Blue Wahoos' Kirilloff busts loose

Alex Kirilloff hadn't homered in nearly a month or posted a multi-RBI game in even longer. On Thursday night, he went off.
Baseball's No. 16 overall prospect homered, doubled and drove in five runs to help lead Double-A Pensacola to an 11-8 win over Birmingham at Blue Wahoos Stadium.

Coming off a July in which he put up a slash line of .277/.308/.357, Kirilloff struck out swinging in the first frame before smacking a two-RBI ground-rule double to center field in the third. An inning later, the outfielder cranked a three-run homer to right on the first pitch he saw from right-hander Luis Martinez
"Last month of the season, just kind of got to try to finish strong, take each game and try to put as many W's together as a team," Kirilloff said. "My second at-bat, I came up with the bases loaded with one out, I believe. I was just trying to put a ball in the air and score the run. Just got a little bit more of it than I hoped for, and it one-hopped off the wall in center and hit off the batter's eye for a ground-rule double.
"My third at-bat, I got a couple of sliders and just was able to get under one and sent it out to right. It felt good."
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Kirilloff bounced out back to the mound in his final trip to the plate in the seventh.
Minnesota's No. 2 prospect had not driven in more than two runs in any game this season until Thursday night, most recently recording a multi-RBI effort on July 3.
"It's really just about maintaining at this point and trying to take each day and make the most of it, keeping your body in check and keeping your legs under you and your body healthy," the 21-year-old said of the calendar turning to August. "Especially at this point in the season, it's really important and definitely something you don't want to take lightly. That's the main focus."
The five RBIs were one shy of the career high the outfielder set on April 11, 2018 with Class A Cedar Rapids at Peoria.
"I'm just trying to be as consistent as possible," Kirilloff said of his Double-A stay. "Obviously you're playing against older competition, playing against some guys that have been in the big leagues before, been in Triple-A a while and are back in Double-A now. You're playing a lot of guys that have experience, a lot of knowledge about the game. Just being constantly cerebral, learning of your situations, learning different counts where guys like to go with certain pitches, studying the pitchers more, just kind of a lot more scouting reports and stuff like that. It's been a little bit different, more hands on with your preparation for the game, who they have in their lineup and in their bullpen, studying the opposition a little more than in single-A and Rookie ball."

Minnesota's top prospect Royce Lewis singled and scored a run in the game, his fifth in Double-A. Kirilloff is happy to have him as a teammate again.
"It's a lot of fun," he said. "I love playing with Royce. He brings a lot of energy. Immediately when he got here, I was just happy to be on the same team with him again and get to talk to him every day, talk to him during the game and stuff like that. It makes it more fun for me and the people around us too. It's a good group of guys that we have and I enjoy playing with them."
Pensacola and Birmingham went into the bottom of the eighth tied, 8-8, when the Blue Wahoos' Ben Rortvedt was hit by a pitch and Ryan Costello walked behind him. After Jimmy Kerrigan popped out to second and Mark Contreras flew out to left, Iván De Jesús Jr. laced a three-run inside-the-park homer to center that got through No. 13 White Sox prospect Luis González.
"I was just happy that we were able to put that initial run when [Rortvedt] scored so hopefully we didn't have to go into extras," Kirilloff laughed. "We took the lead and that was my first thought, and then I saw him dive and it get past him and I thought, that's at least two, maybe three. It was pretty exciting when he was safe at the plate. All of us went crazy. Pretty cool moment."