As an indication of how much Parker has struggled, the night lifted his batting average to just .181. Coming into Thursday's game, he had been in a 5-for-53 slump since Aug. 23. A right-handed power bat in the Minors, Parker had hit 5-for-33 against lefty pitching before Thursday.
Parker started because manager Walt Weiss decided to rest Carlos Gonzalez. Parker struck out his first at-bat, but after that the problems with fastballs disappeared, at least for an evening.
"Unfortunately, we didn't win, but for the past month I've been working on things, trying to figure out my swing and what adjustments I need to make," Parker said.