Candelario breaks out in Smokies' romp

Photo credit: Brian McLeod/MiLB.com

Jeimer Candelario needed less than a week last year to justify his midseason promotion to Double-A Tennessee. This season had been a different story -- until Tuesday.

The Cubs' No. 7 prospect, who hit safely in 17 of his first 19 starts with the Smokies in 2015, fell on hard times in his first 18 games this season. He'd struck out 16 times after fanning 21 times in 46 games following his promotion last July.

"You control what you control and strikeouts are going to happen," Candelario said. "You just have to get your pitch to hit and take your walks, like I'm doing now. I've got to keep working hard and be able to get the mistakes."

After languishing below the Mendoza line for much of April, Candelario broke out in Tennessee's 11-2 win at Mobile. The 22-year-old switch-hitter went 2-for-3 with his second homer of the year and six RBIs, more than doubling his season total and raising his OPS 98 points to .722.

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Berrios dominates in Wings' win over Sox

Photo credit: Ben Sandstrom

You'd never know it from the results, but Rochester starter and Minnesota Twins No. 1 prospect Jose Berrios took a couple innings to settle in during the Red Wings' 5-0 win over the Pawtucket Red Sox on Thursday.

"The first two innings, I felt a little too excited, I think," said Berrios. "After the third, though, I just threw my pitches. I was working with all three of my pitches down in the zone, and they weren't able to do much with that."

Berrios struck out three of the first five batters he faced and allowed just one baserunner through two innings -- a two-out walk to No. 3 hitter Blake Swihart in the first. Once he found his groove, however, Berrios retired the Red Sox in order over the next three innings and hadn't allowed a hit through five.

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