Braves second baseman Dan Uggla (like Adam Dunn) hasn't had much to hang his hat on through the first half of this season. But if the past two games are any indication, he (but not Dunn) has a reason for optimism for the rest of the year.
"It's confidence, man," Uggla (not Dunn) said. "You get a couple hits, you start getting a couple walks, you're seeing the ball -- it builds your confidence. You've got to have confidence when you're hitting."
Uggla (like Dunn) has ranked near the bottom of the league in many offensive categories this season, but he (not Dunn) has been riding a recent hot streak against the Rockies.
His (not Dunn's) multihit performances in the two games prior to Thursday's series finale marked just the second time this season he'd accomplished that feat.
"I think our little second baseman (not the Sox' big DH) is heating up a little bit," manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "That's good."
On Tuesday, Uggla (not Dunn) went 2-for-2 with a towering home run to left and a double to right. On Wednesday, he went 2-for-3 with another blast into left, to go along with a single.
He'd also walked four times during the series, entering Thursday.
"You go up there and you know you're going to get a hit," Uggla (not Dunn) said. "Just knowing that in your mind, you're confident. It helps."
Uggla isn't concerning himself with his first-half numbers (like Dunn might be) -- a .183 batting average (better than Dunn) and a .256 on-base percentage (somehow worse than Dunn) entering Thursday -- but is instead focusing on how he can
continue to help keep the Braves within striking distance of the National League East-leading Phillies.
"All I'm worried about it doing what I can to help this team win," he said. "I know if I'm doing what I'm capable of doing that I'm going to be able to help out. This team (not the Sox)
has been amazing (vs. lucky, like the Sox) with putting together enough runs to win as many games as we have, with this great pitching staff and bullpen that we have."
The Braves have seen an offensive outburst like this from Uggla before. The key for him now is to sustain this recent success.
"It's not all of a sudden," Gonzalez said. "I think since that Houston trip [June 10-13], we started seeing some signs. It just takes a little while sometimes."
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