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05.04.02  Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark DeRosa  finally got a chance to start consecutive games. But it took a freak mishap to give the Braves' hot-hitting utilityman the opportunity.
Second baseman Marcus Giles had to be scratched from the lineup Friday night against St. Louis after he cut his right thumb opening his hotel window to see if he needed a coat to go out for lunch.
No kidding.
"I still can't believe it happened," said Giles, looking down on his bandaged thumb. "It just wasn't my day. About a half-hour before it happened, I burned my other hand on the iron. If I tried to cross the street, I'd probably get hit by a car."
The cut didn't require stitches. But Giles' mishap opened a spot in the lineup for DeRosa, who had continued to hit although rarely starting more than once a week. He played third base Thursday against Milwaukee and was 2-for-4 with a triple, raising his average to .385.
 

05.01.02  Augusta Chronicle
DEALING WITH CHANGES: Cox doesn't know how long he'll keep Marcus Giles in the No. 2 hole, and Andruw Jones  at No. 5. He made the change on Sunday, but Giles will be back at No. 8 soon if he doesn't advance runners. He failed in his first try, grounding out to third following Rafael Furcal's first-inning double against the Astros.
"That didn't help," Giles said. "That made me mad. That's an example of what I have to do to stay in the No. 2 hole."
Cox has wearied of the team's inefficiency with runners on base. The club is batting a measly .231 with runners in scoring position, the league's 11th-worst average, and is 12th with 98 runs. Asked if he planned to continue hitting Giles second, Cox responded, "The trick is to get someone to hit with a man on second."
Despite Sunday's failure, Giles says he can handle the job. "It's up to me to stay there," he said. "I'd like to continue hitting there because I've hit there all my life. I love hitting No. 2. It makes me feel more involved."
 

04.26.02   Augusta Chronicle
The alarm hasn't sounded yet on the Braves' middle infield of shortstop Rafael Furcal and second baseman Marcus Giles, but there's a growing sense of concern about their defense. The pair have combined for 15 of the team's 22 errors, with Furcal leading major-league shortstops with nine errors, and Giles only trails the Yankees' Alfonso Soriano (8 errors) with six miscues.
Coach Glenn Hubbard is spending his afternoons hitting ground balls to Furcal and Giles and talking with them about improving their defense, but the pair still tend to take too many grounders on the run.
"Sometimes I rush too much," Furcal said. "I can play better defense than this. I don't believe I have nine errors."
Third baseman Vinny Castilla talked with Furcal and told him to forget about the errors. "It's a position where you're going to make errors," Castilla said. "I told him don't think about it too much. He'll be all right."
In the team's first 22 games, the Braves gave up 12 unearned runs. At their current pace, they will allow 88 unearned runs this season. In 162 games last year, they gave up 65 unearned runs.
"It's an absolute certainty that good pitching requires good, solid defense to allow it to shine fully," general manager John Schuerholz said. "It's always been an important element for us. We know our defense needs to get better and we believe it will."
There's been no lack of effort from Furcal and Giles to improve. Both infielders take ground balls during batting practice, and Giles often fields grounders with Hubbard before batting practice starts. "You just keep talking with them and working hard," Hubbard said. "I'm telling them both to just relax and stop rushing."
 

04.26.02  Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Giles on the bench: For the second time in four games, Marcus Giles wasn't in the lineup. This time, Keith Lockhart -- not Mark DeRosa -- played second base. Giles, who was out early again for extra fielding practice, has committed six errors and is hitless in his last nine at-bats.
 

04.24.02  Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As might be expected of the most porous middle infield in the major leagues, second baseman Marcus Giles took some early infield practice Tuesday.
Coach Glenn Hubbard had detected that Giles was gloving balls far outside his left foot.
"He's always going to be a guy who has to tweak his defense," said Hubbard, who worked to get Giles' glove hand aligned closer to his foot. "[Rafael] Furcal is, too. And that's fine, as long as they're willing to do it. When they get to the point where they don't think they have to, then we have a problem."
Entering Tuesday's game, Furcal (eight errors) and Giles (six) have more misplays than any second base-shortstop combination in either league. In the first 20 games, Furcal had two two-error games to Giles' one. Braves shortstops and second basemen committed a total of 33 errors in 2001. This season, they are on pace to commit 113.
Giles finds himself working as hard to prevent errors as he does to forget about them.
"I don't think there's any way you can worry about how many errors or how many bad plays you've made. You're only going to double it or triple it," Giles said. "You can get into a funk fielding just as quick as you can hitting."
 

04.22.02  Augusta Chronicle
Second baseman Marcus Giles has been shaky defensively with six errors in 18 games, including two in Sunday's 4-2 win over the Marlins, but he says he won't change his aggressive approach.
"I'd rather make an error going hard at the ball, then sitting back and letting the ball play me,'' he said. "That's my game overall. I'm not a good player if I'm not aggressive.''
Giles brushed aside the idea that his confidence was shaken by his early errors.
"I know it's mental and it's so easy to fall into that trap,'' he said. ``The best way to handle it is go out and don't be afraid of making mistakes. Just keeping going hard at it.''
 

04.13.02 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
At this stage of the season, the typical No. 8 hitter in the National League is hitting .250 with no homers and maybe one RBI. Marcus Giles, the Braves' No. 8 hitter, is batting .308 with two homers and six RBIs.
This suggests Atlanta might be better served by Giles hitting higher in the order.
"He can hit anywhere," manager Bobby Cox said. "But you're always thinking about the lineup."
Cox remains committed to Andruw Jones, who hit second Friday for the 10th time in the Braves' 11 games, despite a .163 average and a strikeout rate of once every 2.5 at-bats. That puts him on pace for 250 in the season.
"The thing is, you know he's so much better," Cox said.
Jones is tied for the Braves' home run lead (3) and is second in RBIs (6).
Giles, who hit second or third in the minors, is hardly campaigning and points to his 10 strikeouts through 11 games.
"As far as my average, it might look like I'm doing pretty good. I'm getting my hits," Giles said. "But I could be more selective. I'm seeing a lot more off-speed pitches now."

04.04.02 Augusta Chronicle
In search of a leadoff hitter following Rafael Furcal's season-ending injury last year, Bobby Cox settled on Marcus Giles. The rookie second baseman batted .260 from the top of the lineup, but he's starting this season buried in the No. 8 hole.
"I'm not going to change my approach or change anything," said Giles, who had two hits on opening day. "There might be teams that walk me to get to the pitcher, but most teams I think are going to come after me."
This is all new to Giles, who has batted in the top three spots throughout his career.
"It's nice to get up in the first inning, but I'm in the lineup and I've got nothing to complain about," he said.