Projo Sox Blog

BY KEVIN McNAMARA
Journal Sports Writer

BOSTON -- Carlos Pena homered for the third time in the series Thursday night, only cementing manager Joe Maddon's opinion of the young first baseman.

"When he was with the Tigers we played against him, and I remember one series in Anaheim he was hitting balls way up in the right-field stands," said Maddon, a former Angels coach. ``There was something about him. I always liked his glove work, and then you'd see the swing, you'd see the occasional power.''

Maddon said he stressed working the strike zone once Pena joined him in Tampa and also working on hitting to all fields in batting practice.

"If you watch his batting practice, last year I think they told me he hit only like five home runs during batting practice, which I really love," he said. "Although he doesn't hit a lot of balls to left field, he would just work on that.''

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