Laird plates seven in RedHawks' romp

Things coincided nicely for Oklahoma City's Brandon Laird on Saturday night, as his best game of the season came in the midst of one of the best offensive displays in franchise history.

Laird homered, doubled twice and matched a career high with seven RBIs as the RedHawks tied the team record for runs in a game with a 24-5 romp over Colorado Springs at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

"Last few days, the hitting coach, Leon Roberts, and I had a good long talk, got back to basics," the 25-year-old third baseman said. "Tonight I had, I think, four good at-bats, couple sac flies. People were on base at the right time, credit to them, too.

"I've been waiting for a night like that all year. Whenever you get one like that, it's pretty fun. And as a team, we put together a lot of hits. It was a good day."

The RedHawks totaled 20 hits, extended their winning streak to nine games and tied the club scoring mark set in a 24-4 romp over Albuquerque on June 22, 2004. In addition to Laird, Jonathan Singleton and George Springer, the Astros' second- and third-ranked prospects, respectively, played big roles in the outburst.

Singleton went 3-for-5 with his second career grand slam and five RBIs, falling a triple short of the cycle. Springer continued his torrid introduction to Triple-A with a triple, single, two walks, five runs scored and four RBIs.

"We've been saying for a while now, we've got Springer, Singleton, up and down the lineup we've got guys with some power, and it's all starting to click at the same time with guys like that," said Laird, who recorded his third career seven-RBI game. "It's a dangerous lineup, 1-9, speed and power guys that can hit the ball all over the field.

"Just seeing what Springer was doing at Double-A, he's up here now doing it and it's fun to watch. The guy's got all five tools, just a ballplayer. Singleton's the same. He's starting to figure it out and turn it around real quick. It's been fun to watch. Just scoring 24 runs, it's fun. Everybody putting good at-bats together, nobody throwing them away, going up there, continuing to get pitches to hit."

For his part, Laird is hitting .279/.319/.466 in 91 games with Oklahoma City. He also went 7-for-35 (.200) with two homers, five RBIs and a .429 slugging percentage in 11 games with the Astros from April 20-May 5.

He said he's enjoyed the opportunities in his first season in the Houston organization after spending six years with the Yankees.

"I think I made my mark in Spring Training and being called up earlier in the year, did pretty well up there and back down here to work, continue to get better and put up numbers, show I can contribute to help that team whenever they need me," said Laird, the younger brother of Cardinals catcher Gerald Laird.

Cody Clark went 2-for-2 with two RBIs off the bench after RedHawks DH Trevor Crowe had two hits and scored three runs. Catcher Carlos Perez rounded out the offensive performances, going 3-for-6 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored.

Kent Matthes hit his fifth Triple-A homer for the Sky Sox, who committed five errors that led to 14 unearned runs.