Yonder Alonso reluctantly gets break from lineup

SAN FRANCISCO -- Let's get this straight: Yonder Alonso doesn't like getting a start off. Not in April and not in September. He wants to play. Period.

"I don't want a day off. There's no need at all to take a day off," Alonso said. "I hate days off."

Alonso wasn't in the starting lineup Sunday against the Giants, who started a left-handed pitcher -- Barry Zito -- as the right-handed-hitting Jesus Guzman got the start at first base. It's the second time in 2013 that Alonso hasn't started a game, though he entered in the sixth inning to replace Guzman, who moved to left field after Kyle Blanks was shaken up colliding with the outfield wall. Alonso has played in all 18 of the Padres' games this season.

"It's not even a day off, it's just not starting," said Padres manager Bud Black. "I thought it gave him an opportunity to exhale. He's going to play a lot and get a lot of at-bats."

Alonso said not to put much stock into his three-game funk that has seen him go 0-for-11 with seven strikeouts against some good pitchers -- Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers and, in this series, Madison Bumgarner and Tim Lincecum.

"Sometimes, those guys are tough," Alonso said.

Prior to those three games, Alonso was hitting .419 in his eight previous games with at least one hit in all eight games.

"I think you have to put it in perspective," Alonso said Sunday. "We have faced a stretch of three or four guys who have thrown the ball well. You're going to go through a tough stretch of pitchers sometimes."

In 2012, Alonso appeared in 155 games in his first full Major League season. Only Chase Headley (161) played in more games for the Padres.

"I take care of myself in the offseason because I want to play in 162 games," he said.


(mlb.com)