Decker's first home run came as pleasant surprise

DENVER -- Ask Padres rookie outfielder Jaff Decker, and he will be the first to acknowledge home runs are not a big part of his game, which probably made the one he hit Monday at Coors Field that much more enjoyable.

"Doubles are kind of my thing," Decker said Tuesday, a day after he made the most of his first Major League hit, a seventh-inning solo home run in a 14-2 loss to the Rockies. "That's what I've been working on, and that's what I was doing in this half [second half of the season with Triple-A Tucson] when I started to swing it better.

"I have it in me, but I don't try and be a home run hitter anymore."

Decker had nine home runs in 331 at-bats this season with Tucson. He reached double-digits in home runs three times in the Minor Leagues, hitting 19 with Double-A San Antonio in 2011.

Decker said Tuesday afternoon that he was still receiving phone calls and text messages after hitting his first home run, also his first Major League hit.

"They're still coming in; It's a good feeling," he said. "A lot of friends were watching the game at home [Arizona] and saw it live. I got a lot of phone calls from some old friends."

Decker's father, Kent, was in Cincinnati over the weekend to see Decker's first start Sunday, when Decker went 0-for-3, before returning to the family home in Arizona.

"Luke [Gregerson] said he's not allowed to come now," Decker said, smiling.