FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The two-run homer -- his second of the spring -- was nice, sure. But what really pleased Jackie Bradley Jr. Wednesday was his soft line single into right.
After Bradley hit his homer, he struck out in the third, his second at-bat of the afternoon. Then, he came up in the fourth with two outs and punched a soft liner over the head of the second baseman.
It may not seem like a big deal. But it represented something to Bradley.
"I've been working on a lot of things this off-season,'' said Bradley as the Sox dropped a 5-4 decision to the Baltimore Orioles. "I've been focused on doing everything mechanically, the right way, the way I'm supposed to. My last at-bat today was a prime example -- normally, that's a ball I would roll over, and I was able to get the path correctly and get it over the infielder's head.''
After making some changes to his swing in the middle of last season, Bradley is intent on getting the ball in the air more consistently and driving it, rather than falling into bad habits and pulling ground balls to the right side.
So, the simple single represented the day's biggest achievement.
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