Machin racks up career-high five hits

Every time Vimael Machin goes to the plate, he intends to make life as hard as possible on the pitcher. On Sunday, he was nearly impossible to deal with.
The Cubs infield prospect set a career high with five hits, falling a triple short of the cycle, and plated four runs to lead Class A South Bend to a 13-5 win over Dayton at Fifth Third Field.

"I choke up on the bat and try to stay late on every pitch and just react," said Machin, who is batting .476 over his last three games. "I've been focusing on my early work before games and then I go from there. That way I don't worry about mechanics during the game so I can have fun and be consistent."

After grounding out to first base in his first at-bat, Machin picked up on Dayton starter Wennington Romero's pattern against left-handed hitters. He adjusted his approach accordingly for his next plate appearance. 
The adjustment worked. Machin got ahead of the southpaw, 2-1, and promptly smacked a two-run shot to right-center field.
"He was working soft-away and hard inside with a fastball to lefties," noted Machin, who leads the Cubs with 10 dingers. "Once I got ahead in the count and I was sitting on a fastball, middle-in, and he threw me that pitch. I was able to put it out."
The 23-year-old went for extra bases again in the fourth, this time against righty Alfredo Mena. He just missed out on another long ball when he one-hopped the fence in right-center for an RBI ground-rule double.
"He was throwing a little harder than Romero with a heavy slider," Machin said of the Dayton reliever. "So my plan was to start my at-bat with a two-strike approach right away. It worked right there, and I was able to stay short and got him for a double." 
Gameday box score
The Virginia Commonwealth University product collected his fourth RBI with a single to right in the fifth, putting him within a triple of a cycle.
"I didn't know I needed a triple," said the infielder, who played third Sunday. "My teammates were telling me that I need to get to third. I asked what was going on and they told me I needed a triple for the cycle, but to be honest, I wasn't paying attention to any of that."

Although Machin didn't complete the feat, he added singles to center in the seventh and eighth to amass five hits on the afternoon. 
"It felt great to get five hits for the first time. I was trying to stay short and make contact," Machin said. "I was trying to stay middle-away and just react to inside pitches. When I got a good pitch, I was able to drive the ball."

In addition to his .318/.372/.508 slash line, the 23-year-old has only struck out in 11 percent of his 291 plate appearances this year. He credits his teammates, especially South Bend left fielder Roberto Caro, for helping him refine his two-strike approach.
"Caro is a lefty, so when I'm on deck, I look at how they're attacking him," Machin said. "He's pretty good at fighting with two strikes as well. You just need to pay attention because you can learn a lot from the dugout if you're alert when you're not playing. I like when teammates approach me because we're the ones playing."
Cubs No. 17 prospectIsaac Paredes, who hit two homers Friday, reached base five times, driving in a run and scoring another. 
Austin Upshaw, who went yard on a three-hit night Saturday, belted a pair of doubles for South Bend. The 2017 13th-round pick is hitting .400 through his first eight Class A games.