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Adell stays hot at dish with three knocks

Top Angels prospect goes yard, extends hit streak to six games
Jo Adell has batted .500 (14-for-28) over his six-game hitting streak. (Fernando Gutierrez Jr./MiLB.com)
June 24, 2018

The California League often doubles as a hitting sanctuary. Jo Adell has become accustomed to that since his promotion last month, especially over the last week. The top Angels prospect picked up where he left off before the circuit broke for the All-Star break earlier this week. On Sunday, Adell homered,

The California League often doubles as a hitting sanctuary. Jo Adell has become accustomed to that since his promotion last month, especially over the last week. 
The top Angels prospect picked up where he left off before the circuit broke for the All-Star break earlier this week. On Sunday, Adell homered, drove in two runs, scored twice and finished 3-for-5 in Class A Advanced Inland Empire's 7-2 victory over Lancaster at The Hangar. He extended his hitting streak to six games, batting .500 (14-for-28) over that span.

Box score
"He's growing every day," 66ers manager Ryan Barba said. "He's learning every day from at-bats and understanding how to have quality at-bats every day. Learning from the ones you think you may have made a mistake. Trying to limit down those chases and stay in his zone. When he does that, it's fun to watch." 
Adell grounded out back to JetHawks starter Brandon Gold to start the game. He lined into an unassisted double play by second baseman Max George to end the third inning. But that was his final stroke of bad luck in the contest. 
With two outs in the fifth, the 19-year-old singled through the left side. Adell led off the eighth against Lancaster left-hander Ben Bowden and deposited a solo shot over the left-field wall -- the eighth home run since his promotion. 
The 2017 first-round pick lined a pitch from JetHawks righty Salvador Justo to left for an RBI single in the ninth to conclude his day. 
"He's buying into the information," Barba said. "Our hitting coach, Brian Betancourth, has done a really good job with him, as well as our hitting coordinators, helping him develop a routine and being prepared for a game every day. ... It's helping him out a lot." 
In his first nine games with Inland Empire, Adell batted .184. When the calendar flipped to June, though, so did the Louisville, Kentucky, native's fortunes at the dish. Since June 1, Adell has amassed a .379/.413/.678 slash line with six homers and 16 RBIs.  

"He got off to a little slow start," Barba said. "But he was just getting accustomed to the league and he was trying to be consistent in every at-bat. You're starting to see him get in rhythm and understand his zone. And when he gets it in his zone, he's putting a swing on it and hitting the ball hard." 
Adell heated up heading into the All-Star break, going 7-for-9 over the final two first-half contests. Adell has gone 7-for-19 in the four games since the layoff. 
"He learned early when he got here [that] consistently sticking with an approach and also staying positive, staying neutral [is important]," Barba said. "Understanding when things get bad, understanding that when things are good, and going back to that." 

Chris Bumbaca is a contributor for MiLB.com based in New York. Follow him on Twitter @BOOMbaca.