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Duvall slugs his way to a career outing

Giants infield prospect homers twice and plates pro-best six runs
May 4, 2014

Adam Duvall has hit for power at level he's played. One call away from the Majors, he has no plans to stop right now.

The Giants infielder homered twice and plated a career-high six runs in the Triple-A Fresno Grizzlies' 11-5 win over the Albuquerque Isotopes on Sunday.

Duvall slugged a three-run homer to left field off Steve Smith in the first inning and he pulled another three-run shot down the third-base line off Smith again in the fifth. It was his second multi-homer game of the year and his fourth in the Minors. He last went deep twice in a 10-4 loss to Las Vegas on April 13.

Duvall is batting .254 with eight homers and 28 RBIs through 30 Pacific Coast League games.

Selected by the Giants in the 11th round of the 2010 Draft out of the University of Louisville, the 25-year-old right-handed hitter is one of only 17 Minor Leaguers to hit 17 or more homers in each of his past three seasons. Of these, he's one of only six players to put up these numbers after moving up a level in consecutive seasons.

Duvall slugged 22 homers in 116 South Atlantic League games in his first full season of pro ball with Class A Augusta and he mashed 30 roundtrippers in 134 California League games for Class A Advanced San Jose in his sophomore campaign. Last year, the third baseman went yard 17 times in 105 Eastern League contests with Double-A Richmond, despite missing five weeks of the first half with a thumb injury.

On Sunday, Fresno second baseman Joe Panik supported Duvall's effort by going 4-for-5 with two doubles and three runs scored and third baseman Tony Abreu tripled, doubled, scored twice and drive in two.

Starter Chris Heston (2-2) allowed three runs on six hits and three walks while striking out four batters over five innings.

Smith (0-2) surrendered eight runs on seven hits over 4 1/3 innings. He issued two free passes and fanned three Grizzlies.

Ashley Marshall is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @AshMarshalLMLB.