"Forty minutes before Wednesday's batting practice started, Blue Jays shortstop Alex Gonzalez was already in a cage at San Diego's Petco Park, taking his cuts. The crack of the bat echoed through the enclosed cage time after time, followed finally by batting practice pitcher Jesus Figueroa asking in Spanish if Gonzalez wanted to keep the soft-toss drill going a little longer. "Sí o no?" Figueroa asked. Claro que sí. Gonzalez kept swinging, continuing the extra work he says is the key to his resurgent season. While the Jays' offensive production has declined sharply in June, the 33-year-old Gonzalez, already known for his defence, has quietly become one of the team's most consistent batters. Gonzalez enters Friday's series opener against San Francisco with a five-game hit streak and has hit safely in 10 of the club's last 12 games. Since May 29 he has nudged his average steadily upward from .259 to .273, and his 13 home runs put him on pace to eclipse the career-high 23 he hit in 2004." http://www.prosportsdaily.com/comme...es-case-for-allstar-consideration-378217.html
