Jarred Kelenic put a dent in Dickey-Stephens Park's reputation as a difficult to place to hit home runs.
Kelenic, the Seattle Mariners' No. 1 prospect, hit a pair of two-run home runs Friday night during the Arkansas Travelers' 5-2 Texas League victory over Amarillo.
"I don't know, tonight, if it was the wind or something," said Kelenic, who has three home runs since getting called up from High-A Modesto on Aug. 10. "I got pitches to hit."
Kelenic's home runs came in front of an announced crowd of 8,823, most of whom stuck around to watch the post-game fireworks display.
It pleased Kelenic that his mother, Lisa, was one of those in the crowd.
"Any time I can play in front of my parents," Kelenic said, pausing for a second, "it's special."
Kelenic, a 20-year-old from Waukesha, Wis., hit his first Dickey-Stephens Park home run, measured at 381 feet, in the fourth inning.
It came off a slider from Amarillo left-hander Nick Margevicious with Evan White aboard, and it gave the Travs a 2-1 lead.
Arkansas led 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh when Kelenic hit his second home run of the night, a 386-foot drive to deep right center, the graveyard to many a deep fly ball over the years.
Kelenic's home runs, Nos. 100 and 101 of the season for Arkansas, were Nos. 28 and 29 for the Travelers in North Little Rock.
Kelenic is the first Travelers player to hit two home runs in a game at Dickey-Stephens Park this season.
Kelenic's first home run was a no-doubter, but the second one -- off Amarillo reliever Carlos Belen -- hit the top of the wall in right-center field.
"Off the bat, I didn't know if it had a shot," Kelenic said. "It was a change-up. I just got underneath it. It hit the top of the fence, so it barely made it."
Travelers Manager Cesar Nicolas said Kelenic, the No. 6 overall selection of the 2018 amateur draft, has done nothing but impress since being called up from Modesto.
"Yeah, you have to say yes, right," Nicolas said. "He's playing great baseball. He's a great kid. He works really hard. We're glad to have him."
Kelenic, No. 23 on MLB.com's top 100 pipeline rankings, was acquired in December from the Mets along with right-handed pitcher Justin Dunn in the trade that sent Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz to New York.
Kelenic now has 20 home runs and 19 stolen bases in three stops this season -- starting at Low-A West Virginia for 50 games, then spending 46 games in Modesto before joining Arkansas.
Kelenic hit .300 with 11 HRs and 29 RBI with 7 stolen bases in West Virginia, then hit .290 with 6 HRs and 10 stolen bases at Modesto.
He's now hitting .283 with 3 home runs and 9 RBI in 13 games in Class AA.
His first Texas League home run came in a 5-2 loss to Springfield on Aug. 16, his seventh game with the Travelers.
He said he's heard all about Dickey-Stephens' aversion to yielding long balls.
"Yeah, it's kind of been the common theme in batting practice," Kelenic said.
Another common theme, Kelenic said, is his ability to adjust as he moves up the organizational ladder.
"Once I got here, I absolutely felt like I belonged here," he said. "The guys are extremely welcoming. It was an adjustment, and I made the adjustment, and I'm just going to continue learning."
AMARILLO AB R H BI ARKANSAS AB R H BI
Trammell, cf 4 0 0 0 Walton, ss 4 1 2 0
Miller, 3b 4 1 1 0 White, 1b 4 1 2 0
Oliveras, rf 4 0 2 1 Kelenic, cf 4 2 2 4
Torrens, c 4 1 2 1 Lewis, lf 4 1 1 0
Potts, 2b 4 0 1 0 Cowan, 2b 4 0 2 0
Ovrstreet, dh 4 0 1 0 Raleigh, dh 4 0 2 0
Zunica, 1b 4 0 0 0 T.-Willims, rf 4 0 1 1
Giron, ss 4 0 0 0 Ahmed, 3b 4 0 0 0
Benson, lf 3 0 0 0 Thurman, c 4 0 0 0
TOTALS 35 2 7 2 totals 36 5 12 5
Amarillo 000 101 000 -- 2 7 0
Arkansas 000 201 20x -- 5 12 1
E -- Lewis. LOB -- Amarillo 6, Arkansas 7. 3B -- Oliveras. HR -- Kelenic 2 (3). SB -- Cowan.
Amarillo IP H R ER BB SO
Margevcus L, 4-4 6 9 3 3 0 5
Belen 2 3 2 12 0 2
ARKANSAS IP H R ER BB SO
Newsome 51/3 4 2 2 0 5
Anderson W, 4-1 2/3 2 0 0 0 1
Fletcher 2 1 0 0 0 2
Delaplane S, 2 1 0 0 0 0 1
WP -- Belen. Umpires -- Home: Barrett; First: Poncsak; Third: Walsh. Time -- 2:29. Attendance -- 8,823.
Sports on 08/24/2019