Albies matches career high with four hits

Ozzie Albies reached base five times in a three-hit game exactly one week ago. He upped the ante with his bat Tuesday.
MLB.com's No. 7 overall prospect tied his career high with four hits in five at-bats as Triple-A Gwinnett topped Buffalo, 6-5, at Coolray Field. He pulled his season batting line up to .274/.321/.406 with the big night.

Gameday box score
"He was aggressive," Gwinnett hitting coach John Moses said. "His first three hits came from the right side, and we faced a pretty tough lefty who was mixing pitches well. He was aggressive, got good pitches to hit and put the ball in play -- got that double down the right-field line to lead things off."
Albies ripped that two-bagger on a 2-0 pitch in the first inning against Bisons starter TJ House and scored three batters later on Lane Adams' two-run double to left. The switch-hitting second baseman singled to center in the second and the fourth before pulling a single to right against right-hander Wil Browning in the sixth.

"The biggest thing he's working on is his swing from the left side," Moses said. "Last year, he was somewhat off balance through his swing, falling off on breaking balls, weight carrying to the outside of his swing. We've been really trying to concentrate on shortening his swing, keeping his front side closed and trying to take the loop out of his bat from the left side.
"Right now, he's a Major League hitter right-handed -- we have no worries from the right side -- but the left side has given him problems early this year. He's made some adjustments and hopefully he can continue to do what he's doing and stay short with his swing."
The numbers bear out Moses' point -- Albies has batted .396/.420/.563 in 50 plate appearances as a right-hander compared to .228/.286/.346 in 140 left-handed -- but the coach continues to preach patience with the 20-year-old phenom, who has taken well to instruction from both him and Braves legend Chipper Jones.
"He's matured in that way. If we were to ask him to do that last year and the year before, he probably wouldn't want to do it," Moses said. "Chipper and myself, being switch-hitters, we know what the feeling is having to accomplish something from one side and then having to from the other as well. He's got to worry about two different things. ... It's hard at 20 years old to put everything together within two to three weeks, but we're being patient."
Albies' numbers are much improved compared to his 56-game stint with the G-Braves in 2016. After being promoted late last June, the 5-foot-9, 160-pound Curacao native posted a .248/.307/.351 slash line in 56 games with nine stolen bases. He's up to 14 swipes this year, but he's struck out 42 times and walked 13 in 42 games after entering the season with 175 whiffs and 116 free passes in 293 career games.

"Sometimes he gets a bit overaggressive when the situation calls for him to work hard, walk and try to improve that on-base percentage," Moses said. "He's just an aggressive guy, especially from the right side -- he has more of a killer instinct and more confidence. We still want him to be in attack mode from the left side, but he has reservations about that at times."
David Freitas lofted a two-run homer off House (4-4) in the fourth.
Braves No. 5 prospectSean Newcomb allowed three runs on three hits and six walks while striking out six over four innings. Andrew Albers (3-1) gave up three hits and struck out three over 2 2/3 scoreless innings.
Dwight Smith Jr. went 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs for the Bisons.
House (4-4) allowed six runs -- four earned -- on seven hits and two walks while striking out three over five innings.