MIAMI -- On Tuesday night, in one of his best at-bats of the season, Alex Gonzalez held tough for 10 pitches in a showdown against the crafty Tom Glavine and eventually delivered a home run to left field.

 

It's that kind of patience at the plate that the Marlins would like to see more regularly from their unpredictable shortstop.

 

Though defensively Gonzalez is a Gold Glove candidate, his hitting remains a mystery.

 

His home run off Glavine was his 19th of the year, setting a season high. And with 65 RBIs, he has driven in one fewer run than Jeff Conine and two fewer than Paul Lo Duca.

 

"I'd rather see him hit .280 and hit 14 home runs," said manager Jack McKeon. "He'd have a boatload of RBIs."

 

Overall, Gonzalez is batting .236, with a .210 average in the second half.

 

"He's made tremendous strides," said McKeon. "He's not an easy out anymore."

 

Even with that low average, Gonzalez's season could be much worse, considering he began the year by batting .182 in April.

 

A pull hitter, Gonzalez has gone through ruts in which teams consistently struck him out with pitches away. He has fanned 95 times this season heading into Wednesday's game.

 

McKeon and hitting coach Bill Robinson have worked with him, instructing him to go the other way in hopes of putting the ball in play more often.

 

In some ways, Gonzalez's development reminds McKeon of Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith, who was a light hitter when he broke into the league.

 

"Ozzie Smith was the same way," said McKeon. "By the end of Ozzie's career, he was a much more productive hitter."

 

McKeon envisions Gonzalez improving at the plate over the next few seasons.

 

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Right when Bassy hit that home run last night, I said I'd never seen anyone do that the pitch after hitting a foul homer. My boy Jeffrey Loria said the same thing in this morning's paper.

Alex is turning into one of my favorite players on this team. He has above average power, and is just a human highlight reel on the field.

Alex got some good stuff. He never gives up, which represents something great. Keep it up Alex!