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Erie's Moya slams door on great week

Eastern League All-Star earns MVP honors with bases-loaded shot
July 16, 2014

For Steven Moya, it's been a fun few days.

It started last week with a triple play the Erie SeaWolves turned in a game against the Curve in Altoona. Then it was followed up by a trip to Minnesota for the 2014 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game.

It concluded with a trot around the bases at Peoples Natural Gas Field in the Eastern League All-Star Game on Wednesday.

Moya belted a grand slam in the fifth inning to earn the All-Star Game MVP honors as his Western Division squad downed the East, 5-2.

"It's been great spending time with so many guys that I knew from old times," said Moya, Detroit's No. 20 prospect. "The Futures Game is an important event. It was a great opportunity, one of those things that you go to once in a lifetime. Then to come here and spend time with these guys is pretty amazing."

While his visit in Minneapolis admittedly didn't go so great -- he went 0-for-3 at the plate -- his grand slam proved to key in the midsummer classic victory.

Moya belted his shot down the line with two outs in the fifth inning on an inside fastball he didn't expect to hit.

"It was pretty good, solid contact. I thought the same too," Moya said with a big smile. "It was a really good pitch [by Dustin Antolin]. It was in. I just don't know how I could react to a pitch that well. "

Western Squad and Futures Game teammate Francisco Lindor also knew it.

"Of course. I raised my hands. I was like, 'Hell, yeah.' I knew it was gone."

All-Star MVP Steven Moya has recently enjoyed participating in the Futures Game and a triple play. (David Monseur/MiLB.com)

Like Moya, Cleveland's top prospect didn't find success at the Futures Game. But like Moya, Lindor cherished the opportunity.

"It's been a great week," the 2011 first-round pick said. "It was a super fun week. I had a blast. I'm honored and blessed to be part of these two events. I had fun."

Lindor, who was on first for the grand slam, had a tough battle with New Hampshire's Antolin to reach base. He drew a walk after falling behind 1-2 early in the count.

"I was just trying to do my job, get on base and get the runner from third home," he said. "I was just trying to help the team win. I was just trying to have a good quality at-bat. That's what I did. "

Moya belted the grand slam on a 1-2 count.

The homer was an exclamation point on the successful first half for Moya. The Puerto Rico native was first in the league with 22 homers in the first half and second behind Bowie's Christian Walker in RBIs with 75.

Moya's slugging percentage of .540 stands second with Harrisburg's Michael Taylor behind New Britain's Reynaldo Rodriguez (.541), and his OPS ranks him in the top 10 at .833.

"It's been a great season and first half," Moya said. "I want it to keep going and I'm going to try do to the same thing for the next half of the season."

Darian Somers is a contributor to MiLB.com.