Tuesday night, Brad Hawpe hit an opposite-field homer to left. Clint Barmes had two opposite-field hits to right, including an inside-the-park home run to the corner. Aberrations? Or encouraging signs that the two might be busting out of persistent droughts?
“I’ve been feeling pretty good the last week or so. I’ve just been waiting for the results,” Hawpe said before Wednesday night’s game. “Maybe the homer was a sign that I’m getting it back into it.”
However, Hawpe looked bad striking out in his first two at-bats Wednesday.
Hawpe’s three-run homer was his 20th of the season. He snapped an 0-for-16 slump with runners in scoring position, the second-longest skid of his career.
Barmes, a notorious pull hitter, rarely takes the ball to right, but he was able to do so Tuesday. The first hit, a run- scoring single, came on a hit-and-run, so it was a pitch on which Barmes simply reacted well. The home run had some pop to it.
“To hit a line-drive down the right-field line felt pretty good,” Barmes said. “Hopefully that’s a good sign.”
Bullpen bolstered.
It’s not just the return of closer Huston Street that put a smile on manager Jim Tracy’s face. Setup man Rafael Betancourt threw a bullpen session Wednesday and had no issues with his sore left calf.
After a period of musical chairs, the relievers’ roles are more defined again. Lefty Franklin Morales slides back to the seventh- and eighth-inning role, forming a bridge with Betancourt. That leaves Matt Daley, Randy Flores and Joe Beimel to gobble up earlier outs or be used for key matchups.
Footnotes.
Center fielder Carlos Gonzalez sat out Wednesday’s game with a tight left hamstring. . . . Reliever Alan Embree, out since early July with a broken leg, is headed for the Arizona instructional league. Manuel Corpas is scheduled to pitch in the instructional league this week, after Jeff Francis’ outing.
Patrick Saunders and Troy E. Renck, The Denver Post
