Tatis Jr. goes yard twice for Missions

Fernando Tatis Jr. doesn't need to be continually hitting balls over the fence to be an effective player. 
But when he does, it's special. 
The top Padres prospect went 3-for-4 with a pair of solo shots, his third multi-homer game of the season, but Double-A San Antonio fell to Northwest Arkansas, 4-3, on Saturday at Arvest Ballpark.

"That makes him an incredible talent," Missions hitting coach Raul Padron said. "And [he's] just a kid. ... It's pretty nice to see that, when you know a guy can hit for power but also for average ... has all those tools, it's pretty nice for any team to have those players. 
"He's been working real hard and he's been very professional. He's going to go far."
After depositing a 3-2 pitch over the fence in left field in the fourth inning off Naturals starter Zach Lovvorn, Tatis ambushed a first-pitch offering in the eighth against Pedro Fernandez for his second roundtripper. He poked a leadoff single to right in the sixth en route to his 10th game this season with at least three hits. 
Gameday box score
Tatis' 13th and 14th homers of the season tied him with Tulsa's DJ Peters for third in the Texas League. Springfield's Victor Roache leads the way with 16. 
Since hitting .177 in April, Tatis Jr. boasts a .333 average with 11 homers, three triples and 16 doubles in 53 games. Overall, his .285 average is a season high.
The 19-year-old shortstop has done this while dealing with a sore ankle up until the All-Star break, according to Padron. He's also intensified the amount of time he spends studying scouting reports and watching video, which has also been a boon for Tatis. 

"The hard work has been [helpful]," Padron said. "It's training for him, paying attention to all those little things on the scouting report. He knows that's very important to being a very good hitter because you know what that guy is going to do to you. Especially him, he's one of the best hitters on our team and in our league, so they're definitely looking to make him chase or get him out of his approach." 
Top Royals prospectKhalil Lee was hit in the head by a pitch from San Antonio starter and Padres No. 9 prospect Logan Allen in the sixth. The 20-year-old center fielder was lifted from the game and reportedly walked gingerly to the dugout after leaving the field with trainers. 

It was Lee's second game since being promoted from Class A Advanced Wilmington, where he hit .270/.402/.406 in 71 games. 
Northwest Arkansas' Kort Peterson smoked an RBI double to left and Kelvin Gutierrez ripped a run-scoring single to center in the ninth to tie the game. After a throwing error by Tatis allowed Anderson Miller to reach, Alex Liddi sent a walk-off single up the middle to end the game. 
Jecksson Flores went 3-for-4 for the Naturals.