Alford showing Blue Jays something extra

Being one of the organization's top prospects can bring a lot of pressure, but during a season of what he calls failures, Anthony Alford has learned how to ignore the harshness of the spotlight.

"I know my numbers are not looking good or how everybody expected, but I'm at a point now where I'm not trying to live up to everyone's expectations," he said.

Battling high hopes and tough breaks, the Toronto's No. 3 prospect has gotten into a groove, tallying two triples and a double with two RBIs on Wednesday as Class A Advanced Dunedin edged Lakeland, 10-9, at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium.

"I'm just learning, learning more about myself. This season has been a good learning season for me because I've never had to deal with failure. I've failed a lot this year. I guess that's something I needed to go through," he said. "I'm not afraid to fail because I know myself and I know my ability and my mind-set. I'm going to overcome it and I'm going to make the adjustment because that's just who I am as an athlete."

Alford was hitting .188 on July 15, but he's 13-for-35 (.371) with eight extra-base hits and six RBIs over his last 10 games since. To some extent, he credits Chris Colabello and Devon Travis for that. While the former was rehabbing earlier this month with Dunedin, Alford worked on his bat path and mental approach to cut down whiffs and foul balls.

"They have the same kind of move when they swing," teammate Mike Reeves said of Alford and Colabello. "I saw them working in the cage and it was a big timing thing. When Anthony started getting the timing down for it, the guy's hitting lasers all over the field."

Travis is back with Toronto after rehabbing with Dunedin in May, but he's still helping Alford regularly.

"Devon Travis is like a big brother to me. I came in today and checked my phone and I had a text from Devon Travis. I'm not surprised. Every time I have a good game, he texts me. And the same thing, if he has a good game, I text him," the 22-year-old said. "We're always Facetiming and talking on the phone. He is another guy who always keeps my confidence up. He makes me feel like I can do anything when I talk to him."

With that confidence, Alford started Wednesday's game by tripling to center against familiar foe A.J. Ladwig. Two of the center fielder's four homers this season have come against the Flying Tigers right-hander.

"The first pitch I saw as a leadoff batter was a breaking ball. That doesn't happen much because this year, every time we play these guys, I hit the fastball pretty good off these guys," Alford said. "So I guess he didn't want me to try to ambush him the first pitch of my at-bat. So he threw me a breaking ball and just tried to mix in different off-speed pitches. [I] just worked the count, and then 3-2, I got a pitch that I could drive and I tripled off the center-field wall."

When Alford got back to the dugout, he realized it was his first triple of the season. In the second, he picked up his second one -- this time to right, and in doing so, and tallied his first career two-triple game.

"I was kind of tired after that," he said with a laugh. "I slid the first time because I wanted to get my uniform dirty. … I just feel like every time you leave the baseball field, you want a dirty uniform to feel like you've done something."

Alford added a double to left in the fourth for his second three-hit game of the season. The contest marked the first time the Ole Miss product had two extra-base hits in the same game in 2016. The Blue Jays rallied with Alford and battled back-and-forth with the Flying Tigers.

Meanwhile, Reeves was putting together his own career night. The 25-year-old already had matched his professional best with three hits -- including a homer and a double -- when he came to the plate in the eighth with the score tied, 9-9. Reeves slapped a go-ahead single that plated Gunnar Heidt.

"I knew I just had to get a good pitch to hit," Reeves said. "I didn't try to hit a home run in my previous at-bat, so I wanted to go up there and make sure I didn't do too much. I got a fastball and was able to put a good swing on it."

That made a winner out of Dunedin's Dusty Isaacs (1-0), who worked around a hit with four strikeouts while notching the final six outs.

"I'm happy for Reeves. I'm confident in my teammate's abilities," Alford said. "He's struggled in the past, but at the end of the day, he's a good hitter. He's a mature hitter, but at the same time, he's still figuring out stuff about himself."

Toronto's No. 1 prospect Richard Urena fell a triple short of the cycle for Dunedin.

No. 3 Tigers prospect Christin Stewart slugged his Florida State League-leading 22nd homer while No. 18 Zac Shepherd, Wade Hinkle and Ismael Salgado each collected three hits.

"It seemed like every time they got up, they were squaring the ball up," Alford said. "It was a fun game to play in. I know the people who were watching, they enjoyed watching because there were balls flying every inning."