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Marsh mashes two triples for BayBears

Angels No. 3 prospect raises average to .292, exits with injury
Brandon Marsh ranks fourth in the Southern League with a .394 on-base percentage. (Scott Donaldson Photography)
June 1, 2019

If Brandon Marsh keeps hitting like this, they'll start calling him Mashin' Marsh.The third-ranked Angels prospect raced for his first two triples of the season and went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored before leaving with an apparent lower leg injury in Double-A Mongtomery's 7-6 loss to Jacksonville

If Brandon Marsh keeps hitting like this, they'll start calling him Mashin' Marsh.
The third-ranked Angels prospect raced for his first two triples of the season and went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored before leaving with an apparent lower leg injury in Double-A Mongtomery's 7-6 loss to Jacksonville on Saturday at the Baseball Grounds. 

Jacksonville starter and Marlins No. 17 prospectJordan Yamamoto rang up Marsh in the first inning, but it was the only time the Jumbo Shrimp retired him. With one out and nobody on in the third, the 21-year-old ripped his first three-bagger off the right-hander on the fifth pitch of the at-bat. Jack Kruger doubled him home three pitches later to give the BayBears a 1-0 lead. 
Facing Yamamoto for the third time in the fifth, Marsh singled up the middle for his third straight multi-hit game and fourth this week. And he wasn't finished.
In the seventh, the 2016 second-round pick stroked a drive to center field that Marlins No. 14 prospect Brian Miller overran, allowing the ball to roll to the wall as fourth-ranked Angels prospect Jahmai Jones scored. 
Gameday box score
Marsh scooted around the bases, taking a wide turn around third before putting on the brakes. While retreating to the bag, the Georgia native injured himself. Kneeling on third base, Marsh was in obvious pain and exited for pinch-runner Erick Salcedo, who scored two pitches later. 
Following a slow start to the season, the outfielder -- who was serving as Mobile's designated hitter on Saturday -- batted .347/.462/.467 in May, leading the BayBears in all three categories. He's hitting .292 with a .785 OPS this season, a far cry from the .220 average he posted in April. He has a homer, 17 RBIs and nine steals in 11 tries.
"Brandon is a very exciting player," Mobile hitting coach Matt Spring said. "He's a great kid and works hard." 
The Angels pushing Marsh to Double-A in his second full season in the Minors could be seen as a challenge. He excelled during his first stint in pro ball with Rookie Advanced Orem before enjoying a solid 2018 campaign between Class A Burlington and Class A Advanced Inland Empire -- he batted .266 with 10 homers and 70 RBIs.
That offensive output may not be there during his first stint in the Southern League, but Spring is confident results are not far behind. In fact, they're already beginning to show. 

"Our main focus with him is using all the tools at our disposal to make him the best version of himself," he said. "All we stress offensively is getting a good pitch and hitting it hard. The more often he hits balls hard, the better."
Mobile starter Zack Kelly tossed five scoreless innings to lower his ERA to 2.33. 
Jacksonivlle stormed from behind and scored three times in the ninth, capped by Justin Twine's walk-off single to right off Brett Hanewich

Chris Bumbaca is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @BOOMbaca.