OKC's Rios busts out of slump in big way

Edwin Ríos had been trying all kinds of things at the plate lately to snap out of a late-season slump.
"I've been scuffling a little bit, so I've been looking at videos to fix my stance, my position or my posture," he said. "But today I just went up there and went, 'You know what? Let me go get my fastball and just try to put a good swing on it and try not to do too much.' And it worked out."
The Dodgers' No. 16 prospect ended up driving in a career-high six runs while going 4-for-5 in Triple-A Oklahoma City's 11-4 romp over New Orleans on Wednesday at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. He belted a grand slam and scored three times.

Gameday box score
"That was a lot of fun," Rios said. "It kind of reminded me of earlier in the year. Just being able to have a game like that and to be able to help the ballclub win was a lot of fun."
The 23-year-old first baseman got things started in the second inning when he lined a single to right to drive in Max Muncy. He broke the game open the following frame when he jumped on the first pitch from New Orleans starter William Cuevas for a grand slam to center.

"Those guys have been pounding me with fastballs in, so in that at-bat I was just ready for it," Rios said. "I was just trying to hit the ball out in front and, luckily, I was able to put a good swing on it."
It was the second grand slam of the season for the 2015 sixth-round Draft pick, who had one with Double-A Tulsa before getting promoted on July 7.
Rios singled to right in the fifth and grounded out to first in the sixth before plating second-ranked Dodgers prospect Alex Verdugo with a double to left in the eighth.

"It felt good to be able to finish the game off strong and just to get another insurance run at the end," he said. "It was just all-around a good game and all the guys enjoyed it."
Batting behind Rios in the eighth spot in the lineup, Major League veteran Bobby Wilson went 2-for-3 with four RBIs, plating Rios twice.
"It's always good when the bottom of the order can get some runs and take some pressure off the top of the order," Rios said. "Bobby was making me bust my butt everywhere, but it was awesome just to be able to give him my all and get him some RBIs, too."

The four-hit night came after the Florida International product went through a 4-for-30 (.133) stretch over his previous 10 games.
"A lot of people can blame it on being the end of the year and just being tired or stuff like that. But it happens, it's baseball," he said. "People are always going through slumps, so I just kept my head up every day and be the same guy coming to the clubhouse. I knew it was only a matter of time it all turned around and today was the day."
• Get tickets to an OKC Dodgers game »
Trayce Thompson went 3-for-3 and drove in the other run for Oklahoma City, while Muncy doubled twice.
Justin Marks (4-2) allowed two runs on five hits and four walks with seven strikeouts over five innings to pick up the win.