Top draft pick Travis Bazzana hits grand slam in High-A for first professional home run

Cleveland Guardians first-round draft pick Travis Bazzana, of Australia, speaks at a news conference before a baseball game against the San Diego Padres in Cleveland, Friday, July 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Phil Long)(AP/Phil Long)

EASTLAKE, Ohio (AP) — Travis Bazzana, the top pick in this month’s amateur draft, hit a grand slam for his first professional home run Wednesday night in High-A Lake County’s 17-5 rout of Beloit in the Midwest League.

The 21-year-old Australian, selected by Cleveland on July 14, homered on a drive to right-center in the fifth inning against left-hander Caleb Wurster, a 25-year-old left-hander on the Miami Marlins farm team.

Batting leadoff, Bazzana also singled, walked twice and scored three runs in the completion of a game suspended because of wet grounds Tuesday night with the score 0-0 and no outs in the top of the second.

He signed for an $8.95 million on July 19 after playing at Oregon State. Bazzana hit an RBI grounder Friday in his professional debut against Great Lakes. He went 2 for 4 with a double on Sunday.

Bazzana is hitting .364 with a home, five RBIs, five runs and a stolen base in three games. He did not play in Wednesday’s scheduled game.

Baltimore’s Jackson Holliday, the top pick in the 2022 amateur draft, hit a fifth-inning grand slam for his first major league home run in the Baltimore Orioles’ 10-4 win over Toronto on Wednesday afternoon. Holliday, a son of seven-time All-Star Matt Holliday, made his major league debut on April 10. He went 2 for 34 with 18 strikeouts, was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk on April 26 and recalled Wednesday.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

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