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Cats' Moore homers twice, plates four

A's farmhand goes 5-for-6, slugs one of three blasts in 12th
May 25, 2013

Scott Moore has done a lot of things in his 11-year baseball career, but Saturday night's performance was a first, even for him.

The Athletics farmhand went 5-for-6 with two homers, four RBIs and three runs scored as Triple-A Sacramento outlasted Tucson, 7-4, in 12 innings.

After 1,036 Minor League games and 152 in the big leagues, it was Moore's first five-hit performance and 10th multi-homer game.

"It's crazy that it took 11 or 12 years," he said. "I had no idea that that was the first time I had gotten five hits. I don't usually get five at-bats in a game, but that's the circumstance of playing extra innings. It's not something you do -- go out there saying you're going to get five hits tonight."

The 29-year-old California native singled to center field in the second and sixth innings, then slugged a three-run homer to right-center field in the eighth.

Moore singled again in the 10th before connecting on his sixth longball of the season in the 12th. It followed a solo shot by A's No. 2 prospect Michael Choice and preceded another by Jeremy Barfield as the River Cats went back-to-back-to-back.

"The scouting report said [reliever Miles Mikolas] liked his fastball," Moore said of his first homer. "I was the fourth or fifth batter that inning and he was definitely coming at guys with his fastball and I just told myself to be ready. He threw a pitch over the plate and I was able to hit it.

"[Second homer], same thing. The pitcher was being aggressive. He was throwing a lot of fastballs and I tried to stay relaxed and get a good pitch to hit."

Moore's most recent two-homer game was for Iowa on May 13, 2011 when he went 4-for-5 with five RBIs. The four RBIs fell short of his career high of six, achieved with Norfolk on May 1, 2009.

Moore was 2-for-15 with two RBIs and no extra-base hits in his previous five contests Despite being stuck in a minor slump, he never changed a thing. He took batting practice as normal, kept to his routine and was confident that his solid mechanics would right the ship as long as he trusted the process.

"You can play 50 games and not feel like you're doing well, but one game can get you going and make you feel good," said Moore, adding he hasn't felt this locked in since going 3-for-4 with a homer and a double for the Astros against Pirates starter A.J. Burnett last Sept. 23. "There are a lot of games left in the season, so I can't say I'm not going to have the season I expected because I don't know what is going to happen. Hopefully, this gets me jump-started.

"Obviously, if you are going game to game or at-bat to at-bat with different game plans and approaches, it will be hard to succeed. Throughout the season you tweak things a little bit, but you stick to the same routine and know you will be successful over the course of the whole season. It's easier said than done."

Selected by the Tigers with the eighth overall pick in the 2002 Draft, Moore has spent time in the Majors with the Orioles, Cubs and Astros. He signed with Oakland in November after hitting .259 with nine homers and 26 RBIs last season with Houston.

On Saturday, Moore raised his average to .287 and increased his RBI total to 33, which ranks second on the team behind Choice (38). His six homers are tied for second on the club with Stephen Vogt, two behind Choice.

Choice finished 3-for-5 with two runs scored, while Hiroyuki Nakajima had three hits and scored a run. Dan Otero (2-0) tossed two hitless innings to earn the win and Brian Gordon worked around a hit in the 12th for his first save.

"This is really one of my first years in a long time when I have played with top young prospects in an organization," Moore said. "Last year in Oklahoma City, it was all free agents and we were all around the same age. This is fun to see these guys on their paths to making the big leagues and, hopefully, I can help them out.

"There are probably quite a few. If I start giving out names, I'm bound to forget one. But Green and Choice and [Shane] Peterson are all guys that can hit. If they keep doing what they're doing and keep working hard, who knows what they can do? They can help Oakland, for sure."

Brad Brach (1-1) took the loss after yielding all three homers in the 12th.

Ashley Marshall is a contributor to MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @AshMarshallMLB.