Adams breaks out offensively for Gwinnett

Lane Adams circled the bases after his second home run on Tuesday night, and all he could think about was sleep. A 1-for-12 slump in the season's first three games had produced some restless nights.
"When you struggle, especially early in the season, your numbers don't look good," the Braves farmhand said. "I know they say you have to accept the good and try to not think about the bad, but it eats at me, especially when I'm not helping the team out."

Adams put an end to his slow start on Tuesday night as he collected four hits, including a pair of homers, and drove in six runs to lead Triple-A Gwinnett to a 15-2 rout of Norfolk at Harbor Park.
Box score
The 27-year-old outfielder put together his most prolific performance since blasting three homers and collecting seven RBIs on Aug. 13, 2013 with Double-A Northwest Arkansas in the Royals system. His last mulit-homer game came on June 13, 2015, also with the Naturals.
"It felt great," Adams said. "I just felt like we hadn't been winning and I hadn't been playing so well. I finally had a pretty big night and the team got the offense rolling like we're capable of. It felt good to finally get everything clicking and in sync."
Batting ninth in the lineup, the 2009 13th-round pick drove in Xavier Avery with a single to center field in the fourth before swatting a two-run homer to left-center in the sixth. He added a single to left leading off the eighth.
Adams came up against Tides reliever and 15th-ranked Orioles prospect Parker Bridwell in the ninth, with the G-Braves leading, 12-2. After working the count to 2-1, he drilled the next pitch over the wall in left for a three-run shot. The Oklahoma native returned to a stunned dugout.

"I don't know if they thought I had home run ability, I guess," he said. "I didn't hit any in Spring Training, and my first homer of the year was an inside-the-park home run [against Durham on Sunday]. I think it might have caught everyone off-guard a little bit."
Inside the park or not, Adams has three homers in his last two games, good for an early share of the International League lead with three long balls and nine RBIs.
"It's always good to have these nights," the Red Oak High School product said. "I can finally to relax a little bit. That's a big monkey off the shoulders for me."

Adams also said his teammates may have to raise their expectations for him going forward.
"I guess I can hit a ball over the fence," he added with laugh.
Mel Rojas Jr. smacked three singles, plated a run, and scored twice for Gwinnett. Avery finished 3-for-5 with three runs scored against his former team, while Braves No. 22 prospectRio Ruiz contributed two doubles and a pair of RBIs.
G-Braves starter Aaron Blair (1-1) held Norfolk to one run on three hits and three walks while striking out six over five innings.
Mike Wright (0-1) started for the Tides and surrendered five runs on eight hits while fanning four in 4 1/3 frames.