Sanchez stays scorching for Stone Crabs

Jesús Sánchez had his best game of the season Wednesday. And by extension and some measure, his Stone Crabs had their best game ever.
Baseball's No. 57 overall prospect continued a torrid stretch at the plate by going 4-for-5 with a home run, three RBIs and his first walk of the season and Class A Advanced Charlotte scored 14 times over the seventh and eighth on the way to a franchise-record 18-6 thumping of Clearwater.

Gameday box score
"With Jesus, he's talented," Charlotte manager Reinaldo Ruiz said. "He can flat-out hit. Even though the first couple games he was not swinging the bat that good, he made adjustments. He made the adjustments, and now he's locked in. He's very mature for his age and he works hard, and now we're seeing the Jesús Sánchez that we wanted to see."
Sanchez entered the afternoon with 11 hits in his last 19 at-bats over a five-game hitting streak, boosting his early-season slash line from .100/.150/.250 to .317/.317/.561. His showing against the Threshers marked the best of the stretch.
The 20-year-old outfielder singled through the right side of the infield in the second inning and drove in his first run of the night with a single to right in the fourth. After popping out to short to end the fifth, Sanchez served as a sparkplug in Charlotte's late run. He belted his third home run of the season, a two-run shot to right-center to highlight an eight-run seventh.
"He's seeing the ball really well -- really well," Ruiz said. "That pitch was right down the middle, and he didn't miss it. He didn't waste any time. He just went after that ball, and as soon as that ball was delivered by [Clearwater reliever Aaron Brown], he knew it. It was a really good pitch to hit, and he didn't miss it."
One inning later, the Rays No. 4 prospect hit a leadoff single to center to kick off a six-run eighth. In his second trip to the plate that frame, he took his first free pass of 2018 to reach base for the fifth time.
"Every time he's at the plate right now, he's swinging at really good pitches," the manager said of Sanchez's patience in his last plate appearance. "He's not swinging at bad pitches. He's swinging at his pitches and being smart at the plate. He feels comfortable right now."

The performance boosted Sanchez's season line to .370/.383/.652. Last year's Midwest League RBI leader with 82, he has driven in 10 through his first 12 games.
"He was under a little pressure because he was not swinging the bat that well, but then he just started to relax and realize that he belongs here," Ruiz said. "He's started swinging the bat much better. He feels more comfortable. He's not trying to do too much and now he's swinging the bat really well."
The 18 runs were the most scored in a single game by a Stone Crabs team and Charlotte totaled 20 hits on the way to the win. Tampa Bay's No. 7 prospect Lucius Fox went 3-for-5 from the leadoff spot and Robbie Tenerowicz was 3-for-3 with a walk. Seven Stone Crabs players posted multi-hit games in the rout.
"They basically played together last year in Bowling Green, and they get along really well," Ruiz said of his offense, which leads the Florida State League with a .308 team average, 34 points above second-place Jupiter. "They know what they're capable of doing, and they push each other every day. That's fun to watch.
"This group is really special."