ST. LOUIS — B.J. Upton wore the figurative "golden sombrero" after going 0-for-4 with four strikeouts Saturday, continuing the downward spiral of a road trip that started so promising for slumping-again Braves center fielder.
Upton homered and doubled in the first game of the trip at San Francisco Monday, but he’s 2-for-15 with 11 strikeouts in four games since then. He has 13 strikeouts in 19 at-bats on the trip, raising his majors-leading total to 56 strikeouts in 143 at-bats.
Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez was asked if he thought Upton might be trying to do too much.
“I don’t know,” he said. “He’s had a tough road trip so far. We’ll keep working and keep trying to get him better, because we’ve seen him pretty good.”
Upton is 8-for-45 (.178) with one homer, three walks and 25 strikeouts in his past 14 games, dropping his overall average to .203 with three homers, nine RBIs and a .272 on-base percentage in 39 games.
