From the Splash
Props, meanwhile, to Travis Ishikawa, who had a nice game at the plate against Jake Peavy after Peavy struck him out three times in San Diego on April 11. Ishikawa made it four K's against Peavy in the second inning, but he walked on a 3-2, backdoor curveball in the fourth to set up Edgar Renteria's grand slam, then doubled against Peavy ahead of Renteria's RBI single in the fourth.
Ishikawa had struggled and told me before the game that he traced his troubles to a change in his approach after he grounded into a bases-loaded double play against Shawn Hill in San Diego on April 10.
The next night, he had the three strikeouts against Peavy. He believes he started overthinking his mechanics and trying to outguess the pitchers rather than do what he did in spring training so successfully, which was the old see-the-ball, hit-the-ball. After Saturday's game, Aaron Rowand talked to Ishikawa and reminded him what he needed to do.
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Since then, Ishikawa has done a much better job of not swinging at breaking balls in the dirt, as he had during the slump that got him dropped to seventh in the lineup.
"I hadn't been seeing the curveball," he said. "I'm not a dumb hitter who thinks he can hit balls in the dirt. I was not seeing the ball. I needed to get back to that."
