SeaWolves' Wells slugs three homers

Another week, another historic performance by Casper Wells.

The 23-year-old center fielder hit three of Erie's six homers and tied a career high with five RBIs on Tuesday as the SeaWolves pounded the Harrisburg Senators, 11-2, at Jerry Uht Park.

Just eight days after hitting for the cycle, Wells produced the third three-homer game in the Eastern League this season.

"It's all surreal to me," the 2005 14th-round Draft pick said.

Wells connected for a leadoff blast in the second inning off Senators starter and former first-round pick Bobby Brownlie.

"He threw me a fastball down and our field is so small, it kind of carried out," he said. "The pitcher and catcher were flabbergasted it got out of the park. I started running like it would hit the wall. Then I said, 'All right, cool, it's a home run.'"

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After striking out in the fourth, Wells got back in the groove when he greeted reliever Andrew Kown with another leadoff homer in the sixth.

"The next one was a fastball. It was 3-1, I was looking fastball and just tried to put a good swing on it," the Michigan native said.

With two men aboard in the seventh, Wells took Kown deep again for his 10th homer of the season, extending the SeaWolves' lead to 11-1.

"The other one was a first-pitch slider and I don't even know how I did that," Wells said. "I was geared up, put a good swing on it and the wind was carrying out to right.

"I wasn't trying at all [to hit another home run]. The guys were joking around in the dugout, 'You won't hit another home run. I did it and they were like, 'I can't believe you did that.'"

Accomplishing the unbelievable has become almost commonplace for Wells, who became the third player in SeaWolves history to hit for the cycle in an 11-5 thumping of Akron on July 29.

He had been scuffling before that performance, but has benefited from adjustments made by hitting coach Glenn Adams and Tigers roving hitting instructor Toby Harrah.

"I changed the way I was batting, changed my stance, going with a more conventional style of hitting," Wells explained. "I'm just trying to make more consistent contact, getting my legs more involved."

What can he do for an encore?

"I don't even know," he said. "Move up, hopefully, try to get to 'The Show,' try to do it at 'The Show.'"

Deik Scram, Pedro Cotto and James Skelton also homered for Erie (52-66), which has won four of its last five games.

Starter Luke French (6-11) snapped a personal four-game losing streak, allowing one run on seven hits over seven innings with a walk and a season-high eight strikeouts.

Brownlie (8-2) was charged with five runs on six hits over five frames for the Senators (64-52), who got solo homers from Seth Bynum and Ofilio Castro.