Lookouts' Trammell posts first four-hit game

Taylor Trammell has found his stroke and is again relying on Mom's advice.
Cincinnati's No. 2 prospect posted his first professional four-hit game Thursday, going 4-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored to pace Double-A Chattanooga to a 6-2 win over Jackson. After starting the year 2-for-10, Trammell has run his hitting streak to five games including three consecutive multi-hit performances in which he's 8-for-14 with two runs and two RBIs.

Gameday box score
With family on hand to watch him play in Jackson, Tennessee, including an aunt who traveled from California, Trammell said his first hit of the night checked a box. "Our hitting coach, Milt Thompson, says, 'One a day.' If it's a hit, a walk, a hard-hit ball -- one a day. I don't really stress too much, but that first hit [of a game] takes away a lot of anxiousness."
After singling up the middle in the first inning and striking out in the third, the left-handed hitter led off the sixth with a lined single to the opposite field against right-hander Bud Jeter. Trammell advanced to second on a wild pitch, and the Lookouts loaded the bases with two outs when No. 6 Reds prospect Tyler Stephenson was hit by a pitch and Gavin LaValley walked. Luis Gonzalez doubled to score Trammell and Stephenson and Chattanooga's starting pitcher Tejay Antone followed with a two-run single.
"The second hit, a 2-2 count, I put a good swing on the ball," the 21-year-old said. "When I got to first base, I knew my family was in the stands; I saw my cousin. I thought, 'OK, everybody is happy, here to see me play.' ... As a young hitter, sometimes you're in a tense mode. I just focused on the at-bat."

Trammell singled to center in the seventh and poked another liner through the left side to plate Gonzalez with one out in the eighth.
"It's funny," he said, "when I got the fourth hit, I knew it in the back of my head. I've had multiple three-hit game -- three hits, a walk -- but when it happened, I was just running down to first base and thinking, 'That's four hits.'
"I feel good. I think it's just baseball. Do not try to do too much at the plate. Right now, I'm taking in everything. I'm learning as much as I possibly can. It's like my mom says: 'See ball, hit ball.'"
No. 13 Reds prospect TJ Friedl went 2-for-3 with an RBI, and Gonzalez reached four times and scored twice.
"The core of this team, a lot of us were in [Class A] Dayton, in [Rookie Advanced] Billings and [Class A Advanced] Daytona," Trammell said. "We don't have too big of egos. There are no big heads in the clubhouse. The guys want to win. Our goal every single day is to go on the field and be relentless. Our pitchers -- throw strikes, go at the plate. I just don't feel like we're ever out of any game. Last out, last strike, we're still in it."
Antone (1-0), picked up his first Double-A victory after allowing two runs on three hits and two walks while striking out four over 5 1/3 innings. Joel Kuhnel, No. 26 in the Reds' pipeline, struck out six and worked around a hit over two scoreless innings of relief.

Jackson starter Emilio Vargas, Arizona's No. 16 prospect, yielded four hits and struck out four in five innings. Jeter (0-1) took the loss after giving up four runs on four hits and a walk while recording two outs.
Trammell spent Thursday night at his aunt's house instead of the team hotel. An uncle, aunts and cousins celebrated the four-hit career milestone with pizza. "It's not my usual after-game food, but it's OK. I'm enjoying being with family. And now, I'm going to hit the hay."