Shortstop J.J. Hardy knew he had been awful hitting in the clutch this season. He just didn't know how awful.
It wasn't until during a postgame interview Tuesday night that Hardy learned he had been 2-for-25 with runners in scoring position. "I felt like I was doing horrible, but I just heard the stats," Hardy said. "It's nice to help those numbers out."
Hardy helped those numbers out in a big way that night in an 8-5 victory in Pittsburgh, going 3-for-3 -- all with runners in scoring position -- to knock in four runs.
Hardy picked up where he left off when the team moved on to Cincinnati on Wednesday, socking a three-run homer in the first inning to ignite a 15-3 romp over the Reds. Hardy finished with two hits and now is batting .209 after struggling to get to .150 a few days earlier.
"I've been trying to relax for a while now and haven't been able to do it," he said. "When hits are hard to come by, it's nice to get them when people are on base. Hopefully, I can feel like this tomorrow and the next day."
BREWERS 15, REDS 3: The Brewers waited out a 46-minute rain delay, then went right to work against the Reds, scoring nine runs in the first two innings. SS J.J. Hardy had the big hit of the first inning, a three-run homer. LF Ryan Braun then produced the Brewers' first grand slam of the year in the second off Reds RHP Bronson Arroyo. The beneficiary of the robust attack was LHP Manny Parra, who finally picked up his first victory of the season. Parra was 0-4 with a 5.33 ERA in his first five starts, but he also got relatively little support, an average of 2.13 runs per game.
