Rosa's blasts key Hammerheads' win

One of Viosergy Rosa's goals this year was a strong walk-to-strikeout ratio. In having success on that front, he's also fostered a strong batting average. And on Wednesday, he added power to that mix.

The Marlins prospect hit a pair of homers, including a go-ahead solo blast, as Class A Advanced Jupiter defeated St. Lucie, 8-6, in 10 innings.

Rosa slugged his first homer of the year in the third inning, a two-run shot. With the game tied, 6-6, in the 10th, Rosa led off the inning with a long ball, marking the second two-homer game of his career.

"Amazing, a relief," Rosa said. "That's all I can really say on that. I was pretty much trying to stay short. That [go-ahead homer] was in the back of my mind, but I was just trying to hit a line drive and it caught the fat part of the bat."

The New York native has had a strong start to the season, batting .383 with 11 RBIs in 13 Florida State League games for the Hammerheads. Perhaps more remarkably, Rosa has struck out three times while walking nine times.

"I've been working really hard on that," he said. "That's one of my goals, to have a 2-to-1 ratio with base on balls and strikeouts. It boils down to not trying to do too much, letting the ball get to me instead of going to get it. It sounds extremely easy but it's one of the hardest things to do, at least for me."

A 29th-rounder in the 2010 Draft, Rosa spent the first three years of his career in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League and the short-season New York-Penn League. The Odessa Junior College product broke out with a big 2013 campaign, slugging 23 homers, drawing 74 walks and posting a .814 OPS in the Class A South Atlantic League for Greensboro.

"I remember a hitting coach telling me just don't try to do too much, just see what the pitchers are doing with you and see the patterns," said Rosa, who went 2-for-4 with a walk. "I started to learn a little more from that, and what pitch to hit, depending on the counts.

"Let's see if I can continue on with this power. The high average is nice, but you want to bring those runs in. Hopefully, I can get this little streak going."

A rehabbing Rafael Furcal was 0-for-4 with a walk while Matt Juengel was 2-for-4 with three runs scored for the Hammerheads.

Brandon Nimmo, the Mets' No. 6 prospect, was 2-for-4 with an RBI to raise his average to .400 for St. Lucie, while Dilson Herrera, the club's No. 10 prospect, had three hits and scored twice out of the leadoff spot.

Joseph O'Gara (1-0) earned the win in relief, allowing a run on three hits in one inning. Frankie Reed tossed a perfect final inning to notch his first save.