Peguero continues surge with 2 more HRs

The next time Liover Peguero steps to the plate, it might be with some yellow caution tape around him.

The power surge that the fourth-ranked Pirates prospect has been experiencing of late continued -- and with a little extra voltage on Sunday -- as Peguero mashed a pair of two-run shots to elevate High-A Greensboro past Winston-Salem, 7-4, at First National Bank Field.

The jacks extended Peguero's homer streak to four straight games -- with five total taters over that span. The 20-year-old also extended his hitting streak to seven games, in which he is 12-for-30 with seven extra-base hits, 12 RBIs and nine runs scored.

"For a young kid, he's working hard to be in this position," Grasshoppers hitting coach Ruben Gotay said. "He's only 20, but he's getting better, maturing, working hard, going through his routine and at the end it's about this success. He's doing everything he can to put himself in a good position to be this kind of player, the kind of player that can do a little bit of everything and more."

Against the Dash, Peguero put the Grasshoppers on the board with a two-run blast to left-center in the opening frame. With two outs, the shortstop quickly fell behind 0-2 in the count before working it back level to 2-2. After fouling off a tough off-speed pitch, Peguero connected with the sixth pitch of the at-bat and crushed it beyond the wall in the deepest part of the park.

It was a similar situation in the next inning with the Dominican native stepping to the plate with one on and two outs. And again, it was a 2-2 offering that Peguero hammered -- this time to right-center -- to give Greensboro a 4-0 advantage early.

"It's really all about his mental approach at the plate right now. He's not expanding the zone, he's staying within himself, and his confidence continues to grow," Gotay said. "He's got power, bat speed and a great ability to make contact. Once you make contact, good things happen and that's what we're seeing right now. It's to his credit. He is doing everything he can to be where he is right now."

In the fourth, Peguero worked a five-pitch walk before scoring from first on a Nick Gonzales double later in the frame to give Greensboro a 6-0 advantage.

"We have a pretty good group over here. They trust each other and feed off of each other," Gotay said. "A run like this one that he's on, of course, it's gonna help the team to get better. It's really just about trust and confidence between everyone, and when you get that the better you're gonna be."

Peguero is sporting a .266/.328/.465 slash line with 11 long balls, a pair of triples, 11 doubles, 45 runs scored and 32 RBIs across 58 games with the Grasshoppers this season. The speedster also has 17 stolen bases on 20 attempts.