Senzel clobbers pair of homers for Wahoos

As September roster expansion looms, Nick Senzel is making the case that he's ready for another big jump after turning in another dominant performance at the plate for the Double-A Blue Wahoos.
Cincinnati's top prospect recorded his first Southern League two-homer game and added an RBI single as Pensacola fell short against Mobile, 10-9, at Blue Wahoos Stadium. Senzel drove in four runs and scored three times.

"I just take it day by day and keep playing the game hard and help the Blue Wahoos try to win," MLB.com's No. 11 prospect said.
Since joining Pensacola on June 22, Senzel is hitting .341 with 28 RBIs and 28 runs scored in 44 games. Only two players in the Southern League -- Jonathan Rodriguez of Chattanooga and Dalton Kelly of Montgomery have a better average than Senzel in the time since his promotion. 
Gameday box score
He sported a .305/.371/.476 line while hitting four homers and driving in 31 runs over 62 games with Class A Advanced Daytona of the Florida State League. He's hit seven long balls for the Blue Wahoos.
"In Double-A, they're a little bit more consistent and throw strikes and have little bit better arms so you got to be prepared every time you go to the plate," the University of Tennessee product said. "I just think the biggest adjustment is staying consistent and sticking to my approach at the plate each at-bat and not trying to stray away from it. We face some good arms, but you want to compete out there and battle every single time you're out there."
Both homers Senzel hit Thursday night came on the first pitch and four of his seven at the Double-A level have been hit on the first offering. The other three came in 1-0 counts.
"They were both fastballs I believe on the first pitch," he said. "I'm just trying to be aggressive. If I get down in the count, I just try to battle, work the count and just try and be a tough out and hit the ball hard."
With two outs and a man on first in the opening inning, the Atlanta native wasted no time, swatting the first offering from Mobile starter Tyler Carpenter over the fence in right-center field.
Senzel added a two-out run-scoring single to center in the following inning, plating No. 28 Reds prospect Blake Trahan from second to put Pensacola in front, 5-3.
"I just tried to make a good swing, I found some grass and it scored a run, so I was just trying to help the team," the No. 2 overall pick in last year's Draft said. "I hit it OK, I could have hit it better. Just kind of a better place than anything. "

After swiping second for his third Double-A steal, Cincinnati's No. 21 prospect Gavin LaValley popped out to the catcher for the final out. Leading off the fifth, Senzel again took a hack at the first pitch from Carpenter and drilled it to center for his second roundtripper.
Senzel went down swinging to start the seventh and was walked on four pitches by right hander Justin Anderson in the ninth to load the bases with no outs in a 10-6 game. He later scored on a single to right by seventh-ranked Reds prospect Aristides Aquino to cut the deficit to one, but Chad Tromp flied out to center to end the game.
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Aquino singled twice and drove in two runs and Trahan scored three times.
Josè Briceño delivered a three-run homer and an RBI double and Zach Gibbons doubled twice and singled, plating two runs and scoring twice for Mobile.