Posted on: Thursday, June 6, 2002

Agbayani's slam propels Rockies

Associated Press

Colorado Rockies manager Clint Hurdle doesn't always like to let numbers dictate whom he puts in the lineup. Benny Agbayani's were just too good to leave him out.

Agbayani, a former St. Louis School and Hawai'i Pacific University star, came off the disabled list and hit a grand slam, and Jason Jennings won his sixth straight decision as the host Rockies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 8-6, yesterday.

Agbayani, who had been out since May 12 with a strained right hamstring, entered the game 9-for-19 with two homers and four RBIs against Dodgers starter Omar Daal.

He opened with a single off Daal in the second inning, then hit a grand slam in the fourth to put the Rockies up 4-2. He finished 2-for-3 before being replaced by Todd Hollandsworth in the seventh inning.

"Sometimes you don't want to be a slave to numbers, but we were looking at them and playing with them the other day," Hurdle said. "I figured if I don't have him back and don't at least give him a shot I would kick myself. Obviously, he didn't disappoint."

It was Agbayani's second career grand slam, but first in the United States. His previous slam came March 30, 2000, against the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo while he was playing for the New York Mets.

"In that situation you don't want to try and do too much," Agbayani said. "The worst scenario I could have done was pop it up or grounded out. It would have just killed the rally right there. I was looking for something to drive to the outfield."

Los Angeles won the first two games of the series by scoring 15 runs in the final two innings. The Dodgers nearly pulled it off again yesterday with three runs in the eighth, but came up just short to end a four-game winning streak.

"Once again in the seventh inning and eighth inning we put some great at-bats together to get ourselves back in the game," said Dodgers manager Jim Tracy. "We came up short, but the effort was there."