Though it was a quiet day for the offense, the Los Angeles Dodgers managed to pull out a 3-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday to complete the three-game sweep and extend their winning streak to four games.
A.J. Pollock was responsible for all three runs, coming through with a clutch, three-run homer in the sixth inning after Reds starter Sonny Gray intentionally walked Cody Bellinger to face Pollock for what the right-hander deemed a better matchup.
Prior to the home run, Pollock had been mired in a 5-for-36 slump dating back to April 7. The round-tripper was additionally his first extra-base hit since April 8, and only his fifth overall of the season.
Despite the recent slump, Pollock revealed that he will continue focusing on the quality of his at-bats and is confident favorable results will follow over time, via J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group:
“I try to focus on my type of at-bats,” Pollock said. “A couple games ago I didn’t really like my at-bats. Then, you know, a couple games before that for sure. I think recently I felt really good about where I was at. When you play the game long enough, you don’t really want to zero in on a small sample size of a couple games. It’s tough in the beginning of the year too because you see all the numbers and it’s all right there. But in the long picture, if you can just get yourself in a good position to hit and swing at good pitches, if you can stay there long enough good things will happen. It’s nice to get some results, for sure.”
As Pollock notes, there have been different stretches this season in which he has both thrived and struggled to produce. Regardless of the numbers, the 31-year-old will stay true to his approach at the plate and not overreact based on small sample sizes.
Having appeared in all 20 of the Dodgers’ games this season, Pollock is hitting .243/.293/.365 with three doubles, two home runs and 14 RBI over 82 plate appearances.
