Dodgers Video: Adrian Gonzalez’s Home Run, Yasiel Puig’s Running Catch
Some players gradually build up their amount of playing time as Spring Training wears on, getting the bulk of their in-game at-bats over the final two weeks or so. However, Adrian Gonzalez prefers to be immediately thrown into the fire.
Whether Gonzalez’s approach in Spring Training has carried over into the first two games of the 2015 season can be debated, but what can’t be ignored is how well the Los Angeles Dodgers’ first baseman is swinging the bat.
Gonzalez hit an RBI double in the sixth inning to tie the game and scored a run one batter later to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead. Then with the Dodgers trailing the San Diego Padres, Gonzalez crushed a solo home run through the damp air to again tie the game:
Through the first two games against the Padres, Gonzalez is 6-for-9 with two home runs, two doubles, three RBIs and two runs scored. Whereas Gonzalez turned in a highlight with the bat, Yasiel Puig again made another impressive catch in right field.
As the game began to slip away from the Dodgers in the ninth inning, Puig tracked down a fly ball in foul territory to make a catch as he crashed into the wall, but managed to maintain enough focus and control to throw the ball on a rope to third base to nearly catch Derek Norris tagging:
