Mike Stanton homers again and again and ...
There are hot hitters, and then there is Mike Stanton.
Saying he's hot right now just doesn't seem to be saying enough.
In his last two games for the Jacksonville (Fla.) Suns of the double-A Southern League, the former Sherman Oaks Notre Dame High slugger has seven hits in eight at-bats, including five home runs and a double, with 11 runs batted in.
On Sunday, he was four for four with two homers, a double and four RBIs as Jacksonville defeated Carolina, 8-2.
On Monday, he was three for four -- each of his hits homers -- and had seven RBIs as Jacksonville defeated Carolina, 11-2.
What's more, the 6-foot-5, 235-pound outfielder sprayed souvenirs all over the park. His two-run shot in the first inning was to right field; his three-run blast in the third was down the left-field line; and his two-run bomb in the eighth hit the scoreboard in left-center field.
Stanton, who hits from the right side, was a second-round pick by the Florida Marlins in the 2007 amateur draft. In 2008, his first full minor league season, he hit 39 home runs for Greensboro (N.C.) of the low-Class-A South Atlantic League.
Last season, he hit 28 home runs, splitting the year between Jupiter of the high-Class-A Florida State League and Jacksonville.
This season, he has nine home runs and 20 RBIs in 17 games.
And we can hardly wait to see how Carolina pitches him on Tuesday.
--Mike Hiserman
Photo: Mike Stanton watches a two-run home run leave the park in March during a spring training game with the Florida Marlins, who defeated the Minnesota Twins, 5-4. Credit: Doug Benc / Getty Images
