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Fish helps Bees reel in comeback victory

Angels' No. 19 prospect hits two home runs, including walk-off blast
May 26, 2014

With Class A Burlington trailing Quad Cities by five runs Monday, Mike Fish gave the Bees their first run. And after they had battled back to tie the game and send it into extra innings, he was responsible for their last two as well.

The Angels' No. 19 prospect went yard twice on Memorial Day, his solo home run in the fourth inning putting Burlington on the board and his two-run walk-off shot in the 10th sending Burlington to a 7-5 come-from-behind victory. He finished the day 3-for-5 with his first three-RBI game of the season.

"I was feeling good," said Fish, who played left field after eight games in the designated hitter slot. "It felt good to be back out on the field and it gave me some confidence at the plate."

Following a 1-2-3 inning by Bees reliever Alan Busenitz (1-3) in the top half of the 10th, Chad Hinshaw collected a one-out single off Bandits reliever Tyler Brunneman (0-1). Fish fouled off four 2-2 pitches before shipping a Brunneman's breaking ball over the left-field fence.

"My buddy Chad got a hit, got on first base, so I was just trying to hit one in the gap or something," Fish said. "He's a very fast runner, so he can score on a double. I was just trying to put it in one of the gaps or something. He kept coming inside to me. I was hooking balls foul. And eventually he hung a curveball, and I was able to take advantage of it. It felt good."

Batting third, the 23-year-old singled on a liner to center in the first before connecting on the solo shot to start the fourth. He struck out swinging to end the fifth and flew out to left in the eighth. His game-winning blast in the 10th was his fourth home run of the year.

"They just bum-rushed me when I got home. It was fun," Fish said of his teammates' reaction to the walk-off. "It's awesome knowing that you don't have to play any more innings. You can go relax. It was pretty humid out here today."

The Siena College product is hitting .277/.318/.480 over 38 games in his first full professional season. He has 10 doubles, four triples, 19 RBIs with 35 strikeouts and seven walks. He is 3-for-3 in steal attempts.

"I've been swinging OK, but I've been struggling compared to last year," Fish said. "I kind of have just been trying to do too much, and today, I just shortened up my swing and kind of took what the pitcher was giving me."

Fish had hit two home runs in a single game once before, on last Sept. 1 as a member of Rookie-level Orem.

In 46 games between Orem and the AZL Angels, the 2013 32nd-round pick batted .366/.422/.689 with 18 doubles, four triples, nine homers, 42 RBIs and seven steals in nine tries.

"I had a good year last year and I wanted to continue it," said the Delmar, New York native. "I think that kind of got in my head, so if I had a bad game, I was like, 'Oh, no. I'm not doing as good as I was last year. I'm not doing as good as they want me to do.'

"Now, I've kind of just been more mature lately. You kind of just have got to go with it. If you have a bad game, it's not the end of the world. You've got to come back the next day and play. It's a lot different than college. That's for sure."

Eric Aguilera also homered for Burlington. His solo shot in the eighth shrunk the Bees' deficit to one. They tied the game with one out in the ninth when Brandon Bayardi was hit by a pitch, reached third on Ranyelmy Mendoza's single and scored on Stephen McGee's sacrifice fly.

Mark Emery is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Emery.