Braves prospect hits 3 homers in game

Mesa, Ariz. — Tommy Hanson pitched five strong innings for his fourth win in the Arizona Fall League, but was overshadowed by another Braves prospect’s Ruthian hitting display.

Marietta native Tyler Flowers hit three home runs to drive in seven runs for the Mesa Solar Sox in a 16-4 win against the Surprise Rafters on Wednesday at HoHoKam Stadium.

Hanson (4-0) had nine strikeouts while allowing three hits, one run and one walk in five innings, just the second run he has allowed in six starts. The 6-foot-6 right-hander lauded his 248-pound batterymate, Flowers, also a teammate early in the 2008 season at Class A Myrtle Beach.

“He’s just crushing,” Hanson said of Flowers, who homered off of three pitchers to give him a league-leading 10 home runs in 62 at-bats, with a .387 average and 18 RBIs. “It’s unbelievable, man.”

Flowers said he has hit four homers in a game, but that was in rec-league ball in Marietta when he was 6 or 7. This performance came against major-league prospects, his second multihomer game of the fall.

“Hopefully the adjustment I made was the difference,” said Flowers, who adjusted the positioning of his hands after the season at Myrtle Beach, where he hit .288 with 17 homers and 88 RBIs in 122 games.

“I’m seeing the ball well and really, I’m just not missing the pitches they give me to hit.”

The outburst came on the day that Flowers was connected for the first time to ongoing Jake Peavy negotiations between the Braves and San Diego Padres, who reportedly want the Braves to include Flowers in a proposed trade package for the 2007 Cy Young Award winner.

Given their lack of catching depth, the Braves might refuse to trade Flowers, who could possibly be ready by midseason to fill in if anything were to happen to All-Star catcher Brian McCann.

Hanson allowed a run on two hits in the first inning, then found his rhythm and dominated like he has for most of his fall starts. He leads the Arizona league with a 0.76 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 23-2/3 innings, with only nine hits and five walks allowed.