Sounds' Maxwell plates career-high six

It's not easy to stand out when your team scores 19 runs and collects 20 hits. But Bruce Maxwell managed to find a way on Saturday night for Triple-A Nashville.

The A's catching prospect enjoyed the best game of his professional career, going 5-for-5 with two homers, six RBIs and four runs scored as the Sounds pounded El Paso, 19-5, at Southwest University Park.

Maxwell's five hits matched a franchise record, last accomplished by Erick Almonte on June 6, 2011.

The 2012 second-round pick has homered in three straight games and has gone deep six times in his last 10, giving him a career-high nine jacks on the season. He's also driven in 14 runs over the last four games, going 12-for-17 in that span.

"It felt effortless," Maxwell said. "My approach was good. I was free and easy and seeing the ball very clearly tonight. Everything's been clicking. I'm seeing the ball really well and putting together good at-bats. It felt great." 

The Birmingham-Southern product singled and scored on a two-run homer by A's No. 7 prospect Chad Pinder in the third. Maxwell drove in Colin Walsh with a single to center in the fourth and scored on a single to left by No. 20 prospect Jaycob Brugman.

He added another RBI single to left in the fifth, then got in on the long ball act with a three-run shot to left in the sixth. Maxwell went deep leading off the eighth for the first five-hit and multi-homer game of his career.

"I went up there with the usual approach," he said of his last at-bat. "Especially in games like these, if you do too much or try to be too exact, the game can humble you real quick. I just tried to put a good at-bat together like I have the last few weeks and it worked out in my favor." 

A career .265 hitter entering the season, Maxwell is slashing .315/.385/.522 in his first Triple-A campaign. He batted .247 with no homers and 13 RBIs through the first two months of the year, missing nearly two weeks in May with a sore right arm. But since June 1, the lefty-hitting catcher is batting .369 with all nine of his homers and 26 RBIs in 30 games.

"Over the years, I've had to put hitting on hold while taking most of my time learning to catch," the former first baseman said. "Now that I've been able to start excelling behind the plate, it's given me more time to put an emphasis on my hitting and getting my swing back. Just hours of work in the cage and on the tee has been paying off with my approach. I knew the power would come later and I understood that it might take a little while. It's a process I'm sticking with and, sure enough, the power numbers are starting to go up." 

The German-born Maxwell was far from the only offensive standout for Nashville. Pinder went 3-for-5 with two homers and four RBIs, while Brugman notched four hits and drove in three runs. Arismendy Alcantara went deep and doubled twice for the Sounds, who registered season highs in runs and hits en route to their fourth straight win.

"The camaraderie in our locker room since the All-Star break has been huge," Maxwell said. "We've been feeding off each other. Everybody's relaxed, rooting for each other and it slows things down, makes the game more fun and it makes it easier."

Padres No. 4 prospect Hunter Renfroe had two hits and drove in a run, while No.16 prospect Carlos Asuaje went 3-for-5 with two doubles, a run scored and an RBI for El Paso.

Nashville starter Zach Neal (7-2) allowed three runs on eight hits and two walks with three strikeouts in five innings.

El Paso counterpart Daniel McCutchen (8-6) surrendered nine runs on 10 hits and a walk with one strikeout in four frames.