Kouzmanoff steers clear of memory lane

Day after day, slumping or streaking, Kevin Kouzmanoff aims for amnesia. The Padres third baseman strives to live in the moment, and to leave the analysis of his baseball feats and frustrations to the folks in the forensics lab. “Whether you hit a home run or you strike out, I think it's important to have short-term memory and forget about it,” Kouzmanoff said after contributing a two-run home run to the Padres' 4-1 victory over the Oakland A's yesterday. “Cause there's no use to dwell on it. It doesn't do you any good.”

Since his batting average plunged to .219 on June 6, Kouzmanoff has hit .314 with five home runs and 18 RBI in 13 games. For a fortnight, at least, he has been a force, so much so that even his outs are being hit harder. Yesterday, Kouzmanoff led off the second inning with a line drive to left field that Matt Holliday snared with a sliding catch. Then, in the fourth inning, Kouzmanoff went to the opposite field with the same robbery result – a sliding catch by Jack Cust.

“It's tough because you hit a ball hard, or two balls hard, and there's nothing to show for it,” Kouzmanoff said. “You feel like you should get rewarded for it. But that's just the game. Tomorrow, I may come out and have two bloop broken-bat hits. I think it's important to take the good and the positive out of that at-bat and carry it to the next at-bat. “Obviously you'd like to see something in there other than no hits, but you can't control the results. It's all about preparation and what you do in the (batter's) box. After you hit the ball and the ball leaves the bat, there's nothing you can do.”

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