Giants' Witter Hits Three Homers
August 06, 2007 | Baseball
Aug. 6, 2007
By Tim Leonard / Special to MLB.com
Adam Witter is putting his foot down about being a better hitter, and it shows.
Witter hit solo home runs in each of his last three at-bats Friday, powering the San Jose Giants to a 5-1 victory over the Bakersfield Blaze.
The 24-year-old designated hitter has gotten his front foot in sync with his swing, something he had not been doing in the first half of the season, to produce some eye-opening numbers since the All-Star break.
"My foot and hands were going at the same time and I wasn't seeing the ball well," said Witter, who got some advice from Giants manager Lenn Sakata. "He told me I need to get my foot down sooner. It was like a light bulb went off with my mechanics and I've been hitting well ever since."
The illumination included a 5-for-6 game with four doubles and three runs scored on Tuesday against High Desert. He went 3-for-5 with a homer and three RBIs on Thursday and has raised his batting average 21 points to .283 in only four games.
Witter led off the fourth inning with a blast over the center-field wall on an 0-and-2 fastball from Bakersfield starter J.B. Diaz. The homer snapped a 1-1 tie and put San Jose (24-18) ahead for good. Bradley Boyer added an RBI double later in the inning.
Witter went deep again leading off the sixth, parking a first-pitch fastball from Diaz over the right-field fence. His team-record third homer came with two outs in the eighth on a 1-2 slider from left-hander Ryan Knippschild.
The East Carolina product had 13 roundtrippers and a team-leading 60 RBIs.
"I don't think I've ever done it before," Witter said of his three-homer game. "I've had several two-home run games. I hit two at Modesto right after the All-Star break. Last year, I hit two in my first professional game. It's only downhill from there."
Clearly, that hasn't been the case for Witter. He's handled the jump from the short-season Northwest League to the Class A Advanced California League with ease after hitting .285 with 16 homers and 52 RBIs in only 61 games for Salem-Keizer.
After hitting one homer in the first two months of the season, Witter's slugged 12 since June 1.
"I've hit two home runs in a game before, but three is such a humongous feat that you don't ever expect it," he said. "You go up there trying to hit the ball hard every time. Today, I got three balls up in the zone and was able to hit them hard. I just connected with all three of them and had enough to get them out."
San Jose starter Henry Sosa (5-1) limited Bakersfield (17-25) to one run on four hits in 6 1/3 innings, walking four and recording a season-high nine strikeouts. Sergio Romo fanned five in 2 2/3 perfect innings to earn his fifth save.
Diaz (4-3) was charged with four runs -- three earned -- on eight hits in six innings with a walk and four strikeouts.
Tim Leonard is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.
