Juan Rivera is providing offense, but his defense has been spotty

Juan Rivera has given the offense a much-needed boost, hitting .367 (11 for 30) with three homers and eight runs batted in since June 29, but his lack of outfield playing time in the first half may have contributed to some spotty defense.

Rivera dropped a fly ball against Oakland on June 30. He let a single bounce off his glove at Texas on July 9. He looked awkward diving for two balls in the gap at Oakland on July 11.

"I'm surprised I'm not doing as well as I can in the outfield," Rivera said through an interpreter. "It may be a consequence of me not playing much, but I feel I will improve in the second half."

There is one common thread to the miscues -- they have come while Rivera was in left field.

"I'm a lot more comfortable in right field because I've played there mostly," Rivera said. "Left field is more difficult because I haven't played there every day."

If Rivera is to continue taking at-bats away from Gary Matthews Jr., he'll need to play better defense. Manager Mike Scioscia has no plans to use Rivera exclusively at designated hitter, though he may try to play Rivera more in right field.

"If we're going to get his bat in the lineup as much as we want to, he has to play the field, and we're comfortable with that," Scioscia said. "There's a need for a player to get grounded a bit . . . but we're confident he's going to do what he needs to do on the defensive end."

Reality check

Joe Saunders said he was "still trying to come down from the high" of a whirlwind four-day stretch, in which his wife gave birth to their daughter Saturday night and the left-hander threw a scoreless inning in Tuesday night's All-Star game in Yankee Stadium.

"A lot of great things happened in a short amount of time," Saunders said before Thursday's workout. "It's been an unbelievable week."

Saunders described the All-Star festivities as "probably my best-ever experience in the game, it's going to be tough to match that. I got to go on the field with all those great Hall of Famers.

"You're in total awe, like a kid in a candy store. I had goose bumps. I got teary eyed. I just had a baby . . . wow, I have to come back to reality. It's like a dream world."

Answer man

Scioscia had one possible solution for the dilemma AL All-Star Manager Terry Francona faced Tuesday night, when he had to use Tampa Bay's Scott Kazmir, who threw 104 pitches on Sunday, in the 15th inning: Hold the All-Star game on Wednesday night and have all teams resume play on Friday.