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10/27/06 12:30 PM ET

Winfree heats up in AFL action

Third baseman has a breakthrough week with Solar Sox

David Winfree's solo blast Tuesday sealed a 12-7 victory over the Peoria Saguaros. (Jerry Hale/MLB.com)
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David Winfree's sluggish first week in the Arizona Fall League seems safely in the rearview mirror after his strong showing of late.

After managing just one hit -- a two-run double -- in his first 12 at-bats, Winfree got out of the funk by going 4-for-14 in four games. That included his first homer, a solo blast to seal a 12-7 victory over the Peoria Saguaros on Tuesday.

Despite the breakthrough week, the 21-year-old third baseman sports a .192 batting average.

The rest of the Minnesota Twins prospects also had interesting weeks. Here's how they did:

2B/SS Matt Tolbert -- Tolbert was red hot in his first week with Mesa, hitting a clean .409 in six games. He slowed down somewhat with five hits in 16 at-bats to lower his batting average to a robust .359. That included a key RBI single in the Solar Sox's 7-2 victory over Grand Canyon on Saturday. The 24-year-old middle infielder has also been a run-scoring threat, crossing home eight times in 10 games.

LHP Errol Simonitsch -- Simonitsch made one start since the last update, and it could have gone better. He took the loss in Mesa's 3-2 decision Monday, surrendering three runs on three hits with two strikeouts and three walks in three innings. His ERA ballooned to 7.36 with the defeat, as Simonitsch has given up six runs in his last 4 2/3 innings.

3B Matt Moses -- The bad part of Moses' week was going just 3-for-19 and batting .273 in 11 games with the Solar Sox. On the other hand, the 21-year-old third baseman also hit his first homer, a solo shot on Saturday, while driving in four runs to double his RBI total to eight.

LHP Jay Sawatski -- Sawatski had his worst experience in the AFL this season, getting shellacked for four runs on four hits in 1 1/3 innings in Mesa's 7-3 loss to Scottsdale on Oct. 18. But the 24-year-old reliever proved resilient in his next two appearances, combining for two perfect innings while striking out three. He still has more work to do on his stinging 8.53 ERA, however.

RHP Kevin Cameron -- Cameron rebounded nicely after getting pounded for three runs in 1 2/3 frames against the Peoria Javelinas on Oct. 17. The 26-year-old reliever looked like a different pitcher in his last appearance Saturday, striking out the Rafters' side in order in one frame of a 7-2 triumph.

RHP Kevin Slowey -- The 6-foot-3, 190-pound Slowey has pitched just once over an eight-day span, tossing a scoreless frame in a 7-5 defeat to Scottsdale on Wednesday. He has compiled a 2.00 ERA with one save in five games with Mesa.

OF Doug Deeds -- The 25-year-old Deeds was added to the Solar Sox roster Monday. He is coming off a solid season with Double-A New Britain of the Eastern League in which he batted .282 with 14 homers and 72 RBIs in 132 games. The key thing to watch for with Deeds is if he can cut down on his strikeouts -- he fanned 107 times with the Rock Cats.

Eric Justic is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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