Eaves drops three homers off twin brothers

It was a great day for Kody Eaves and a decidedly forgettable one for the entire Ledbetter family.

Eaves homered three times and drove in a career-high six runs, with all the damage coming against twin brothers David and Ryan Ledbetter, to power Class A Advanced Inland Empire past High Desert, 7-4, on Wednesday afternoon.

"It was awesome," Eaves said. "It was a good experience, I put good swings on the ball and just -- I can't even explain it -- it was fun."

The Angels prospect hit a three-run shot in the first inning off Mavericks starter David Ledbetter and added a two-run blast with one out in the third off the right-hander before taking aim at Ryan Ledbetter, who relieved his identical brother mid-way through the fourth inning and promptly served up a leadoff blast to begin the fifth.

Eaves, appropriately, said he didn't even notice the unique call to the bullpen.

"No, I wasn't aware of that -- that's something to new to me," Eaves said when told about the odd accomplishment. "That's funny, I didn't know that."

David Ledbetter was the Rangers' third-round pick in 2013 out of Cedarville High School in Ohio. His twin brother, also a right-hander, was selected by Texas the 19th round that same Draft. The pair both pitched at Class A Short Season Spokane in 2014 and have spent the entire season in High Desert this year.

Eaves said he knew the Mavericks had changed pitchers, and he checked the scouting report on Ryan but didn't make the connection.

"I knew they changed pitchers, but I didn't look at the name, I just looked at the scouting report," he laughed. "I had no idea they were twin brothers."

They look identical on the mound, but do they throw the same pitches?

"Yeah, they throw the same pitches, but there's different movement on each," Eaves said. "One throws a different changeup than the other."

Regardless, Eaves said he was just focused on hitting the ball hard somewhere, especially in the notoriously hitter-friendly ballpark in High Desert.

"[The first homer], I was just looking for something up over the plate," he said. "I worked the count deep and got the pitch I wanted to hit and put a good swing on it -- just trying to barrel something up 3-2."

Two innings later, Eaves dug in with one out and a runner on first.

"I was looking for something middle-in and got deep into that count as well -- 3-2 count -- and he threw me a 3-2 fastball, and I just took another good swing," he said.

That marked the first multi-homer game of Eaves' career and prompted a classic reaction from his amused teammates.

"After the second and third ones, I got a silent treatment from the whole team," Eaves said. "That was fun; it was a good time."

But Eaves wasn't done. The Angels' 2012 16th-round pick looked over pitching coach Matt Wise's report on the second Ledbetter and walked back to the plate.

"Our hitting coach does a great job. I went up there and kind of missed the pitch, but out here in High Desert , if you hit it good, the wind will carry it a little bit, and that's what happened."

Eaves finished 3-for-5, his most productive day since he homered and knocked in five runs on June 30, 2012, with the Rookie-level AZL Angels. Although not known for his power, Eaves said he wasn't shocked he could pop three homers in a day.

"I always try to go into games and hit the ball hard somewhere," he said. "This was the first time in my career with a multi-homer game, never mind three -- that's crazy. But I definitely feel like I can hit the ball, especially at this park -- you have a chance to hit it out any time. It was cool."

A career .263 hitter, Eaves is primed to post his best numbers in four seasons this year -- with nine homers and 47 RBIs, he's already just about matched his totals from 2014, when he batted .268 with 10 home runs and 45 RBIs in 130 games for Class A Burlington.

"It's been going good -- a lot of improvement in my swing and defensively," he said. "I'm just trying to keep moving forward."