Cubs' Vosler launches three for Smokies

In 2016, Cubs prospect Jason Vosler hit three home runs in 119 games. On Wednesday, he homered in three consecutive plate appearances for Double-A Tennessee.
Vosler's outburst powered the Smokies to an 8-4 win at AT&T Field in Chattanooga as the 23-year-old third baseman drove in six of Tennessee's runs. First baseman Yasiel Balaguert, who went 2-for-4 with a double and a walk, crossed the plate on all of Vosler's blasts.

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"I had been struggling recently and haven't gotten off to the start I had hoped, so coming into the game today I just tried to slow everything down at the plate," Vosler said. "That was the key for me at the plate today ... to be in more control of myself and my swing."
A 16th-round pick out of Northeastern in 2014, Vosler lifted his 2017 average 38 points to .218 with his 3-for-5 afternoon and doubled his season RBI total to 12. His only previous multi-homer game came on July 28, 2015 when he hit a pair and drove in three for Class A Advanced Myrtle Beach against visiting Potomac.
Tennessee, which handed Chattanooga its third straight loss after a doubleheader sweep Tuesday, jumped out to an early lead with two runs in the first inning. The rest was all Vosler. After a groundout in the first, he hit two-run shots (all to right field) in the third, fifth and seventh -- the first two coming off Lookouts starter Felix Jorge (2-1). The right-hander, the Twins' No. 9 prospect, had allowed just one long ball in his first three starts of the season.
"He is obviously a very tough pitcher to face, so by me trying to slow the game down, it enabled me to look for a pitch in my zone," Vosler said. "It was just one of those days where I was getting my pitch to hit and not missing it."
His third home run came against righty Ryan Eades. His big day was markedly different from his first six games of the season in which he went 0-for-18, drawing seven walks and striking out five times.
"I definitely have never started a season like that," Vosler said. "I was coming off a really good Spring Training, so I was feeling great going into the first game. But baseball is a funny game and sometimes you go into slumps -- that's just part of the game. ... All I can do now is keep focusing on the next at-bat and the next game."

Chattanooga yielded a season-high 13 hits to the Smokies, with leadoff man Charcer Burks collecting three hits. Tennessee center fielder Jacob Hannemann, playing in his fourth game of the season, went 2-for-5.
Starter Jen-Ho Tseng improved to 2-0 with the Smokies, allowing four runs -- three earned -- on six hits and three walks over six innings. He struck out two. Tseng has held Southern League batters to a .213 average in his first four starts this season after yielding a .308 mark in 22 starts on the circuit last year.
After being blanked in both ends of Tuesday's twin bill, Chattanooga bounced back with four runs in the loss. First baseman Jonathan Rodriguez contributed a two-run homer, his third of the season.