Ian Stewart took a third strike on his first at-bat Tuesday, extending his dubious string of striking out looking to five consecutive at-bats. And on his final at-bat, Stewart again struck out looking.
But he hit a solo homer on his second at-bat to break an 0-for-10 slide and hit his second career grand slam on his third at-bat. Manager Clint Hurdle and hitting coach Don Baylor have had multiple conversations with Stewart about not taking so many pitches. Finally, maybe something resonated with Stewart. "Time will tell," Hurdle said.
Baylor said young players typically have to be reigned in.
"You got to tell them, 'Hey, get a good pitch and don't swing at everything.'" Baylor said. "With him, it's not swinging at balls in the dirt; it's taking strikes."
Stewart entered Tuesday's game hitting .194 with four home runs and 13 RBIs. He had struck out 22 times in 67 at-bats. Being a power hitter, Stewart is going to strike out, but what the Rockies had seen lately was cause for concern.
"Sometimes players get jammed up up here," Hurdle said. "I don't know exactly what he's looking for at times, but if you gear up to hit the ball, you got a chance. And I just felt that sometimes he was just trying to figure too much out and the ball's in flight. The game's too quick up here for that to happen and be successful."
ROCKIES 12, ASTROS 1: Ian Stewart hit two homers, including his second career grand slam in a five-run fifth, and he drove in five runs. Brad Hawpe went 4-for-4 with a two-run homer and five RBIs, and Todd Helton hit a two-run homer to back Ubaldo Jimenez, who gave up one run in seven innings and didn't allow a walk for the first time this season.
