Myers helps 'Hounds pour it on late

It was already a slugfest when Double-A Midland came to bat in the bottom of the eighth against Corpus Christi on Monday. Then the RockHounds turned it into a rout.

Trailing when the inning began, 11-10, Darwin Perez's two-RBI single put the RockHounds ahead early in the frame. Then three batters later, with another run in and the bases loaded, D'Arby Myers doubled in two runs to break up what would end as a nine-run inning.

When the dust settled, Midland had finished off Corpus Christi, 19-11, and Myers had gone 4-for-6 with a home run, a double, five RBIs and two runs scored out of the lineup's No. 2 spot.

"That's pretty much the best game offensively I've had this season," Myers said. "You know we've been putting in a lot of hard work before the game and we were able to carry that over into the game, have some good at-bats. We get guys on, get them over, get them in. And we just kept that going, that's baseball."

The game proved to be the definition of a back-and-forth affair. The Hooks staked out a 7-2 lead after 4 1/2 frames before the RockHounds struck for four in the bottom half of the inning. By the eighth, Midland held a 10-9 lead before Corpus Christi retook it.

And then finally there was the nine-run eighth for the 'Hounds.

"We have a great clubhouse, guys that are competitors, I wouldn't want any other 25 guys out there with me," Myers said. "We were all competing, pulling for each other. We were down, but you get 27 outs in this game. Went up, went down, came back late. Overall, a great team win."

Myers, a 2006 fourth-round pick by Philadelphia signed as a Minor League free agent by Oakland last November, has caught fire recently. The 24-year-old has hit safely in eight of his last nine games, with three of the last six being at least three-hit games.

The end result has been a more than 50-point climb in his batting average. After Monday's game, Myers is hitting .286/.328/.409 in 38 games this year, with two homers, 23 RBIs and 11 steals.

"I'm a guy that doesn't like to get satisfied, doesn't like to get comfortable," Myers said. "I like to stay hungry. I have a plan. Some games I've been able to go ahead with it and it comes through, and some games it hasn't. It's baseball, it's a long season, I'm here to go out and perform every day and night."

Last year, between Class A Advanced Clearwater and Double-A Reading, Myers hit .305/.333/.437 in 67 games.

On Monday, Dusty Coleman and Chad Oberacker both compiled three-hit games and scored three times for Midland. Darwin Perez plated four runs and scored three times.

First baseman Anthony Aliotti, who hit three homers Saturday, went 1-for-3 with a double, three walks and two runs scored.