Astros' Bourn finds motivation in demotion

[BronxBomberz]

After not starting the previous two games, Michael Bourn returned to the Astros' lineup Saturday night against the Cardinals and found himself hitting in an unfamiliar spot — the seven hole.

The steps down in the order mean one thing: Bourn needs to step up, or else.

Next stop, The Rock. Yeah, the Round one.

Well, on the first day of the Bourn Ultimatum, Bourn looked like he isn't planning on going anywhere any time soon.

Thanks to going 3-for-4 in an 8-4 loss to St. Louis at Minute Maid Park, the Astros' young leadoff hitter — well, former leadoff hitter — is hitting .224. That's nothing to text message home about for the wannabe hometown hero, but it is a 10-point jump on where he began the day.

You can tell he isn't too happy about the lineup demotion. He wisely expressed his displeasure with his bat, not his mouth.

"That's something out of my control," Bourn said. "I can't worry about that. I have to concentrate on helping the team win."

It is almost to the point where the Astros can no longer afford to wait.

"One of the conversations I had with Michael a few days ago was about the opportunity: 'You need to pick up the pace a little bit. We depend on you to get on base. We need you to do that,' " manager Cecil Cooper said.

Bourn knows that if not, he again will find himself sharing a clubhouse with J.R. Towles, who was sent down to Class AAA Round Rock on Thursday. It didn't look like the pressure bothered him.

Hunter Pence took the top spot in the order and had a Pence-type night with three hits, including a home run.

As comfortable as Pence looked at the top of the order, Bourn seemed at home near the bottom.

Bunting his way on
Bourn looked like his bad old self in his first at-bat, striking out looking in the second.

But he reached on a bunt single in the fourth, something the team would love to see him do more.

With his speed, the pressure he can put on a defense by putting the ball in play should mean plus-points to his batting average. Cardinals third baseman Troy Glaus would have needed to make a spectacular play to even turn the bunt into a bang-bang play at first. Instead Glaus failed in an attempt to barehand the ball, and Bourn was on.

Bourn laced a single to right to pick up his 11th RBI of the season in the sixth inning, before possibly being robbed of a home run leading off the eighth.

The 360-foot shot appeared to bounce off the wall in right field, though a fan made a stab at catching it. The ball bounced into the stands but was called a ground-rule double on fan interference.

(There still are people out there who are against television replay calls being used in Major League Baseball. I haven't been to one of their meetings, but I hear they are against motorized vehicle transportation and air conditioning, too.)

That one bad bounce aside, Bourn had a productive day with his second three-hit game of the season.

"I had a good night tonight, but tonight is over and we lost," he said. "It's good that I had a good night, but I'd rather win."

The more good nights he has, the more winning the Astros will do.

Time to produce is now
Perhaps hitting lower in the lineup will ignite the young speedster. Bourn isn't so sure the placement will make a difference — he never had hit that low in the order — but he understands that he has to produce to stay in the lineup.

"I have the sense that I will (turn it around), it just hasn't come as quick as I thought it would," Bourn said. "Sometimes it balances out and sometimes you might not have a good first half and just explode in the second half.

"But this team wants to win right now, so they're looking for me to do it pretty soon. That's how they feel about it."

Outfielder Reggie Abercrombie joined the major league roster Saturday, and Cooper says he will see some time in Bourn's place.

Darin Erstad, who started in left field in place of Carlos Lee on Saturday, continues to be in the outfield mix as well, but Cooper said the team won't commit to a change in direction yet.

"Michael's our center fielder," Cooper said. "We're just going to continue to get playing time for the other guys until Michael gets to the point where he's really putting numbers together."

For now, hitting seventh in the order looks like a good situation for Bourn.

It is not his desired spot, but it's a better place to be than in the 512 area code.

Solomon: Astros' Bourn finds motivation in demotion | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

[Kingdom]

Motivation to... make more contact? Get on base more often? Strike out less?


Good idea.