Crawford adds rare feat to July surge

You never know what you might see when J.P. Crawford takes the field. On Wednesday, he produced one of his more unusual highlights.
The fourth-ranked Phillies prospect raced for the first inside-the-park grand slam in Triple-A Lehigh Valley's history to help the IronPigs top the Gwinnett Braves, 8-2, at Coca-Cola Park.

Crawford came up empty in his first two at-bats, striking out in the first inning and flying out to center field in the third. He came to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth.
MLB.com's No. 63 overall prospect worked the count to 3-1 against G-Braves starter Kris Medlen. He connected on the fourth offering, belting a drive off the wall in deep center field. The ball took an odd carom off the wall, forcing Gwinnett center fielder Lane Adams to chase it down.
Crawford rounded third and headed for the plate and the throw from Adams arrived in plenty of time. The 22-year-old shortstop froze briefly, then nimbly avoided the tag from catcher David Freitas to slide in safely with his first professional inside-the-park homer.
Gameday box score
"Wanted to get a good count," Crawford told The Morning Call. "I was trying not to miss a fastball, put a good swing on it. When i was going to third base and saw [IronPigs manager and third-base coach Dusty Wathan's] arm waving and waving around, and I'm like, 'Here we go.' And then I see the catcher and that I was out by a good 10 to 15 feet. I tried to deke him out. I got my foot in."
Crawford has a history of using quick thinking and athleticism to produce highlight-reel plays. In 2015, he made headlines with a leaping tag for Double-A Reading that turned a stolen base into an out.

The 2013 first-round pick has maintained a torrid pace with the IronPigs since the start of July. He sports a .301/.396/.675 slash line in 23 games and has hit seven of his nine home runs this month. The California native sits two homers shy of his career high for a single season from 2014, which he accomplished with Class A Lakewood and Class A Advanced Clearwater.

Lehigh Valley sits second in the International League with 118 homers, two behind Columbus for the circuit lead. Philadelphia's sixth-ranked prospect Rhys Hoskins added a long ball Wednesday -- his 24th -- while also doubling and plating three runs.
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"We've been fortunate with all the guys who can hit home runs," Wathan told The Morning Call. "You feel like you're never out of a ballgame."
Mark Leiter Jr. (2-1) benefited from all the offense, surrendering one run on two hits and a walk while striking out four over six innings to pick up the win.
Medlen (1-3) was tagged for eight runs on seven hits and two walks over 6 1/3 frames.