Baker continues home run binge

Luken Baker reached the 20-homer plateau this season on the final day of July. Three days into August, he’s closing in on 25.

St. Louis’ No. 14 prospect belted a pair of Tuesday night blasts to extend his home run streak to four straight games and give him nine dingers since July 25 as Double-A Springfield routed visiting Tulsa, 11-4.

After grounding into a force play at short in the first inning, Baker roped a two-run double on a liner to center field in the third, a sign of what was to come for his night.

In the third, the first baseman hammered a solo blast to left-center field and, after a flyout to right in the seventh, cranked a two-run shot to center in the eighth, his 23rd homer of the year. Not only did the blasts extend Baker’s home run streak, they also gave the slugger his third multi-homer game in his last six and fourth of his season.

Baker was a .211/.289/.414 hitter entering play on July 17 this season. Since then, things have clicked at the plate. The Texas Christian product has batted .339/.413/1.000 over his last 15 games with 11 homers – nearly half his season total – and 24 RBIs. Of his 19 hits since July 17, 15 have gone for extra bases with four doubles in addition to his home run binge, and the 24-year-old has boosted his season-long slash line to .236/.313/.528.

Springfield racked up 12 hits in the victory. St. Louis’ No. 25 prospect Brendan Donovan, batting one spot in front of cleanup hitter Baker, matched his three hits while scoring two runs and adding an RBI.