‘Locked in’ Tiffee takes hot bat to Los Angeles

If he knows an intriguing secret to mastering the art of hitting, Terry Tiffee is not sharing it.

But he claims there is no hidden formula to regularly ripping line drives into open spaces. No laser eye surgery, no meditation program and definitely no superstitious routine.

"I wish it was that easy," the 29-year-old third baseman and outfielder said.

"I've been more relaxed this year than I've ever been. I enjoy it. I'll just ride it as long as it goes."

Tiffee, leading the Pacific Coast League with a .422 batting average, has been the 51s' best player for two months. And he's riding that success back to the major leagues.

Tiffee was scratched from Las Vegas' lineup five minutes before Saturday night's game against Fresno at Cashman Field. A call received by 51s manager Lorenzo Bundy was news of Tiffee's promotion to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

"Eventually, if you do well long enough, hopefully they'll give you a chance," Tiffee said. "I don't know anybody on any team who's done really, really well and not gotten a shot."

The Dodgers did some roster maneuvering Saturday, and Tiffee is expected to be in Los Angeles for today's game against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Dodgers outfielder Andruw Jones will undergo right knee surgery and miss four to six weeks. Tiffee replaces Jones on the active roster, and to make room for Tiffee on the 40-man roster, the Dodgers moved third baseman Nomar Garciaparra to the 60-day disabled list.

Tiffee was Las Vegas' starting third baseman until late April, when he was moved to left field to make room for prospects Blake DeWitt and Andy LaRoche.

Tiffee said he had not played the outfield since high school but was in favor of the move.

"It adds another position to my resume," he said. "I've always been one position away from sticking in the big leagues as a utility guy, and that position was probably outfielder."

This is not Tiffee's first trip to the majors. He was called up by the Minnesota Twins in 2004, 2005 and 2006. He played in a total of 91 games over three seasons and hit .226.

In eight minor league seasons before this one, Tiffee was a .286 hitter. He hit .272 last season for Triple-A Norfolk of the International League and signed with the Dodgers as a free agent in November.

A different league and a more mature approach at the plate are the main reasons for him hitting .422, he said. There are no secrets.

"You get stale playing in the same league against the same teams and the same players, over and over and over," he said. "It's kind of a change of scenery, just to try to get motivated again.

"I've been trying to get the pitch that I want to hit. I just try to hit the ball hard every time. It's just a few things in my approach and my swing, and it seems to be working out.

"It definitely comes and goes as a hitter. When you're hitting well, you're more relaxed and you're automatically confident when you step in the box. You don't take every at-bat as a do-or-die situation."

Tiffee leads the PCL with 24 doubles and has four home runs and 38 RBIs in 46 games for Las Vegas. He had an 18-game hitting streak from April 24 to May 11.

"For the most part, Terry doesn't swing at any bad pitches, and when he gets a pitch to hit, he hits it," Bundy said. "He's just locked in, and I've never seen a player be this locked in for that amount of time."

• NOTES -- Sergio Garcia started at second base Saturday for the 51s. It was Garcia's return from a 100-game suspension for testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance for a second time. ... The Dodgers optioned reliever Yhency Brazoban to Las Vegas.