Mack hits for the cycle in Blaze romp

Needing a home run to complete the cycle in the seventh inning on Sunday, Chantz Mack turned to Class A Advanced Bakersfield teammate Aaron Barbosa for some advice. Barbosa suggested that he channel his inner David Ortiz. 

The Mariners prospect homered to right field to complete the cycle, then added a career-high fifth hit as the Blaze rolled to a 12-2 victory over Lancaster at The Hangar. 

"I was talking to my fellow outfielder, Aaron Barbosa, and he's a big Red Sox fan and we both love Big Papi, so I asked him, 'What would Big Papi do right here?'" Mack said with a laugh. "He told me that Papi would definitely go for the home run, so I went for it.

"When I got back to the dugout, I said to him, 'What would Big Papi do?' And we laughed about it. I've come close to hitting for the cycle a few times, but it was the first time I've actually completed one, so it was awesome."

It also was the first cycle by a Bakersfield player in at least a decade.

Mack extended his hitting streak to seven games with a single in the first inning. After getting called out on strikes in the third, he led off the fifth with a triple to left field. He followed that with a two-run double to left in the sixth. 

"I have no clue what was going right because I felt super uncomfortable before the game," the 25-year-old said. "I spoke with my mom before the game and she said to give my dad a good gift for Father's Day. My teammates helped a lot by getting on and cheering me on, so I just did what I could to help the team. And everything just happened to fall for me."

After finishing off his first-ever cycle in the seventh, Mack said he was approached by Mariners No. 3 prospect Drew Jackson, who jokingly suggested that he put the bat on his shoulder in his final at-bat and look for his first walk of the day. Instead, the University of Miami product drilled another double and came around to score on Daniel Torres' single.

"I joked around with Drew Jackson because he told me I was a walk short, so I told him, 'I'm just not going to swing in my next at-bat.' But I had to get on base for the next guy and was able to score a run for Daniel Torres," he said.

After being moved up from Class A Clinton last season, the Florida native is hitting .304 with eight homers and a California League-leading 57 RBIs in 65 games for the Blaze. 

"I'm just trying to be more consistent this year," Mack said. "Last year, I'd go a few weeks where I was killing the ball and then four or five games where I did nothing. I've been trying to repeat my technique and my timing and work on the mental part of being ready to hit the fastball up the middle, and it's working for me this year. I just got to stick with it.

"We started off really slow, but every single game was close and we ended up on the losing end. Something just clicked about a month and a half ago in the locker room, the dugout, and the game is fun for everyone. I credit this team for everyone gelling together and finish the first half in such a good way."  

Mariners No. 16 prospect Gareth Morgan went 3-for-5 with three runs scored and an RBI in his second game of the season. 

Blaze starter Eddie Campbell (7-5) allowed two runs on two hits and four walks with five strikeouts over five innings to get the win.