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Bauers debuts with flourish for Biscuits

Tampa Bay's No. 21 prospect homers on first night in Double-A
June 26, 2015

The Southern League All-Stars may have left Montgomery earlier this week, but Jake Bauers arrived at his new ballpark looking like he would've fit right in during Tuesday's midsummer classic.

Making his Double-A debut, Tampa Bay's No. 21 prospect homered as part of a three-hit night, driving in two runs and scoring two more as the Biscuits rolled by the visiting Chattanooga Lookouts, 12-7, on Thursday night at Riverwalk Stadium.

Bauers is no stranger to the All-Star fanfare that Montgomery hosted this week. Just five days ago, the first baseman was named Most Valuable Player of the Florida State League All-Star Game. Bauers opened the South Division All-Stars' scoring on June 20 with a two-run double, the last time he'd put on a Class A Advanced Charlotte uniform before his promotion.

The 19-year-old singled on a grounder through the right side in his first at-bat in the second inning and added a line-drive single to center field two innings later to score Dayron Varona from third base. Leading off the bottom of the sixth, Bauers belted his first home run at the new level and seventh overall this year to cap Montgomery's scoring outburst.

Acquired by the Rays in the three-team December trade that sent Wil Myers to the Padres, Bauers was originally San Diego's seventh-round pick in 2013 out of Marina High School in Huntington Beach, California. This week's promotion is an aggressive one for the left-handed hitter -- now one of the youngest players in Double-A -- who batted .267/.357/.433 in 59 games with Charlotte to begin his campaign.

The three-hit night was Bauers' third such performance of the season -- his first since May 30 -- and came one shy of matching a career high most recently achieved on May 14 against Clearwater.

On the other side of Thursday's game, No. 2 Twins prospect Miguel Sano went yard for the second straight game and the 14th time this season. MLB.com's No. 9 overall prospect lifted his slugging percentage to .500 with the two-run first-inning blast to right-center.

Adam Brett Walker II, Minnesota's No. 12 prospect, added a two-run homer to left-center.

Tyler Maun is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @TylerMaun.