Lugo powers Generals to walk-off victory

Although Double-A Jackson and Mississippi impressed at the plate Thursday night, one bat made the most noise from beginning to end.
D-backs No. 4 prospectDawel Lugo tripled, doubled, drove in four runs and put a ball in play that resulted in the game-winner as the Generals walked off with a 7-6 win over the Braves at The Ballpark at Jackson. 

"Letting him get more pitches to drive and give himself more of a chance to drive balls into gaps and get extra-base hits and stuff like that," Jackson hitting coach Jason Camilli said of Lugo's approach. "Not being content with just putting balls in play just because your hands are good and you can do it, but early in the count when you're ahead, looking for pitches that you can drive."
Gameday box score
In his first full Double-A season, Lugo is batting .274/.312/.433 with five homers and 25 RBIs. His goal of being a gap-to-gap hitter has paid off with 13 doubles, tying him for second on the circuit. The Dominican Republic native also fits comfortably in the middle of a Generals lineup that leads the Southern League in hitting (.271), on-base percentage (.349), slugging (.441), OPS (.790), home runs (60), runs (260), hits (481), doubles (108) and RBIs (245).
"We have the type of offense that, when we get hot, we get rolling and we can put some runs up in a hurry," Camilli said. "It's a very comforting feeling knowing that anyone of those guys can do damage and we can get a big rally going."
Lugo got his first look at Kolby Allard, ranked No. 3 for the Braves and No. 46 overall, and the 22-year-old found success right away. With the Generals down, 3-0, in the first inning and with two outs and two runners on, the right-handed hitter drove a ball into the gap in right field for his second triple of the season to cut the deficit to 3-2.

"No matter who [the opposing pitcher] is, they all know who those guys are. But the guy has got to come to them," Camilli said. "If they do their job and they're thinking right, their thought process is right at the plate, it doesn't matter who is on the mound."
The Braves added three runs in the second against starter Joel Payamps, but Lugo responded in the third with a two-out double against Allard, again going the other way. He crossed the plate on a base hit by Victor Reyes as Jackson narrowed the score to 6-5. 
"He did an outstanding job. Early in the game, he had those two huge two-out, two-RBI base hits that got us right back into the game," Camilli said. "He did a nice job of sticking with his approach, getting a good pitch he can drive, and he executed."

After Lugo flew out in the fifth, the Generals tied the score in the sixth on an RBI single by Kevin Medrano. Lugo popped out in the seventh, but factored in the final result in the ninth. Medrano led off with a single before a pair of walks left the bases loaded for Lugo.
He promptly turned on a changeup and ripped a hard ground ball to ninth-ranked Atlanta prospect Travis Demeritte. The third baseman threw wide of catcher Kade Scivicque, allowing Medrano to score.
"Regardless of who was at the plate, I felt good with our chances of getting that run across the board," Camilli said. "It just so happened it was Lugo. And again, he got a good pitch to hit and put a good swing on a changeup and forced the guy to kind of panic a little bit."
Medrano finished with three singles, a run scored and an RBI.

Ronald Acuña Jr., the Braves' No. 7 prospect and No. 91 overall, hit a two-run homer in the first -- his eighth hit in three games against Jackson -- and finished with three RBIs. 
Joey Meneses doubled and singled twice, also giving him eight hits in the series, while Jared James went 3-for-5 with a triple and a run scored for Mississippi.
Allard was charged with six runs on nine hits and three walks with three strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings.