With two blasts, Seager propels Quakes

Corey Seager showed in April that he could hold his own in the California League. In May, he began to flex his muscle at the plate. June may be something else entirely.

The Dodgers' top prospect hammered two home runs on a three-hit night to continue a recent power surge and lead Class A Advanced Rancho Cucamonga past Bakersfield, 7-3.

The Quakes erased an early two-run deficit in the fifth inning when Adam Law ripped an RBI single and Aaron Miller delivered a two-out two-run single. Seager took over from there.

Following Brandon Dixon's leadoff single in the seventh, MLB.com's No. 28 overall prospect connected for a two-run shot to right field. An inning later, the pair teamed up again when Dixon doubled with two outs and Seager launched another blast. The 20-year-old shortstop already has three homers and a .731 slugging percentage through six games in June.

"Home runs are always fun to hit. That's what people come to watch," Seager said. "It's not necessarily what you try to do, but when you hit them, they're nice. Home runs come in bunches, so in a couple weeks, I may be scraping singles out and hoping for them."

After homering twice in his first 33 games with Rancho Cucamonga, Seager has nine long balls in his last 20 contests. He's lifted his OPS from .807 on May 6 to 1.017 after Friday night's victory, the top mark in the Cal League and second-best in Class A Advanced.

"Sitting on pitches has helped," Seager said of his approach during the power trip. "Going back through more teams, you kind of figure out how they're going to throw to you, so you get a better idea of what you're going to do. That's been another good part about the success, knowing what they're trying to do to you."

Seager, who batted .160 in 27 games with the Quakes a year ago, registered his fifth-career multi-homer game. The four RBIs were one off a season high, and the 18th overall selection pick in the 2012 Draft has eight hits in his last three games, leaving him one point off the league lead with a .348 average.

While the Quakes were pounding out 15 hits, their starter was handling business on the mound. Jharel Cotton (1-3) earned his first win, allowing two runs -- one earned -- on four hits while striking out six over seven innings.

"Cotton threw really well tonight," Seager said. "He mixed pitches. He threw everything for strikes. There weren't a lot of good swings put on Cotton tonight."

Bakersfield's Mike Dennhardt (3-4) took the loss after giving up three runs on eight hits while striking out four and walking two in five innings.

With second-place Visalia losing, Friday's defeat kept the Blaze from clinching the first-half North Division title.