Roomies Bryant, Bruno stay hot for Smokies

Cubs first-rounder Kris Bryant might be the best player in the Southern League, but you could make the argument that he's not even the hottest hitter in his hotel room right now.

If roomies Bryant and Stephen Bruno continue to try to one-up each other, the Tennessee Smokies could start putting up some very crooked numbers.

Bryant slugged a three-run homer and plated four runs and Stephen Bruno went 4-for-5 and fell a hit shy of the cycle for the second time in four days in the Double-A Tennessee Smokies' 10-7 win over the host Jackson Generals on Tuesday.

No. 2 Cubs prospect Bryant blasted a mammoth home run to center field off Cam Hobson with one out in the third inning and he added an RBI single with two outs in the sixth. The long ball was his Southern League-leading 11th of the season.

Bryant currently leads all Southern League batters with 33 RBIs and is third on the circuit with a .324 average, eight points behind Birmingham's Micah Johnson. He also ranks first with a .606 slugging percentage, 20 extra-base hits, 35 runs scored and 88 total bases. The second overall pick last June is 13-for-31 with five homers, 16 RBIs and 13 runs scored in his past seven games.

But as hot as the third baseman and reigning Southern League Player of the Week is at the plate, he has serious competition for locker-room bragging rights.

After striking out in the first inning, Bruno smacked an RBI double to right in the third, tripled down the first-base line in the fourth and legged out an infield single to short in the sixth. Needing a homer in his final at-bat, the second baseman singled home another run in the eighth.

Bruno is no stranger to flirting with history. On Saturday in the opening game of the four-game set, the 23-year-old Virginia product went 4-for-6 with two homers, a double, four RBIs and three runs.

Over his past 10 games, Bruno is hitting .442 with 12 extra-base hits and 15 runs scored.