Astros' Triple-A affiliate runs wild in 23-3 win

The Houston Astros called up A.J. Reed, their No. 2 prospect who was hitting .266/.345/.509 in Triple-A last week. It appears the Fresno Grizzlies are getting along just fine without him.

The Astros' Triple-A affiliate ran wild over the Salt Lake Bees, the affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels, Thursday night with a remarkable 23-3 victory in Utah's capital.

Even for the notoriously hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League this game was bananas. All nine Grizzlies scored at least one run, and the Grizzlies batted around in both the fourth and fifth innings. They torched Bees starter Kyle Kendrick for 10 runs in 3 1/3 innings and reliever Tyler DeLoach for seven over just one frame of work.

Grizzlies shortstop Alex Bregman, Houston's No. 1 prospect who was making his Triple-A debut, went 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles and five runs scored, while center fielder Teoscar Hernandez went 4-for-6 with a homer and triple. But they day belonged to Preston Tucker, who went a remarkable 5-for-6 with three home runs, five runs scored, and four extra-base hits.

(Courtesy: MiLB.com)

In total, the Grizzlies hammered out 21 hits, 11 extra-base hits, and went 12-for-18 with runners in scoring position. Tucker couldn't even find the proper words to describe his team's performance.

"It was crazy, man," he told reporters afterwards, according to MiLB.com's Tyler Maun.

Despite the offensive outburst, Fresno didn't come close to beating the PCL record for most runs scored in a game of 35, set in 1923 by the Vernon Tigers - coincidentally against a previous incarnation of the Bees. The last major-league team to score 20 or more runs was the Orioles, who scored 22 on Aug. 15, 2015.