Cecchini thriving in leadoff role for 51s

Gavin Cecchini led off an inning in four of his five at-bats for Triple-A Las Vegas on Saturday night.

Slashing .394/.463/.521 when leading off this season, the Mets' third-ranked prospect singled three times, doubled, drove in a run and scored the go-ahead run as the 51s topped Fresno, 10-8, at Cashman Field.

"I felt good, staying within my approach and staying with my routine and just going out there and getting my best pitches to hit and putting my best swing on it," Cecchini said. "I like hitting leadoff because you get a lot of at-bats and, also, it kind of just sets the tone. I've got to get it started for the team and get the team going, and I kind of like that."

After Fresno plated three runs in the top of the first inning, Cecchini singled to right field leading off the bottom half and scored on Johnny Monell's two-out single.

"Hitting's contagious, so [my teammates] see that leadoff hitter get on and then it's like, 'All right, let's go, let's get this guy in,'" Cecchini said. "That's my goal is to get on base and get my teammates going and, hopefully, they can drive me in. I've hit in a lot of different spots and I feel comfortable hitting anywhere, but I enjoy hitting leadoff. It's really fun."

With one out and the bases loaded in the second, Cecchini singled on a popup past first base that scored Kevin Plawecki. The 51s tied it on L.J. Mazzilli's RBI forceout. The 22-year-old shortstop opened the fourth with another base hit and scored the first of four runs in the inning on Monell's groundout. 

After flying to center leading off the fifth, Cecchini doubled to start the eighth and complete his second four-hit game of the season.

"The [Grizzlies] are kind of different and they put a big shift on everybody," Cecchini said. "I drive the ball to right field, through the middle and to left field, too. They were playing me to pull and sometimes they would move over just a tad, but that doesn't change my approach. I'm going to stay with what I do best. Just because they're playing to pull, I'm not going to try to steer the ball to right. I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing and keep being Gavin."

The 2012 first-round pick raised his average to .324, good for fourth in the Pacific Coast League behind teammates T.J. Rivera (.348) and Brandon Nimmo (.336), who rank first and second, respectively. Cecchini has kept that mark over .300 since May 30, driven by a stretch that saw him go 56-for-158 (.354) with three homers and 28 RBIs in 40 games across May and June.

"You work counts by getting good pitches to hit and taking pitches you know aren't ones you can drive," he said. "I'm not going up there taking pitches to take them, but I do work counts by having a good approach and having a good strike zone. [When you don't chase bad pitches], you start shrinking the zone and they have to come into you. That's how I work.

"[The consistency has come from] staying within myself and knowing what I can do. There's always going to be minor adjustments that you have to make, but your swing's your swing and you're going to do what you're going to do. I stick with my routine and approach and game plan, and that's why I've been able to be consistent."

Rivera went 3-for-5 with a homer, two doubles and five RBIs.

After Josh Zeid surrendered seven runs on eight hits and four walks over 4 1/3 innings for Las Vegas, Luis Mateo (1-0) pitched 2 2/3 scoreless frames to get the win. Josh Smoker struck out the side in the ninth for his third save.

Jon Singleton homered, doubled and drove in four runs for Fresno. Reliever Aaron West (0-1) gave up two runs on a hit and a walk in 1 1/3 innings.