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Young outfielder pads his statistics with big series against Rangers
By Sheldon Ocker
Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Friday, Jun 06, 2008
ARLINGTON, TEXAS: Going into the finale of the Indians' four-game series against the Texas Rangers, Ben Francisco already had put together a banner series.
''He did that last night,'' manager Eric Wedge said Thursday with a smile.
Francisco had five singles, scored three runs and one RBI in the Tribe's 15-9 win Wednesday night. And he was no slouch in the first two games of the series, going 4-for-10. Add it up, and Francisco was batting .563 (9-for-16) with four runs, five RBI, one home run and a .588 on-base percentage.
The past three games have enabled Francisco to raise his overall average from .304 to .343.
''I don't know if I'm in some kind of groove,'' Francisco said. ''But things are going well.''
Conditions at The Ballpark in Arlington favor hitters, especially this week, when the wind has been literally howling at 25 miles per hour and more. In addition, the fences are eminently reachable, the infield is relatively hard and the grass relatively short.
''But you still have to square the ball up,'' Wedge said. ''You can still strike out.''
Francisco, who weighs 190 pounds, discovered that hitting in a fierce breeze can be difficult.
''When you're at the plate, you start swaying in the wind,'' he said. ''It's kind of annoying, because you're rocking back and forth.''
In three of the past four games, including Thursday night, Francisco has batted second in the lineup, behind Grady Sizemore.
''I like his athleticism, his quickness and his speed,'' Wedge said. ''He gives us the same kinds of things as a right-hander that Grady gives us from the left side.''
Francisco did not have a period of adjustment to the big leagues. He had been in the majors less than two weeks when he hit a walk-off homer to beat the Tampa Bay Rays last June. Three days later, he had three hits and three RBI in another game against the Rays. And one night later, he hit a pinch-hit homer against the Detroit Tigers.
''I would tell myself that this is the same game I played in the minors, that I had to do the same things that got me here,'' Francisco said. ''And obviously, having success in the big leagues gave me confidence. A big part of hitting is confidence.''
Sheldon Ocker can be reached at socker@thebeaconjournal.com.
ARLINGTON, TEXAS: Going into the finale of the Indians' four-game series against the Texas Rangers, Ben Francisco already had put together a banner series.
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