As a manager, you want your guys to do well. But you can't put a gun to their head and say, 'Get a hit.' They're trying. We haven't hit the ball well. So we're going home. |
Batters almost didn't have a chance. |
Cabrera was dealing. He and the rest of their pitchers did a great job holding us to one hit. You can't win baseball games like this. |
Cabrera was dealing. My guys couldn't come through. |
Clutch hitting has been the missing ingredient for us. The Cubans are very good fastball hitters and they showed they were ready whenever they got that pitch. |
For 10 years, they've been a winning team, and Mel was a big part of it. It's going to be tough, but that's the name of the game. You have to move on. We're going to miss him, that's for sure. |
From what I've seen of him, it doesn't surprise me. If he stays healthy, he can be a big-leaguer. |
He blamed himself. I think he took it personal. ... He said, 'I'm sorry, guys.' ... He felt like he let us down. |
He felt like he let us down. It was not just Alex. It was everybody. It's a team effort. We were supposed to accomplish something and we didn't do it. |
He has to focus more on the game, concentrate more and anticipate things. He's young, and he's going to learn that, but that's the only concern I've had all year long. |
He hates mental mistakes. Errors, you're going to make those mistakes every day. But the fact that you make a mental one was really bad to him. In 10 years, I've never seen him that mad. |
He just said, 'I'm sorry, guys,' that's all, ... We said, 'It's not your fault. Get out of here, go home and forget about it.' |
He went into the coaches' room to say he was sorry. He felt like he let us down. He said 'I'm sorry guys.' But it's not his fault. I said, 'Get out of here. Go home and forget about it.' It's one thing about this game you've got to be strong mentally. If you're not strong mentally, you're done. |
He's got to suck it up. He's the best player in baseball and he's used to doing good. It's a shame, though. You can see how much this guy wants to win. Every time he gets to the ballpark it's all about baseball. These guys don't talk about anything else. |
He's the best pitcher they have. This guy's been around for a long time. He had 95-plus, a really nasty sinker and a nasty split finger. We did not come through. |