(Catcher) Brad (Ausmus) did a great job of timing that one. He was set up for a high fastball to make it look like I was going to throw a high fastball, so maybe the runner was looking at Brad instead of me. |
[The middle relievers] have thrown so well in the late innings this season that I haven't had to throw nearly as many innings as I did last year, |
[The middle relievers] have thrown so well in the late innings this season that I haven't had to throw nearly as many innings as I did last year. |
A lot of guys know what I throw at this point in my career. This gives them something else to think about. |
A lot of people thought that was the end of the series. I don't feel a weight lifted. I never had a doubt that this team would be here. |
Any closer, if you pitch long enough, you're going to face some failure. He was able to bounce back from it as good as anybody. I hope the same is true for myself. I feel it will be. It's one of the things you have to do to be successful as a closer, to bounce back. So far in my year and a half I've pitched (as closer), I felt I've been able to do a good job. |
As soon as the last game is played, whatever game that is, I stick to that routine. Same program every year. |
Because of that, we know that even when we drop two [games] on the road, we're capable of coming in here and winning three straight. We have a ton of confidence here. It's a stadium where we have a true home-field advantage. |
Burke's probably going to get a standing 'O' for sure, and deservedly so, ... He's been unbelievable. |
Burke's probably going to get a standing 'O' for sure, and deservedly so. He's been unbelievable. |
Certainly it makes us play at the top of our level consistently right into the playoffs. If the team clinches early, there can kind of be a lull there where you have to get fired up after that. Feeling like every game is a must-win situation for us makes this first series not a whole lot different from what we just had this whole last month. |
Every time he pitches, ... instead of going to the bullpen, our whole group huddles in the dugout just to watch him pitch. It's something our bullpen has done since he started here. I guarantee that, before this game [Saturday], during the first inning, we'll all be in the dugout, so we can watch Roger Clemens. |
Everybody could use Billy Wagner, |
Everybody could use Billy Wagner, ... There's not one team that could not use a guy like Billy Wagner. He's the best there is in baseball. He dominates guys. He played in a hitter-friendly park and had an unbelievable year. I don't know who's going to be lucky enough to get him, but everybody needs him. |
Everybody thought we were done, that we wouldn't recover. The only people who believed were the guys in this locker room. This is a very resilient team. I knew we could come back and win. |