect Zimmer moved up to Erie on July 16, Frazier has helped fill the void left behind by a player who still leads the Carolina League with an .896 OPS.

"I think everyone tried to set up when we lost Bradley," Frazier said. "He was such a big part of the team. When someone like that goes up, other people have to step up and go out there and play their game."

Sicnarf Loopstok and Dorssys Paulino each slugged a solo homer while Ivan Castillo scored twice for Lynchburg.

D.J. Brown improved to 8-3 after giving up four runs on eight hits while striking out two and walking one over 6 1/3 innings.

Cubs' No. 16 prospect Victor Caratini had three hits and three RBIs for the Pelicans.