Crazy eight: O'Neill caps big night with slam

Tyler O'Neill understandably was all smiles after putting on a show Wednesday night.

"I feel pretty good," Seattle's fourth-ranked prospect said. "How couldn't you?"

He belted a walk-off grand slam to cap a career-high eight-RBI performance, driving in all the runs for Double-A Jackson in an 8-4 victory over visiting Pensacola. O'Neill was one shy of the Southern League record, set by five former players on the circuit, including Jose Canseco.

"A walk-off home run is super fun," he said. "I only hit one one other time, two years ago, so it was definitely a fun experience."

Exactly two weeks shy of his 21st birthday, O'Neill is the third-youngest player in the league -- Montgomery's Jake Bauers and Willy Adames are a few months younger. He leads the Southern League's active hitters with a .332 batting average and 51 RBIs. The grand slam was his 11th dinger of the season, tying him for second with Pensacola's Brandon Dixon behind Chattanooga's Daniel Palka (12). But he's not paying attention to any of that.

"I try to stay away from numbers," O'Neill said. "I think they get in my head a little bit, but they are in the back of my mind."

The league's reigning Player of the Month came into the season tasked with hitting the ball more consistently, and by all measures, he's done so. Drafted in the third round in 2013, he had 32 homers but batted .260 in the Class A Advanced California League last year.

"I think it's a big credit to the new Mariners regime, our new player development director Andy McKay and our new field coordinator Mike Micucci," O'Neill said. "They really stressed that I need to put the ball in play a lot more often than last year, and they have a whole new pregame routine for me and the rest of the guys to keep us tuned up. It's basically more reps in different drills before batting practice. I think it's working throughout our whole system."

He started his big night by putting the Generals on the board with a bases-loaded fly ball to center field with nobody out against Blue Wahoos starter Rookie Davis in the first inning. It landed in the glove of No. 10 Reds prospect Phillip Ervin, but it was deep enough to score Ian Miller from third base.

"I wanted to keep it off the ground," O'Neill said. "I didn't want to give up an easy two outs, so I tried my best to just hit it in the air."

With Pensacola leading in the third, 3-1, Davis let fly a wild pitch against O'Neill that put runners on second and third with one out.

"I'm a very confident person, so I know when the pitcher is trying to pitch around me, he will make mistakes," the native of British Columbia said. "I could pretty much just sit on a pitch over the heart of the plate I could do some damage with. It was a changeup elevated a little bit."

When Jackson fell behind once more, 4-3, O'Neill came to the rescue again, pulling the Generals even with a two-out double to center off Barrett Astin in the fifth.

"It was a good pitch, a sinker down on my hands, but I got the bat through the zone and got good wood on it," he said. "I knew I didn't get it [perfectly] because it was in on the hands a little bit, but you always hope on your way down the first-base line that it carries out. I heard it clank off the wall, though, and I knew I had to get into second."

With the game still deadlocked, 4-4, the 2013 13th-round pick stepped in against Carlos Gonzalez with the bases loaded and two down in the ninth.

"Obviously, there is a lot of pressure," O'Neill admitted. "I was trying to essentially win the game for us. I don't think many guys want to go into extras from there. I got a good swing on a pitch on the heart of the plate and let the results take care of themselves.

"I knew that one was gone. I felt it off the bat and I knew the game was over. It's an awesome feeling."

An outfielder, O'Neill was serving as the Generals' designated hitter for the second time in three games. On Sunday, he was plunked on the elbow by Pensacola's Jackson Stephens.

"I like DHing a lot. I get to just hang out in the dugout and wait for my at-bats," he said. "But I think our manager [Daren Brown] has been trying to give me a break from throwing, take it easy, but I should be back in the outfield tomorrow, 100 percent."

Seattle's No. 21 prospect Dan Altavilla (4-1) struck out one in a perfect ninth to earn the win for Jackson.