Dodgers’ Adrian Gonzalez calls himself a ‘singles hitter’

DENVER -- Adrian Gonzalez said earlier this year that after his 2010 operation, he never recovered the swing that made him one of baseball’s premier power hitters. Gonzalez continues to insist that is the case, even after hitting a home run in each of the Dodgers’ last three games.

“Still a singles hitter,” he said. “If I happen to hit a home run, I’m going to take it, but I’m still a singles hitter.”

Does he really believe that?

“Do I believe that?” Gonzalez said. “Yeah. I’m just trying to get singles up the middle.”

Gonzalez was pleased with how the Dodgers took two of three games from the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Of a 9-5 loss in the series finale, Gonzalez said, “Definitely can’t win them all.”

The Dodgers start a three-game series in San Francisco on Friday. They end their nine-game trek with a series against the first-place Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix.

“Try to win two more series and we’ll be good,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez was particularly encouraged by the improved form of Matt Kemp, who hit a home run in each of the last two games. Kemp is recovering from a surgery similar to Gonzalez’s.

“Everybody’s been swinging the bat great,” Gonzalez said. “Matt had a lot of good at-bats today as well. He’s looked like himself. That’s very encouraging. We all knew it was a matter of time.”