Phoenix – Troy Tulowitzki accepted his drop from second to seventh in the lineup Monday night. He knew it was coming with the return of second baseman Kaz Matsui. Playing on an unsuccessful club, however, is something with which he never plans to come to grips.
“I don’t think I have ever been on a losing team my entire life in baseball or basketball,” Tulowitzki said. “You don’t want to get used to this. It’s disturbing. When you win, everybody is more loose, having more fun.”
After opening the season in a slump, Tulowitzki has emerged as a rookie of the year candidate. He entered Monday ranked first among National League freshmen in hits (39), RBIs (18), walks (18) and runs (21). He batted second for 23 straight games, posting a .297 average. He believes the patience gained from hitting in that spot will help him down in the order.
“It made me play the game the right way, working counts, moving runners,” Tulowitzki said. “That will transfer over. I definitely expected Kaz to go back to second because he did great there before he got hurt.”
Matsui starts off fast
Matsui found a surprise when he checked Monday’s lineup. He was in it – at shortstop.
That was the first of several typos on the lineup card, as Tulo- witzki was listed at catcher and Chris Iannetta at second base.
Matsui predicted he would pick up where he left off in April, when he hit .361 before suffering a disc injury.
“I am going to run and do the same things,” said Matsui, who doubled in a run in the third inning and doubled in two more in the seventh. “I am ready to go.”
To make room, Omar Quintanilla was optioned to Triple-A.
Quintanilla had taken over as the starter at second, but since he and Matsui are used as left-handed hitters, it didn’t make sense to keep them both, according to manager Clint Hurdle. He believes Quintanilla is better off getting consistent minor-league at-bats.
“This helped my confidence and showed me I could hit big-league pitching,” Quintanilla said.
