Palka debuts with two homers in Triple-A

Making his International League debut, Daniel Palka gave his new teammates a glimpse of his power. In fact, he gave them that glimpse twice.

Minnesota's No. 27 prospect pummeled two homers -- including the go-ahead shot -- and added a double on Thursday night as Triple-A Rochester rallied to top Lehigh Valley, 8-7, at Coca-Cola Park.

Palka stormed out of Opening Day with a .338/.424/.538 slash line for Double-A Chattanooga in April. After cooling to a .200 average and .630 OPS in May, he was back in the swing of things in June, batting .302/.372/.802 with 13 homers -- six more than he hit in the previous two months combined. That surge signaled to the Twins that he was ready for more.

The 2013 third-round pick went yard in his first at-bat, connecting on a leadoff jack to right-center field in the second inning. Four frames later, he roped a double to right, coming around to score on No. 9 Twins prospect Adam Walker's double to center.

Leading off the seventh, Palka capped his night with another long ball to right-center, notching his fourth multi-homer game of the season.

"It all just comes down to not being overaggressive and swinging at balls," he told MiLB.com last month after bashing four homers in two games. "Taking good pitches, getting your zone before the game and looking for your pitch."

Minnesota acquired Palka from the Diamondbacks in November in exchange for catcher Chris Herrmann. The Georgia Tech product felt he was starting to balance things at the plate both with his overall hitting approach and his burgeoning power early last month.

"I'm gradually getting back on track with the average and everything, too," Palka said. "But it's definitely a big part of my game."

His sixth-inning double kick-started a four-run frame that leveled the score. His dinger in the seventh provided the difference in the win.

Walker added three hits behind Palka, doubling twice and driving in two runs on his first three-hit night since belting three homers on May 21.

D.J. Baxendale (2-0), who hasn't yielded a run in five Triple-A relief appearances, picked up the win after allowing two hits while striking out two over two scoreless frames. J.T. Chargois gave up one hit and fanned three over the final two innings for his sixth save.