Dash's Collins posts first two-homer game

Zack Collins decided to act like Barry Bonds at the plate. On Tuesday, he put on a show reminiscent of baseball's all-time home run leader.

The second-ranked White Sox prospect belted a pair of solo shots for his first career multi-homer game as Class A Advanced Winston-Salem felled Frederick, 9-5, at Nymeo Field.

Collins said he got the idea to study Bonds during a phone call with his father several days ago. The 21-year-old was hitting .247 with one homer in his first 17 games in August and was looking to shake things up.

"My dad gave me a call and he actually told me that Barry Bonds pretty much had the same hand motion as me," Collins said. "I looked it up and he said that he strides a little shorter and he chokes up on the bat and just throws the barrel at it.

"I choked up on the bat a couple inches and got on the plate a little bit. I shortened my stride and tried to put the barrel on the ball."

It didn't take long for Collins' new approach to pay dividends. Three days after he ended a 15-game homerless drought, the 10th overall pick in the 2016 Draft drilled a pitch from Keys starter Mitch Horacek over the right-center field fence in his first at-bat Tuesday.

The Florida native led off the ninth and quickly fell behind, 1-2, against reliever Genison Reyes. But he sent the sixth pitch of the at-bat over the wall in dead center field for his sixth homer of the season.

"Just not trying to do too much," he said. "He got me down two strikes, he made two good pitches. Then I was just looking for a pitch up in the zone and he threw it to me. I think he made a mistake, but I just took advantage.

"It always feels great, no matter if you're a pro or in Little League. It always feels great to hit two in one game."

Through Saturday, Collins had one homer and three RBIs in August. With three long balls and four RBIs in his last three games, MLB.com's No. 90 overall prospect is putting that funk behind him. But that doesn't mean he won't continue looking for ways to improve his plate approach.

"Obviously, that's what I'm looking to do every time I come to bat -- score runs, get RBIs and put balls over the fence. I think I was trying a little too hard to do that the last few weeks," Colins said. "It's a game where you go out there and tomorrow's a new day. Tomorrow I could go out there and strike out four times, but you come back the next day. It's a game of adjustments and, fortunately, I made the right one today."

Michael Suiter also went yard for Winston-Salem, while Gerson Montilla and Mason Robbins plated two runs apiece.

Dash starter Robinson Leyer (2-3) allowed three runs on six hits while walking one and striking out two over five innings to pick up the win.

Horacek (5-11) surrendered six runs on seven hits and two walks while fanning one over 4 2/3 frames.

Cameron Kneeland hit a two-run homer for Frederick.