Bucs' Contreras plates five on perfect night

Yondry Contreras had never collected more than two homers in a season during his four-year professional baseball career, but he'd matched that total by the fourth inning Monday.
The Pirates outfielder set a trio of career highs, going yard twice during a perfect 4-for-4 night while plating five RBIs and scoring three times as Rookie-level Bristol edged Kingsport, 7-6, at Boyce Cox Field.

Gameday box score
Contreras entered the game with a .169 average despite collecting three hits over his previous two games. He finished 2017 with a .229/.305/.309 slash line over 48 games during his first season in the Appalachian League.
But he was an impossible out Monday.
The native of the Dominican Republic went yard on the first pitch he saw, drilling a two-run dinger to left field off Mets right-hander Daison Acosta in the second inning. 
Two frames later, the right-handed hitter stepped in against Acosta with two outs and pulled a solo homer out of the park to give Bristol a 3-2 lead.
Contreras poked a single up the middle against lefty Joel Huertas in the sixth, scoring Chase Lambert and Dean Lockery and moving to second base on the throw home. He advanced to third on Gabriel Brito's groundout and scored on a wild pitch by Huertas.

The 20-year-old added another single to center in the eighth, hitting a sharp grounder on a 2-1 offering from righty Liam McCall.
By accounting for four of the Pirates' six hits, Contreras raised his average 53 points to .222.
No. 2 Pittsburgh prospectShane Baz (3-2) picked up the win, collecting nine strikeouts while permitting two runs -- one earned -- on three hits and three walks over five innings.