Thaiss swats first two Triple-A blasts

This year has been most the powerful season yet for Matt Thaiss, so it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that when he did arrive in the Pacific Coast League, his thunderous bat did the talking.
The Angels No. 8 prospect smacked a pair of solo shots and a single -- his first hits since his promotion Tuesday -- to boost Triple-A Salt Lake to a 16-11 win at Albuquerque on Thursday.

 After going 0-for-8 in his first two contests with the Bees, Thaiss flew out to center field in his first at-bat of Game 3. But the 2016 first-round pick quickly got another chance in the second and took advantage with a single to left.
Two innings later, Thiass ripped a first-pitch offering from reliever David Holman to right-center for his second home run in seven games. The 23-year-old grounded out in the fifth but belted a leadoff blast in the seventh.
Gameday box score
The University of Virginia product was promoted Tuesday when the Angels made a host of moves across the Minors, headlined by top prospect Jo Adellmoving up to Class A Advanced Inland Empire. Across Double-A Mobile and Salt Lake, Thaiss is batting .281 with 20 extra-base hits and 28 RBIs in 43 games.
Following his first career two-homer game, Thaiss has eight roundtrippers this season, one from matching his year-old personal best set when he spent most of the campaign in the hitter-friendly California League.

The 2016 No. 16 overall pick joined one of the best lineups in the league. Jabari Blash boosted his average to .355 by going 4-for-5 with two doubles and a walk. Jose Miguel Fernandez raised his to .353 with three hits, including a homer, while David Fletcher went 0-for-5 but is batting .344.
Albuquerque is the circuit's other offensive powerhouse and Rockies No. 11 prospect Tom Murphy slugged his 12th long ball. MLB.com's No. 38 overall prospect (and Rockies No. 2) Ryan McMahon went 3-for-5 with a triple and a double for his first three-hit game of 2018.
Isotopes starter Yency Almonte (1-2) made an early exit in the first. Colorado's No. 10 prospect allowed four runs on three hits with three walks and one strikeout as he only registered two outs.