It wasn't on his early April checklist, but new Chattanooga Lookouts right fielder Jerry Sands has an excellent chance at leading two teams in home runs this season.
Sands hit a two-run homer Sunday night to lead the Lookouts to an 8-4 victory over Carolina before a sold-out crowd of 6,347 at AT&T Field. The blast to right-center field was the sixth homer in 11 Double-A games for the 6-foot-4, 220-pounder from Clayton, N.C., who is well within reach of the team lead.
Third baseman Corey Smith tops the Lookouts with eight home runs, while center fielder Trayvon Robinson is next with seven.
"That would be pretty cool, but I'm not really worried about that," Sands said after a five-RBI performance. "I just want to keep squaring some balls up. Trayvon is already saying how I haven't been here two weeks and all this, and Corey is getting mad at me because I'm stealing all his RBIs, but it's fun.
"It's a great group of guys, and it's been a good time."
The Lookouts improved the Southern League's best second-half record to 9-4, and they are 42-40 overall. The last time they were two games over .500 for the season occurred at 2-0.
Before his June 24 promotion, Sands led Single-A Great Lakes with 18 homers, which still doubles the next highest Loons total. His 24 total homers lead the minor leagues.
"He's a strong kid, and before you know it -- maybe in another week -- he'll be passing those guys up," hitting coach John Valentin said. "He's been staying within himself and hitting the ball hard, and obviously he had good results tonight."
Sands tied the game at 2-2 with his fourth-inning homer, and his two-out single to right in the fifth inning scored Jaime Pedroza and Dee Gordon to make it 4-2. Smith followed with a single up the middle, extending Chattanooga's advantage to 5-2 and upping his league-leading RBI count to 61 in 75 games.
Though he already has 15, Sands may be too far behind in that category.
"Coming in, he definitely wasn't nervous," Smith said. "We've been here all year, and he's already on our tails. It's funny.
"He's come in and done really well for us. We want him to keep going."
Chattanooga belted out 13 hits in Sunday's game, which sold out 25 minutes before the first pitch. Robinson now is hitting .298 in the 2-hole, while Sands is hitting .326 in the 3-hole, Smith .299 at cleanup and Andrew Lambo .296 in the 5-hole.
Timothy Sexton (3-7, 3.68) is scheduled to start tonight's 7:15 game for the Lookouts, with Tom Cochran (5-3, 2.32) scheduled for the Mudcats.