Bulls' Gillaspie powers up with two blasts

Casey Gillaspie needed 17 games to hit his first two Triple-A homers. It took him four at-bats to do it Monday.

Tampa Bay's ninth-ranked prospect plated four runs on a pair of long balls while tying a career high with four hits as Triple-A Durham topped Norfolk, 10-6, at Harbor Park.

Gillaspie entered the night in a 15-game homerless drought, but he ended that in the first inning. Ahead in the count, 2-0, against Tides starter David Hale, he buried a fastball over the right-field wall.

His teammates followed his lead. Next batter Taylor Motter swiftly clubbed a homer over the left-field fence and Jaff Decker followed with a shot to right field. The 23-year-old first baseman said it was a perfect way to start the night.

"It was a fun time. On a day when it's late in the year, it's nice to have some enjoyment going on throughout the game for us," Gillaspie said. "Especially to get off to an early start to give our starting pitcher [Alex Cobb] a comfortable lead there in the first inning, obviously, that was huge for us."

The Wichita State product then delivered a single to left in the third and lined another to center in the fifth. When Gillaspie came to the plate in the seventh, No. 10 Rays prospect Daniel Robertson stood on first after being hit by a pitch to start the inning. Gillaspie fell behind 0-2 in the at-bat before finally getting the pitch he wanted and driving it out to right-center field.

"[Reliever Edgar Olmos] threw two fastballs in for strikes, so I was trying to protect the plate there," the 2014 first-round pick said. "I thought he was going to come back in with it, but he kind of left it over the middle for me. It was kind of the same situation. I wasn't trying to hammer the ball, but luckily, I got enough wood on it to get it out."

Gillaspie's second homer gave him four since being promoted from Double-A Montgomery in mid-July. He had sometimes struggled to display his trademark power before Monday's outburst. He had notched nine extra-base hits and sported a career-low .379 slugging percentage.

After putting together his first multi-homer game since May 5, 2015 and his first four-hit game since April 14 of that year, Gillaspie said he hopes he'll be able to help the Bulls make a push for the International League South Division title.

"I think I'm just trying to relax a little more," he said. "I'm really trying to hone my swing the best I can. The pitching is always going to be good at this level. It's all about finding something that's consistent and going out and going to work every day.

"Hopefully, I can keep it going and maintain it, so I can keep helping us win and get us to the playoffs. We're in a pretty good race right now, so hopefully, I can continue to contribute and help my team win as much as I can."

Parker Markel (4-3) picked up the win for Durham after allowing a run on two hits and a walk while fanning two over two innings in relief of Cobb.

Olmos (4-4) gave up two runs on two hits and struck out one over 1 2/3 frames.