Johnny Estrada Quotations

We spotted him that one run. My freakin' terrible throw went to center field. Give a guy like that a one-run cushion when he's got his 'A' game . . . that's tough.

Personally, my MVP is Brian McCann. He's only 21 years old, but he comes in and we don't skip a beat. The pitchers have a lot of confidence in him, the way he calls a game.

Personally, my MVP is Brian McCann, ... He's only 21 years old, but he comes in and we don't skip a beat. The pitchers have a lot of confidence in him, the way he calls a game.

If we can go home and take care of business in this last homestand, we'll be fine.

He might be licking his chops right now.

He's got 13 wins and pretty much carried us through a stretch there. He'd take the hill, and we knew we were getting seven shutout innings. He's been a big pickup for us.

He's got 13 wins and pretty much carried us through a stretch there, ... He'd take the hill and we knew we were getting seven shutout innings. He's been a big pickup for us.

He just makes pitches when he has to. He's got that slider that sometimes looks invisible to hitters, but they'll swing at it. ... We've been calling him Houdini all season long.

He just makes pitches when he has to. He gets himself into trouble, but he's got a slider that seems invisible to hitters.

We could have easily swept this series and we left with a split, so it's kind of frustrating.

We can't seem to put a streak together right now with this kind of win one, lose one, win one, lose one. That's not the way we want to go into the playoffs. We want to grab hold of this thing and hit full stride going into the playoffs.

This was a legitimate perfect game, any way you slice it.

Things were kind of looking like we were going to have to face him.

It wears on you, man. This game is tougher here because early on it looked like we were going to take a beating, and we battled back, scratched and clawed our way back into the game and eventually tied it up.

It was weird, ... I was used to making a lot of right turns lately. I had to make three left turns around the bases. I got back to the dugout and everybody was yelling, 'Did you know where you were going?'

For a while, we were in bad shape with injuries and things like that, ... but a lot of guys just stepped up.

The attitude with all the young guys is: What have we got to lose?

I've felt more comfortable every day these last few games. I was just trying to battle and put the ball in play. That's usually when I hit most of my home runs, when I have two strikes and don't try to do too much.

That might be the thing that gets him over the hump and lets him get through a lineup three times.

The last couple of days, I've felt like I can really help this team, ... Last week, I wasn't so sure. I'm excited about the future and the playoffs. I think I'm healthy enough to help.

The mere presence of him, whether he's going good or not, you have to give him respect.

In his defense, ... you can't think that quick.

Impressive. He beat the best team in baseball today.

I'm just at a point where I don't think it's going to get much better. I really think the best thing I can do is get back on the field.

His bread and butter is his sinker, ... He couldn't get it down. We had to use other pitches.

He's still a learning 21-year-old, and he's only going to get better. To be plucked out of Double A and contribute to a championship-caliber club like he did, his mental makeup is second to none.

He's one of the rare guys in the major leagues who can throw one pitch pretty much all night.