Soler homers in 5 straight games

Jorge Soler of Poovey Farms homered in five straight games, briefly taking the league lead in home runs as he became the first player to reach double digits so far this season.

The barrage started with a 2-homer game on May 2 at Hopatcong, a 12-6 blowout. Soler homered off Stephen Strasburg in the 4th inning and again off Nick Wittgren in the 9th, going back-to-back with Josh Donaldson, who also hit two dingers. He finished 2-for-5, with 2 RBI and 2 runs, along with 2 strikeouts.

In a 9-2 win at Hopatcong on May 3, Soler connected again with the bases empty, a 5th-inning solo bomb off Kyle Hendricks. He finished 3-for-4, falling a triple short of the cycle, with a walk and a strikeout.

The next night, Soler took Chad Greene deep in the 8th inning for his lone hit in a 9-7 setback at El Paso. The Dairy Farm's regular left fielder also walked twice and struck out twice.

Soler's biggest run production came in 9-2 victory over Tucson thanks to three-run dong in the 7th inning off Reyes Moronta. He finished with 4 RBI, going 2-for-3, including a sacrifice fly.

Tucson got its revenge the next night with an 8-6 decision but Soler led off the 4th inning with another solo shot off starter Brandon Woodruff. He finished 2-for-4 with a strikeout.

The 28-year-old Cuban completed the five-game stretch going 10-for-19, slugging 6 homers -- 5 came with the bases empty -- and 9 RBI, with 6 runs, and 3 doubles, along with 7 strikeouts and 3 walks. The Dairy Farms went 3-2 during the stretch, and ending the run at .500 (7-7).

Soler already is on his way to eclipsing his breakout 2019 campaign after he was drafted in the 4th round. Last season, he connected on 18 HRs with 60 RBIs while batting .266/.378/.507 in 113 games. He feasted on left-handed pitching (.283/.418/.620) -- which explained his 18 intentional walks (second in DMBL to Max Muncy) -- splitting time between RF, LF and DH.