Cubs' Baez blasts fourth spring home run
Late Games
Helped along in an inning with extra life, Cubs prospects Mike Olt and Javier Baez made Texas pay. Olt and Baez hammered back-to-back homers following a two-out error in the third, sparking a five-run outburst, before Chicago dropped a 7-6, 10-inning decision on Tuesday night at Surprise Stadium.
For Baez, MLB.com's No. 7 overall prospect, the opposite-field blast was his fourth in Cactus League player. The Cubs' top prospect also doubled in the seventh and raised his average to .297. After playing shortstop exclusively his first three seasons in the Minor Leagues, Baez found himself at second base for the second straight night and is expected to test himself at third base later this week.
Olt's two-run blast, also his fourth of Spring Training, came against the team that selected him in the first round of the 2010 Draft out of the University of Connecticut. Acquired by the Cubs last July, he also walked and lifted a sacrifice fly in the fourth.
The Rangers got contributions from two of their top prospects. Outfielder Michael Choice (No. 72 overall) had two singles, including the walk-off infield hit in the 10th, while shortstop Hanser Alberto had a double in four trips to the plate.
Early Games
Jake Marisnick singled three times and scored twice Tuesday afternoon as the Marlins thumped visiting Houston, 8-1, at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Fla.
Marisnick led off and played the entire game in center field for the Marlins, who torched Astros starter Dallas Keuchel for seven runs in the first two innings. Marisnick, who turns 23 on March 30, scored on Giancarlo Stanton's first-inning homer and came home on Casey McGehee's bases-clearing double in the second.
The Florida native is 7-for-16 in his last five Grapefruit League games and is batting .375 this spring.
For Houston, Carlos Correa (MLB.com's No. 8 prospect) went 1-for-2, George Springer (No. 21) was 0-for-4, Jon Singleton (No. 50) drew a walk in his only plate appearance and Delino DeShields (No. 66) went 0-for-3. The Astros were outhit by the Marlins, 18-3.
Collins stays hot: Tigers prospect Tyler Collins, who fell a double shy of the cycle Saturday, continued to rake Tuesday, going 2-for-3 with a two-run homer, his third of the spring. Nick Castellanos went 1-for-4 with a double. The Tigers split-squad fell, 5-4, to the host Mets, who got an RBI single from infielder Wilmer Flores.