Tendler goes yard twice for Mavericks

When Texas acquired Lucas Harrell and Dario Alvarez on Wednesday, Class A Advanced High Desert lost its hottest hitter -- California League homer leader Travis Demeritte. On Friday, Luke Tendler helped fill the void.

"There's no way you can't miss Demeritte -- the RBIs, the home runs -- he was having an unbelievable year," Tendler said. "But at the same time, we have a goal. That's to win a championship, and that goal hasn't changed."

The Rangers prospect crushed two homers and tallied three RBIs on Friday as the Mavericks outslugged host Rancho Cucamonga, 9-8.

"Anytime [you hit] two home runs, that's exciting," Tendler said, "but to do it in a close game, especially against Rancho Cucamonga -- we've been going back and forth with them all year -- it means a lot to get our offense going like that."

The 24-year-old outfielder's two long balls give him 17, putting him in a three-way tie for most in the circuit among active Cal Leaguers. However, Tendler said that race isn't really on his mind.

"I'm not trying to look at those numbers," he said. "I'm just going up there looking to compete and put some good swings on the ball. If I end up with the lead, I end up with the lead."

Tendler's batting .282/.370/.497 through 98 games with High Desert, but he was displeased with his first two at-bats as designated hitter on Friday. Rancho Cucamonga starter Felipe Gonzalez struck him out in the first inning and got him to bounce out to first in the third. Coming up with two runs in and a runner on second in the fifth, Tendler turned things around against the right-hander.

"My hitting coach [Bobby Rose] was talking to me and he said, 'Stay aggressive. Stay with your approach,'" he said. "I stayed aggressive and I saw a changeup up. ...They've been throwing me off-speed the entire series. I knew I was going to see it at some point in that at-bat. I hit it and it went over the fence."

With one out in the seventh, the North Carolina A&T product fell behind Alex Burgos, 1-2, before launching a blast to right.

"That was a slider," Tendler said. "[Burgos] left it up. I think it was probably just a mistake he made, but I knew with lefty-lefty, I was going to see it and I saw it up and put a good two-strike swing on it.

"It felt great. I struggled in my first two at-bats, but I was able to go up there and and make adjustments, go up there and compete. We needed an insurance run and, obviously, it came up big for us."

Scott Heineman was 2-for-3 with a homer, two RBIs, two runs scored and two walks for the Mavs. His long ball leading off the game was his third in two games and eighth in 12 contests.

"He's one of my best buddies on the team, and when he gets hot, he sees it like a grapefruit," Tendler said. "There's nothing you can throw to him that he's not going to put a good swing on."

Johan Mieses, the Dodgers' No. 27 prospect, hit his 17th homer to keep him apace with Tendler and Stockton's Sandber Pimentel. Noah Perio was 4-for-5 in his first game since coming to the Quakes from Double-A Tulsa.

High Desert starter David Ledbetter (5-7) got the win, despite giving up seven runs on 10 hits and three walks while striking out six over six innings.

Gonzalez (2-5) surrendered eight runs on eight hits and three walks with four strikeouts in 4 1/3 frames.