Smith slugs Drillers past Naturals

For a player not known for power, Will Smith sure is showing some the past week.
The Dodgers' eighth-ranked prospect homered for the fourth straight game Saturday, belting a go-ahead three-run blast in the eighth inning, as Double-A Tulsa knocked off Northwest Arkansas, 4-3, at ONEOK Field.

Gameday box score
Smith has 10 homers, one shy of the career-high 11 he hit in roughly 100 more at-bats in 2017, a season abbreviated by a broken right hand.
"I'm always making adjustments," Smith said of his newfound power. "Maybe it's a little maturity, but I'm [also] growing as a hitter. It's really about fine-tuning and working with the Dodgers' hitting coaches."

The 23-year-old was hitless in three at-bats and the Drillers trailed, 3-1, as Zach Lovvorn and Andres Machado held them down through 7 2/3 innings. But reliever Bryan Brickhouse (0-1) replaced Machado with two men on and Smith greeted him with a blast that cleared the left field wall.
The power surge is out of character for Smith, who hit nine homers in 412 at-bats during his junior season at the University of Louisville and totaled four roundtrippers across three levels in his firs summer as a professional. Last season, however, the 2016 first-round pick slugged 11 long balls, sacrificing some average and watching his strikeout rate rise from 11 percent in college to 22 percent as he tried to tap into his pull power.
"I think I have the ability to drive the ball," he said. "Sometimes maybe when you're not going well you try to shrink the field a bit. But if you're feeling good you just kinda want to let it fly.
"I've always had the ability to drive the ball. It's just a matter of learning how to do it."

This season, he's making better contact and still hitting for power, compiling a .266/.351/.513 slash line while splitting catching duties with Dodgers No. 2 prospect Keibert Ruiz.
"It's fun right now," Smith said of the defensive setup. "But in the future I'm a catcher, not a third baseman. It's just a way to split time, split time with Keibert and get at-bats for both of us, especially when we play against National League teams without the DH. It's good that I can show my ability to play the infield. But I'm a catcher going forward."
Tulsa starter Kyle Lobstein struck out eight over five innings and Karch Kowalczyk (1-1) got the win with two scoreless frames. Brian Moran put the tying run in scoring position with a walk in the ninth but got the final out for his sixth save.