Quinn's breakout fires up Fightin Phils rout

Roman Quinn discovered the best way to succeed is to stop being afraid not to.

The Phillies' No. 7 prospect smacked a pair of doubles and homered while plating a season-high four runs on Wednesday as Double-A Reading thumped Portland, 12-2, at Hadlock Field.

For the second consecutive night, Quinn got the game started with a bang in the form of a leadoff homer over the wall in right-center field off Teddy Stankiewicz (1-5). It was his third homer of the season.

"A lot of guys don't know that I have that side of my game, because I'm more of a guy that tries to put a ball in play," MLB.com's No. 93 overall prospect said. "And I'm a smaller guy, so I love it.

"It definitely feels good to get things going early. I was just happy I put a good swing on it and got the barrel on the ball."

The 5-foot-10, 170-pound center fielder added an RBI double to left in the fourth and another to center in the eighth to finish off his third three-hit performance in four games. The surge has raised his average 30 points since it dipped to .254 five days ago.

"Just finding my swing and sticking with my approach," Quinn said. "I've been working with my hitting coach, Frank Cacciatore. and he's been a big help, him and [manager] Dusty [Wathan]. I'm feeling pretty good, just trying to get comfortable at the plate."

A change in mindset has helped, too. The 23-year-old returned to the Eastern League after a torn hip flexor limited him to 58 games with the Fightin Phils a season ago. The first month of the season didn't go smoothly, as Quinn slashed .233/.290/.337 in 20 games.

"Sometimes I get caught up in second-guessing myself and that's when I don't get the results I want," he said. "Just don't be afraid to fail in this game."

Quinn has never played more than 88 games in a season, so a clean bill of health is also on the Florida native's radar. A potential callup to join recently promoted Reading teammates J.P. Crawford and Ben Lively in Triple-A Lehigh Valley, however, is not.

"I'm just trying to get a full season of games in, and the rest will speak for itself," Quinn said. "I'm doing whatever I can to take care of my body and make sure I'm in the right position to play that day.

"I'm just trying to be the best player I can at this level and let everything else speak for itself."

Phillies No. 27 prospect Aaron Brown singled and doubled while driving in a pair of runs for Reading. Fightin Phils starter Mark Leiter (1-0) surrendered a pair of runs -- one earned -- on four hits while striking out five over five innings.

Stankiewicz took the loss after allowing eight runs on nine hits and a pair of walks while fanning four over 3 2/3 frames.