Pena: Outs come in bunches
By MARK BEHAN
Staff Writer
Major League Baseball, with its grueling 162-game schedule, is more of a marathon than a sprint. Oakland A's rookie Carlos Pena would agree. With a jackrabbit start, Pena swatted four home runs and hit .308 in the first week of the season before going 2-for-24 in his next seven games. Since then the former Hillie is back on pace as he snapped out of his first big-league slump by lashing three hits and an RBI against the Seattle Mariners. Pena proceeded to feast on Annaheim Angels pitching as he drilled five hits, including two home runs, and knocked in six runs in the four-game series. The A's won three of four from their Western division foes. Tuesday, Pena was 0-for-3 with three strikeouts in a 2-1 loss to the Yankees. Pena explained to mlb.com how he tries to deal with the highs and lows of the season. "Baseball is a game of peaks and valleys. It's a failure-based game, after all. If you make two outs every three at-bats, you're a Hall of Fame-type of hitter," Pena said. "So the first thing you have to do is learn to understand that you will make outs. You also have to understand that sometimes the outs will come in bunches. When these things happen, the key is not to get frustrated," Pena continued. "The bottom line is that a baseball season is very long season. It's a marathon. So you can't live and die with the highs and lows. Focus on today and what you can control. The rest takes care of itself somehow." Through 20 games, Pena is batting .261 (18-for-69) with six home runs, eight runs scored and 14 RBI. Pena ranks fourth in the American League in home runs and leads the A's in RBI. He has made only one error at first base. Pena and the A's invade Fenway Park for a three-game series against the Red Sox May 14-16. All three games start at 4:05 p.m.