Drillers' Rios drives in career-best five runs

In 12 games over the past two weeks, Edwin Ríos had totaled four RBIs. It took him all of six innings Wednesday to surpass that.
The Dodgers No. 22 prospect homered, doubled and drove in a career-high five runs on Wednesday in the Double-A Tulsa Drillers' 9-6 win over the San Antonio Missions at ONEOK Field.

Though Rios had gone 17-for-49 (.346) in his last 12 contests, he said the lack of RBIs was frustrating, especially since the Drillers dropped 13 of 17 games. The 23-year-old third baseman looked to Drillers hitting coach Terrmel Sledge to try and figure out a solution.
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"I kind of blame myself for a lot of the losses that we had," Rios said. "I left tons of people on base. It was ridiculous honestly.
"My body wasn't in sync. I was swinging at bad pitches and getting myself out rather than making the pitcher come to me. A lot of stuff goes into it, but the biggest thing was getting my body back into sync and going back to my approach and staying a little more patient."
The Florida International University product cashed in on his first opportunity of the game with a double to center field in the first inning, plating Erick Mejia from first base with the game's initial run.
Rios brought in another run an inning later without even swinging the bat. With two outs and the bases loaded, a slider from Missions starter Michael Kelly ran inside and plunked him on the knee.
"I wasn't happy, because those don't feel good in that area," he said with a laugh. "But an RBI is an RBI, so I'll take that any day of the week."
After fanning to end the fourth, the 2015 sixth-round pick struck again with one out and two runners on in the sixth. With the count full against lefty reliever Kyle McGrath (0-1), Rios pounded a fastball over the right-field fence for his ninth home run of the season.

"He hung me a curveball [earlier in the at-bat] and I was sitting on it and fouled it off. It would have been a home run as well, but it went foul," he recalled. "I said to myself, 'He's probably not going to throw that pitch again, so I'm going to sit on a few pitches.' He came with a fastball and I'm pretty sure he missed the location, and I was able to put a good swing on it."
Rios was hit by a pitch again in the seventh in his final at-bat.
The outburst pushed the Puerto Rico native into second place in the Texas League with 38 RBIs, two off the pace of Arkansas' Kyle Waldrop and Midland's Tyler Marincov. He also ranks third with nine homers and second with 15 doubles.

Rios also raised his average to .344, 33 points higher than his career-best mark a season ago. Despite being viewed by scouts primarily as a power hitter, he said the ability to hit for average against Double-A pitching has not been a surprise.
"I feel like it has to do a lot with growing up and not throwing away AB's," Rios said. "I feel like the older you get, the sounder you get and you just have a better idea. This year I've been able to stay disciplined most of the time and have a plan when I go up to the plate and I've seen results. It's been a lot of fun."
Jose Miguel Fernandez also went yard on a three-RBI night for Tulsa.
Reliever Ralston Cash improved to 2-2 after allowing a hit and striking out one over 1 1/3 scoreless frames. Corey Copping gave up a run on two hits and a walk, but recorded the final four outs en route to his third save.