Tides' Mountcastle homers in third straight

Ryan Mountcastle started the year hot and stormed into the summer the same way. As the season approaches its final stretch, he's not slowing down.
MLB.com's No. 68 overall prospect homered for the third straight game as part of a three-hit night on Tuesday, helping Triple-A Norfolk to a 5-1 win over Gwinnett at Harbor Park.

After lacing an RBI double to center field off Touki Toussaint in a three-run first inning, Mountcastle unloaded on the first pitch he saw from the right-hander in the second. The blast was the 24th of the season for the fourth-ranked Orioles prospect.

Gameday box score
Mountcastle flied to center in the fourth but capped his night with a single to left in the sixth, completing the outfielder's second three-hit effort in August and fourth with at least three hits since July 27. He's driven in six runs in his last three games while scoring six times in his last four.

The 2015 first-round pick is batting .361/.425/.861 with five homers and 10 RBIs in his last nine games. For the season, Mountcastle has a .314/.345/.535 slash line. He leads the International League with 252 total bases and 144 hits, is tied for third with 55 extra-base hits and ranks fourth with 77 RBIs and fifth in batting. 
O's No. 24 prospect Rylan Bannon produced out of the leadoff spot for Norfolk, going 2-for-5 with a double and a run scored. Since joining the Tides from Double-A Bowie on Aug. 13, the infielder sports a .290/.324/.387 slash line.
Starter Bruce Zimmermann matched his longest outing at the Triple-A level, allowing a run on five hits over seven innings. He walked one, struck out five and lowered his ERA to 5.00 in five IL starts.