I haven't talked much (at all?) about Keith Ginter since starting this site, but suffice it to say that he was one of my favorite Brewers, and I hated seeing him rot on the bench, especially in '03 before he got any kind of commitment from management. I wouldn't go so far as to say the Ginter trade was a bad one, as the Crew had (still has, actually) a glut of similar second baseman, but I like the guy, I like watching him play, and I wish he was still a Brewer.
And there he goes last night, reminding me why I liked him:
Keith Ginter hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning and had a career-high five RBIs in Oakland's 8-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Friday night.
Ginter drove in five runs with just one official at-bat in the opener of the Bay Bridge interleague series. The backup infielder, who entered batting .171 in his first season with the A's, also drew a walk and drove in two runs with early sacrifice flies.
Oakland's 25 homers this season are the fewest in the majors, along with its lows in slugging percentage and extra-base hits. So Ginter, who hit 19 homers for Milwaukee last season, is getting regular playing time from manager Ken Macha despite his miserable average.
``It's something we've struggled with all season long,'' Ginter said. ``I was in situations tonight where all I needed to do was get the ball in the outfield, and I was able to do it. I feel like my time is coming. I know the numbers aren't there, but I feel like I can stay in the lineup and make some contributions.''
5 more RBIs wouldn't have been enough last night, but it sure would've made Carlos Silva work harder!