MLB Hoosiers (Aug. 3): Dickerson's Bat Stays Hot, Gets 2 Hits, Including Home Run
Alex Dickerson continued his hot hitting Monday night, hitting a home run and a single in the San Francisco Giants' 7-6 loss to the red-hot Colorado Rockies.
Dickerson's homer was something of a golf shot, but it counted all the same. He basically hit his solo homer in the fifth inning with one hand to give the Giants a 4-1 lead.
Here's the highlight:
Dickerson's two hits helped push his average over .300 on the year now. The former Indiana baseball star is now 8-for-26 on the season (.308), with a double, triple and two home runs.
He started in right field on Monday for the first time this season, and hit second in the order. Giants manager Gabe Kapler said he flopped Dickerson to right because of the spaciousness of Coors Field in Denver. it didn't turn out well.
Dickerson has played right field in the majors only once, and during camp Dickerson said he played the position “a few times, not a ton.” The 30-year-old Dickerson said that wherever he is, “Maybe I don’t cover all the ground, but I generally catch everything.”
But he couldn't quite get to a hard-hit ball by Colorado's Ryan McMahon, and his shot went for a triple that ignited a Rockies' rally.
“I bet Dick makes that play 19 out of 20 times,” Kapler said, to which Dickerson agreed.
A couple singles later, the game was tied at 4. And then there was a “jailbreak,” in Kapler’s words.
With two outs and runners on first and second, David Dahl pulled a ground ball that eluded the shift on the right side, just out of Donovan Solano’s range, rolling to Dickerson. Dickerson, again in an unfamiliar spot, fielded the ball and saw commotion all around him and made a bad throw, according to the description of the play from KNBR's Mark Sanchez.
“There were a lot of moving parts to the play,” said Dickerson, who also homered. “Visually there was a lot going on. I haven’t played a ton of right, so part of that is just getting a little more comfortable with that movement, and I think something caught my eye that put me off just enough to where I sailed the throw when it should just been a lob play to second base. Just sped myself up.”
Dickerson's Indiana teammate, relief pitcher Caleb Baragar, pitched one scoreless inning. He pitched the seventh, and retired the Rockies in order. He has pitched 4 2/3 innings now in four outings, and is 2-0 with a 3.60 ERA.
Schwarber goes hitless in Cubs' win
The Chicago Cubs continued their winning ways on Monday, beating the Kansas City Royals. Former Indiana legend Kyle Schwarber started as the designated hitter, but went 0-for-3 with a walk.
MLB is using a universal designated hitter this year, and it was presumed that Schwarber would see a lot of action there. But Cubs manager David Ross has wanted in left field every day, and it has made a difference. In his eight games in left field, he's had a hit in seven of them.
This was his second start at DH, and he's still hitless in that role.
Here's our Schwarber OF/DH tracker:
- Outfield (8 games): 8-for-27 (.296 average), double, 2 home run, 5 runs, 6 RBIs.
- DH (2 game): 0-for-8 (.000 average)
- Total (8 games): 8-35 (.229 average)
The Cubs are still on a roll as a team, though. They are 8-2 in this shortened season, and have the best record in the National League. They also have a three-game lead in the NL Central.
Cubs backup catcher Josh Phegley, the fourth Hoosier in the pros, did not play Monday.
Monday's Results
- Cincinnati 3, Cleveland 2
- New York Yankees 6, Philadelphia 3
- New York Mets 7,Atlanta 2
- Chicago White Sox 6, Milwaukee 4
- Minnesota 5, Pittsburgh 4
- Chicago Cubs 2, Kansas City 0
- Colorado 7, San Francisco 6
- San Diego 5, Los Angeles Dodgers 4
- Oakland 11, Seattle 1
Tuesday's Games
- Minnesota at Pittsburgh, 2 p.m. ET
- Cleveland at Cincinnati, 6:10 p.m.
- Boston at Tampa Bay, 6:40 p.m.
- New York Mets at Washington, 7 p.m.
- Miami at Baltimore, 7:35 p.m.
- Chicago White Sox at Milwaukee, 8:10 p.m.
- Kansas City at Chicago Cubs, 8:15 p.m.
- San Francisco at Colorado, 8:40 p.m.
- Houston at Arizona, 9:10 p.m.
- Texas at Oakland, 9:10 p.m.
- Los Angeles Dodgers at San Diego, 9:10 p.m.
- Los Angeles Angels at Seattle, 10 p.m.
Related baseball stories
- HOOSIERS IN THE PROS: There are four former Indiana players on major-league rosters on Opening Day, and three others have been assigning to alternate locations, hoping for a chance to get called up. CLICK HERE
- AUG. 2 ROUNDUP: Schwarber shines with bat, in the field. CLICK HERE
- AUG. 1 ROUNDUP: Schwarber homers in 500th game. CLICK HERE
- JULY 31 ROUNDUP: Schwarber's OF hit streak ends. CLICK HERE
- JULY 30 ROUNDUP: Baragar roughed up in second outing. CLICK HERE
- JULY 29 ROUNDUP: Dickerson homers, triples for Giants. CLICK HERE