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Adrian Gonzalez
is finally living up to his potential.
Gonzalez seeks to maintain his torrid hitting since the All-Star break when the
San Diego Padres
try to complete a three-game sweep of the
Philadelphia Phillies
at Petco Park on Wednesday.
Gonzalez was the top overall draft pick in 2000 by Florida before he was traded to Texas on July 11, 2003. The first baseman
never found a spot in the Rangers' talent-laden lineup after batting a combined .229 over parts of two seasons.
He was traded again on Jan. 4 to San Diego (50-43) and got off to a slow start, hitting .250 through his first two months
as a Padre. Gonzalez turned in a strong June and has been on a tear since the All-Star break, going 10-for-22 with five homers
and 12 RBIs in five games.
''I haven't really had much of an opportunity to be locked in as a major leaguer,'' Gonzalez said. ''In Texas, I'd play two
games and then sit for two or three. Just the fact that I'm playing every day, there are going to be some times when I'm locked
in and there are going to be times when I don't have any idea what's going on at the plate.
''Right now I feel good. I have a good plan. I'm going to try to stay consistent with what I'm doing right now and hopefully
it can stay with me for a while.''
He had three more hits on Tuesday to lead San Diego to a 10-6 victory over Philadelphia (42-50). Gonzalez is 6-for-8 in the
series with five RBIs and five runs scored.
The Padres have won four straight over the Phillies after lost the previous 11 meetings. San Diego was 0-6 against them at
Petco Park before this series.
Mike Piazza
homered for his 1,999th career hit Tuesday and
Mike Cameron
also connected for the Padres, who are the only NL West club with a winning record.
Dave Roberts
also had three hits as part of a 14-hit attack.
San Diego will recall rookie
Mike Thompson
(3-2, 4.30 ERA) from Triple-A Portland to make the start Wednesday. He is replacing scheduled starter
Chris Young
, who has a stress reaction in his right foot.
Thompson was with the Padres from May 29-July 1 and has pitched well at home in his rookie season, going 1-1 with a 2.97 ERA
while limiting opponents to a .193 average in five starts. The right-hander has never faced Philadelphia.
The Phillies are seeking to salvage a split of a six-game road trip which they opened by winning two of three at San Francisco
over the weekend.
Aaron Rowand
and
Jimmy Rollins
each homered in Tuesday's loss.
''We have to make things happen,'' second baseman
Chase Utley
said. ''Whether it's pitching or hitting, we have a small margin for error. We can't be losing series like this.''
Utley seems to be doing his part, contributing a two-run single Tuesday to extend his hitting streak to 20 games. He's batting
.402 (35-for-87) during that run.
Philadelphia starter
Jon Lieber
(3-7, 5.56) is winless in his last five starts, going 0-3 with a 5.68 ERA. He lost his first start on this road trip on Friday
at San Francisco by giving up five runs over 5 1-3 innings in a 5-3 loss - his second outing since coming off the disabled
list with a strained left groin.
Lieber is 9-4 with a 4.46 ERA against San Diego in 20 career appearances, including 18 starts. He won his lone start at Petco
Park on Aug. 12, 2005 when he yielded two runs and six hits over six innings in a 3-2 victory.
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