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07/10/2008 7:20 PM ET
Coughlin finally solves southpaws
Homers twice, drives in seven in Silver Hawks' rout of River Bandits
By Benjamin Hill / Special to MLB.com
Sean Coughlin is hitting .300 with two home runs and 14 RBIs in nine games in July. (Emily Smith/MLB.com)

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Sean Coughlin failed to homer off a left-handed pitcher in his first 58 games this season. That changed in a big way Thursday afternoon.

The 23-year-old catcher bashed two roundtrippers, including a first-inning grand slam, off southpaw Nick Additon and drove in a career-high seven runs to lead the South Bend Silver Hawks to a 10-2 victory over the Quad Cities River Bandits at Coveleski Regional Stadium.

"I had been seeing lefties well at the beginning of the season, but for a while it seemed like I just couldn't get over that hump," said the left-handed hitting Coughlin, who had not homered at all in his previous 13 games.

"I've been working with my hitting coach on keeping my front hip closed against lefties, but once the game starts my approach is just see the ball, hit the ball."

That simple approach worked brilliantly against Additon, who had a 1.14 ERA over his previous 10 appearances. Joseph Batten led off the game with a walk and Taylor Harbin and Collin Cowgill singled to load the bases.

Coughlin followed with a shot over the right-field wall, putting South Bend (14-7) ahead for good.

"My main goal was just to move the runners over, but since I was hitting fourth today, I knew my job was to drive in some runs as well," Coughlin said. "He threw me a fastball that looked real big and, fortunately, I was able to get a hold of it."

Additon retired the next seven batters, but Cowgill drew a one-out walk in the third and Coughlin came through with his second dinger of the game and 10th of the season. It capped his first multi-homer performance since May 18 against Fort Wayne.

After striking out in the fifth and popping out in the sixth, Coughlin came up in the seventh with the bases loaded again. He worked the count full before walking.

"They did a good job pitching to me after the first two homers" he said. "I saw a lot of changeups and off-speed stuff and basically didn't get many pitches to hit."

Coughlin's heroics nearly overshadowed the stellar work of Silver Hawks pitchers Dallas Buck and Bryan Henry.

Buck, on a strict pitch count following Tommy John surgery, struck out three and walked three in 4 2/3 hitless innings. Henry (2-5) worked the final 4 1/3 frames, keeping the no-hit bid intact until Nick Peoples led off the seventh with a home run.

Additon (7-3) suffered his first loss since May 5 after giving up six runs on seven hits and two walks with five strikeouts over four frames.

Brett Wallace homered in the ninth to cap the scoring for the River Bandits (11-10).

Benjamin Hill is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.