Cubs’ Bryant homers twice, puts on show for hometown fans

At this rate, Kris Bryant will make it awfully hard for the Chicago Cubs to send him to the minor leagues to start the season.

A day after the Las Vegas native went 0-for-4 in his homecoming at Cashman Field, Bryant belted two home runs — increasing his majors-leading spring total to six — to carry Chicago to a 3-1 Big League Weekend exhibition win over the Oakland Athletics and thrill the pro-Cubs crowd of 10,375.

“It was really cool just stepping in the box and hearing everybody cheer for me,” said Bryant, a Bonanza High School graduate. “I didn’t really know if Vegas had that type of baseball connection. I didn’t know if I was known as well as I am here. But I definitely heard it.

“It was really cool. It brought me back to my good old high school days growing up here.”

A late scratch from the starting lineup because of right shoulder fatigue, Bryant pinch hit for designated hitter Anthony Rizzo in the third inning and crushed the first pitch he saw from Jesse Hahn over the right-field wall for an opposite-field, two-run shot.

“I went into the game, I was like, ‘I just need a hit for the hometown,’ and it turned out to be a really good game,” said Bryant, 23. “It was good to get the crowd into it and hit one for my family and friends.

“It was just a really cool day for me. It really was fun. I was running around the bases smiling and just having a really good time out there.”

Bryant added a solo homer in the sixth off Evan Scribner that barely cleared the 20-foot wall in left field.

“That was just a Vegas home run. I don’t know if that would’ve been a homer anywhere else,” Bryant said. “I’m blessed with that power. I adjust my approach and try to go up there and hit the ball in the air. Good things usually come when I do that, and I happened to get two of them today.”

Bryant walked in the eighth, with the crowd booing after he took the first three pitches for balls.

“I heard the boos,” he said, smiling outside the Cubs’ clubhouse. “I wasn’t thinking of the third home run, but that definitely would’ve been cool.”

Bryant, who led pro baseball in home runs last season with 43 (and 110 RBIs) for Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa, also hit two homers and a ground-rule double Thursday. He’s 9-for-20 (.450) with nine RBIs in eight Cactus League games.

Originally slated to bat cleanup and start at third base Saturday, Bryant downplayed his sore shoulder.

“It really wasn’t that bad,” he said. “I came to the park prepared to play third base. We thought it was just precautionary to take this day. I’ll be out there (today) ready to go.

“We’re taking the right steps to make sure the shoulder’s strong for the year. It’s a long year. I hope to be playing until the end of October.”

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354. Follow him on Twitter: @tdewey33.