Travs' Grichuk dazzles for his family

With his 22nd birthday coming Tuesday, Randal Grichuk's family made the trip to see their favorite outfielder play in Corpus Christi. The native of Rosenberg, Texas did not disappoint.

The Angels' No. 5 prospect went 4-for-4 with two homers, a double, a walk and a season-high five RBIs to lead the Double-A Travelers to a 7-4 victory over the Hooks on Sunday night at Whataburger Field.

"My first four-hit game with a walk? It's definitely my best game of the year," Grichuk said.

Grichuk set a season high by reaching base five times. The right fielder is 9-for-13 with three homers and seven RBIs in his past three games.

"The only thing I can compare [the past three games] to is, a couple guys were talking about it, last year in Rancho [Cucamonga]," he said. "I kind of hit like I did last year, laying off a lot of pitches in the dirt, laying off a lot off the plate and in, just a couple days when you feel like nothing can beat you. I'm seeing everything really well."

After stinging a single to left field on a fastball, the Corpus Christi staff switched to primarily offspeed offerings against Grichuk.

"I've had a couple good games before here, so I knew I wasn't really going to get any fastballs over the heart of the plate to hit," he said. "It allows you to stay back and not be too jumpy, to just react to the slow [pitches] a lot better."

The 2009 first-rounder -- who was selected one pick before Mike Trout -- leads off for a prospect-laden Travelers lineup, followed by Angels' No. 4 prospect Taylor Lindsey, who had two triples and two walks.

"Taylor can flat-out rake, I think he's got upwards of 30 walks too," Grichuk said. "He sees the ball well, lays off bad pitches out of the zone, never seems to be off balance and squares up everything pretty much."

Angels' No. 2 prospect C.J. Cron bats cleanup and No. 15 prospect Travis Witherspoon hits sixth.

"We have a lot of young guys. I think early in the season we were all trying to adjust to the league," said Grichuk of dealing with the tough jump to Double-A. "It's been great, hopefully we'll get called up together or with different teams, if not all with the Angels."

Grichuk also blasted two homers May 11 at Tulsa and went 4-for-4 on Aug. 29 last season for Inland Empire of the California League.

Astros' No. 10 prospect Domingo Santiago blasted his 21st home run, fifth-most in the Texas League.