ALCS notes: Orioles’ Adam Jones is more patient in Game 2

Baltimore Orioles center fielder Adam Jones admitted before Saturday’s Game 2 of the American League Championship Series that he might need to be a little more patient at the plate for his team to get back into the series against the Kansas City Royals.

Jones doesn’t make any apologies for his aggressiveness at the plate, but he noted that the playoffs offer a different game, inherently smaller strike zones and more opportunity for batters to wait on their pitch to hit.

And Jones has struggled in the postseason, entering the day just five for 42 with 11 strikeouts in 10 career playoff games.

“I just think that, [with] what I do in the regular season, I think I need to cut back a little bit more in the postseason, the aggression in the regular season,” Jones said before Game 2. “I think it intensifies when the postseason comes on, the strike zone is smaller. Every pitch is that more of importance. And you’ve got to lock in better. It’s the same game, it’s just the focus has to be stronger.”

In his second at-bat Saturday, Jones waited out Royals starter Yordano Ventura, sitting on a 2-0 fastball down the middle and hitting it into the left-field stands for a two-run home run that tied the score in the third inning.

It was not only Jones’ first career postseason homer, but also his first extra-base hit. And it came at the perfect time after the Royals took a 3-1 lead.

Jones also showed his patience in the fifth inning, taking a 1-1 pitch the other way for a one-out single. But in Jones’ next at-bat — when he came to the plate with two on and no outs with the Orioles poised for a big inning in the seventh — he struck out on three pitches after swinging through three fastballs.

“We’re putting ourselves in opportunities and good situations and there’s nothing wrong with that,” Jones said after the game. “We have to just continue plugging away. That’s just our team style. We live and die with it.”

Yost knew Cruz would be special

Royals Manager Ned Yost, who was Orioles designated hitter Nelson Cruz’s first manager with the Milwaukee Brewers, said the slugger has surpassed even Yost’s high expectations.

“I loved Nelson Cruz when he was there,” Yost said. “Nelly was right on the verge of becoming a special player at that time — still struggling to make contact, but when he did make contact, it was loud contact. But you could tell down the road that he was going to be a big-time power hitter.”

The Brewers, whom Yost managed from 2003 to 2008, acquired Cruz from the Oakland Athletics in December 2004. He had one hit in five at-bats over eight games in 2005. The Brewers traded Cruz to the Texas Rangers in July 2006, and he endured two up-and-down years before the first of three All-Star seasons in 2008.

Cruz, 34, said a player’s first major league manager is someone he always remembers, and that Yost is “the type of manager that gives you the confidence to play.”

Cruz hit .277 with a major league-high 40 home runs in his first season with the Orioles, and for the first time in his career, he passed the 100-RBI mark with 108. He entered Saturday’s game eight for 17 with two home runs, six RBIs, and five runs scored in postseason play this year.

Cruz had two hits in Saturday’s game, giving him multiple hits in six straight postseason games, and his fifth-inning RBI groundout gave him 20 career ALCS RBIs, tying him for 10th place on the all-time list with Reggie Jackson and Jim Edmonds.

Guthrie is ready to face Orioles

Royals right-hander Jeremy Guthrie will start a postseason game for the first time in his 10-year career when he faces the Orioles, his old team, on Monday night at Kauffman Stadium.

Guthrie, who was 13-11 with a 4.13 earned-run average in 32 starts this season, has had success against two of the Orioles’ best hitters, Jones and Cruz.

Jones has just one hit in 12 at-bats against Guthrie in his career, while Cruz is six for 24 with one extra-base hit.

Gonzalez OK with long layoff

Right-hander Miguel Gonzalez isn’t scheduled to pitch until Tuesday’s Game 4 in Kansas City, meaning he would go 15 days between starts. But Gonzalez said he still feels sharp.

Gonzalez hasn’t pitched in a game since throwing five innings in the regular-season finale Sept. 28 in Toronto. He was to start Game 4 of the ALDS, but the Orioles beat the Tigers in three games.

He threw a three-inning simulated game (45 pitches) last week and is expected to throw a bullpen session Sunday in Kansas City.

“It’s been a while having pitched, but I’m pretty fresh and I’m pretty sharp,” Gonzalez said. “I’m where I need to be. I’m ready to go.”

eencina@baltsun.com