LOS ANGELES — With Yasiel Puig hitting his first home run Sunday, manager Don Mattingly hoped it would shake the Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder out of his funk.
“I thought his at-bats were a lot better (Sunday),” Mattingly said. “I thought he got better pitches to hit, and that’s the main thing. Just getting good pitches to hit, he was deeper in counts, look like he was swinging at more strikes. Hit some balls hard even when he didn’t get a hit.”
Puig had his hitting shoes on again Monday, going 3-for-5 with a home run and an RBI in the Dodgers’ 6-5 10-inning victory over the Seattle Mariners. For Puig, it was the second straight game he recorded three hits.
Mattingly believes giving Puig, who homered in back-to-back games for the fifth time in his career, two games off before Sunday’s game helped him regain his focus.
“I think sometimes it’s just good to step away, to be able to watch from the dugout and get a view of not being out there,” Mattingly said.
Puig is hitting .331 (41-for-124) in interleague games. Overall this season, the colorful outfielder is batting .222 with three RBIs.