'Topes' Brown hits three homers

Major League veteran Dee Brown knows better than to overanalyze an offensive show like the one he put on Friday night.

"Seeing the ball better, the game slowing down, you can use all those old clichés," Brown said. "But it was just one of those nights."

A night he undoubtedly wouldn't mind repeating, particularly against a team that had given up on him.

Brown tied a career high with three homers and drove in five runs to power the Albuquerque Isotopes to an 11-6 victory over the Salt Lake Bees.

"My only objective this year was to go out there and re-establish myself," Brown said. "I'm still the same player. If I'm healthy, I'm fine."

Selected 14th overall by the Kansas City Royals in the 1996 First-Year Player Draft, Brown spent parts of seven seasons in the Majors but has been hampered by injuries throughout his career.

After signing a Minor League contract with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim last season, he batted .264 with 12 homers, 74 RBIs and 70 runs scored in 130 games. Brown signed another Minor League deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers this spring and is batting .324 with 10 homers and 32 RBIs.

"Last year, [a right hand injury] never got healthy until I rested it," he said. "I felt like what [Salt Lake] saw was not the real Dee Brown."

On Friday, Brown wasted no time showing the Bees exactly what he meant.

The 31-year-old left fielder launched a three-run shot in the first inning and never looked back, adding a pair of solo blasts en route to his second five-RBI game this month.

"In my first debut [at the plate], once I got that one squared up I was like, 'Let's get to work,'" Brown said. "Situations come up in the game where you kind of focus more. I did what I wanted to do today."

He and Mitch Jones also made some history, becoming the first Isotopes to hit back-to-back homers twice in the same game.

Brown has hit safely in eight straight and 13 of his last 14 games, going 22-for-54.