Alcantara's five hits help Iowa win in 13

Arismendy Alcantara had five hits on Saturday, and Triple-A Iowa needed just about every one of them to come out on top in a 13-inning affair at Colorado Springs.

The Cubs' No. 6 prospect tied the game with a two-out single in the ninth inning then triple home another run in the 13th as Iowa outlasted the Sky Sox, 9-6, to extend their winning streak to five games.

Alcantara finished with three RBIs and a run scored, raising his batting average 38 points to .301.

"I just try to play the game the right way, you know?" he said. "Get good at-bats and play hard."

In his six-year professional career, Alcantara had recorded four hits in a game three times but never five before Saturday at Security Service Field. His last four-hit effort came on July 9, 2012, for Class A Advanced Daytona.

"When I'm up, I just try to get good contact," said Alcantara, who attended Spring Training with the Cubs this year and last and started for the World Team at the 2013 All-Star Futures Game at Citi Field.

The 22-year-old from the Dominican Republic has risen steadily through the Cubs' farm system since signing as a non-drafted free agent in November 2008. Last season, in 133 games at Double-A Tennessee, he hit .271/.352/.451 with 31 stolen bases in 37 tries while splitting time between shortstop and second base.

This year, he's played second almost exclusively at Iowa, where he's toting a .301/.310/.554 slash line with six steals in as many attempts. And he's committed just one error in 18 games.

Though it's easy to imagine a promotion in his future, Alcantara is more focused on his next game than the possibility of playing at Wrigley Field.

"I mean, I'm ready for everything right now," he said. "I just want to play the game. If they call me, I go; but if they want me to play more here, it's OK, I don't worry. I just want to play the game and try to do my job. If I do my job, they will call me, you know?"

Alcantara certainly did his job Saturday. He singled in the first, third and fifth innings before grounding out in the seventh. In the ninth, with two outs and runners on the corners, he knotted the game at 6-6 with an infield hit.

That sent the game to extra innings and gave Alcantara two more at-bats. After flying out in the 11th, he strode to the plate in the 13th following a two-out run-scoring by Jonathan Mota and tripled home an one insurance run before crossing the plate on a single by top Cubs prospect Javier Baez.

"I just tried to bring a run in to win the game, to go home, you know?" he said of his Pacific Coast League-leading fourth triple.

Over his last 10 games, he's batting .349 (15-for-43) with two homers, four triples, two doubles and 11 RBIs.

"I try to learn as much as I can," said Alcantara, who gleans as much knowledge from as many sources as possible. "They say just come to the field, enjoy the game, play hard, keep working on the little things, you know, and play the game the right way."

Both Mota and Chris Valaika had three hits, including a home run, while Eli Whiteside also went deep for Iowa. Jeffry Antigua (1-0) allowed three hits over four scoreless innings for the win, while Blake Parker closed out the 13th for his second save.

Ben Paulsen and Michael McKenry homered for the Sky Sox.