Pena finally shows offensive power
A's notebook

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Carlos Pena said he didn't see where the ball landed. Too busy putting his head down and running around the bases.

Too bad. The ball that Pena crushed for a three-run homer in the A's 16-15 Cactus League loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday landed at least 450 feet away from home plate. It sailed over the grassy knoll and cement walkway beyond the right-field fence at Tucson Electric Park and landed on the road, nearly taking out a car.

"Really," Pena said. "That's cool."

Pena's fourth-inning blast off Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Jonathan Johnson was his first homer in an A's uniform and interrupted what has been a cool spring. The man expected to replace Jason Giambi after being acquired in a January trade from the Texas Rangers entered the game with just two singles in nine at-bats.

"If I look hard at most of my at-bats, I've been satisfied," he said. "I've hit a lot of balls hard, and I've hit line drives. They just haven't been hits. All I can do is hit the ball hard. I have no control over where it goes. So, overall, I've been satisfied."

The home run was Pena's only hit in five at-bats against Arizona, and he's batting .214 in six games.

"I've been trying to get the right balance between being patient and staying aggressive," he said. "You still want to be aggressive, but the coaches here really preach patience and taking a walk. So that's what I'm trying to work on."