Phil Garner Ball Quotations

When we got a runner at third base and less than two outs, we didn't do a very good job of putting the ball in play.

What hurt was, we struck out for five of the last six outs, ... We didn't put the ball in play, and we had a guy on third base. And that's what hurt us.

We got two two-out singles from Berkman to win the ball game.

I would say he threw pretty good. He's probably a little bit rusty, but still threw pretty good. The first couple innings he was sharp. With the exception of a couple home runs, I thought he threw the ball pretty good. It was basically his first outing of the spring.

I'd like to see our offense pick it up, ... You're not going to always hit .300 with guys on, and you're not going to hit the ball out of the ballpark a lot of times, but we can be better at some of the little things right now. That's what concerns me more.

I don't know what would have happened, ... but clearly, the ball hit the bat.

I don't think he was as sharp as he's going to be, but for pitching against a team that hits the ball well, he battled through it. He did a good job of changing things.

He did what he was supposed to do, I'd rather see two runs given up because he's making them hit the ball and put in play than walk guys. To me, that's a good outing.

He got the run in. It wasn't the fly ball or a ball in the gap, but he got the run in. Guys that drive in runs, find a way to get a run in. That's just what they do.

He just wanted to go out and throw the ball over the plate. That's what he did. He didn't throw too many breaking balls. He just threw some fastballs. He got them where he wanted them.

Guys usually have a very difficult time crossing the diamond in the infield. But he's extremely quick, as quick as anybody I've ever seen at turning a double play. That's unusual for a guy to have such a strong arm, who can throw the ball across the diamond and then move to second and immediately be able to change his arm angle.

I wouldn't say he pitched poorly, I'd say that they did a good job of putting the ball in play. They are a good hitting team. They're going to get some hits on you.

It appeared to be long innings, and we appeared to be getting behind guys. But they were throwing the ball in pretty good location.

I think we want to take it down to the wire. That's the way we've been playing it, so that's what we're going to do. We've just got to buckle down and play good ball now. We're still in control of our destiny.

I think it's sort of a neat story that 'Rocket' is going to be the guy to take the ball in the first game. Not only does he deserve it, but I think it's a good story, too.

I was a little concerned about him. I didn't think the last couple of batters he threw the ball like he had been throwing.

Lane was the only one to hit the ball hard.

I said it's going to take a couple of breaks and someone's going to have to bust one long. That was the Hudson that I had seen in previous years in the American League with a good sinking fastball. He was keeping the ball down in the zone and just didn't give us much. And sure enough, we got something going. And Lance (Berkman) comes up with a big boom. Then of course Ausmus with a big boom, too.

I thought his at-bat was a very good at-bat. His bat head was in the hitting zone on the ball he fouled back, and that's a good sign. The guy was throwing pretty good, was varying his speeds. Baggy was able to get the bat head out there.

I thought in the fourth and fifth innings he really battled himself trying to find his release point and got high in the zone and couldn't get the breaking ball where he wanted to.

That was a great at-bat. You never know if that has anything to do with the next guy, but when a guy makes a bunch of pitches on you, and he nubs the ball to shortstop and he beats it out, I think it takes something out of you. You've got to applaud Willy for hanging tough in that at-bat.

We had every chance to win, but failed to put the ball in play.

We just had a lot of Dontrelle Willis tonight, more than I'd care to see, ... Brandon (Backe) threw the ball well. He had a lot of good pitches and only a few mistakes. That was a decent job against a team that is really swinging the bat well.

you figure out a way to come out and try to win a ball game.

Both will get on track. Even though Brad has given up the lead and blown a couple of saves, I think he's throwing the ball pretty well. When he gets his location where he wants it to be, he's going to be fine.

I've never seen it where the crowd cheers as much when he breaks his bat and the ball rolls 10 feet. The place goes crazy. Most of the time, people go crazy when a guy takes a big swing, and they go 'Ooooh...' This guy, in our park, he nibbles one and everyone starts going nuts.

The mistake we make is walking Edmonds. You have to let Edmonds hit the ball in the next count. You can't walk him, and Brad knows that.

They put the ball in play. You have to give them credit. They didn't strike out. That's what I was looking for.

They have guys that can get on base, they have guys that can hit the ball out of the ballpark and hit for a high average. So they are not an easy club to have to face and they are not an easy club to defend.

They got the clutch hits. They played fundamentally sound and got the ball in the air.

You don't want to dig yourself a hole we can't get out of. It looked like we'd done that last year, and it turned out we played our best ball the last part of May through the rest of the year.

You don't want everyone hot all at the same time unless it's the last week of the season. You need to be able to win ball games without everyone being hot.

It's one ball game. This is a best-of-seven.

That's the biggest difference in their team this year. They don't look like they're going to strike out as much as in the past. When you put the ball in play, good things are going to happen.

It's certainly unusual. But how do you figure something like that? He pitched a good game. He located the ball very well at the bottom of the zone and when you do that, you're going to have success.

It's amazing we were in the ball game. We didn't hit the ball good.

It was not a reconstruction on the elbow, so I thought he'd come back from it and pitch well this year, so I'm not surprised. What surprises me is that his control had been is as good as it has been. Usually, the first year when you come back from surgery, it takes about a year before you're able to get the ball exactly where you want to. But he's done a pretty good job of locating pitches.

I'm going to take a good look at him on that. He receives the ball nicely. He's gives a nice target. He's down, he's not jumpy behind the plate. He does a good job as far as just letting the ball come to him.

I'm necessarily swayed by the outcome more than by what he does with his pitches. If he's showing pretty decent location with his ball and he's able to throw his pitches over the plate and use something other than his fastball when he gets behind, that will be good. He was sharp today, he went right after hitters.

In terms of the way I played, I was aggressive, foolish at times, maybe the same way as a manager sometimes. But it doesn't really matter. It's what goes on on the field at any given minute, the players have the ball in their hands.

He's putting the ball in play the other way. When he does that, he hits well.

I don't know how we stayed in the ball game as long as we did.

He threw the ball well. I was very pleased. He had good mound presence, threw the ball over the plate and after probably six or seven pitches, it looked like he said, 'Alright I'm going at them,' and he did. He just settled right in. He didn't go deep in the count a lot of times. He went right after them and made them do something.

He threw the ball well. He was experimenting with different things, and I think that's a good thing.

He threw the ball really well and had a pretty nice fastball that he located pretty good, and he just stayed with it. It was an usually pitched game. You don't see a guy use primarily fastballs, but he was locating it where he wanted to and he stayed with it.

He threw the ball down, threw some good breaking balls and went after the hitters pretty good. He had a little mental lapse there. He got behind on a guy and gave up a home run. If we keep him focused and throw like that he'll be fine.

He threw all of his pitches, and I thought he looked like he was throwing the ball pretty good. I think he looks like he's OK.

He's looked very good, he's throwing the ball very well. If he continues to locate his pitches, he's going to be a factor.

If he hits a ball hard, you can get him out. If he hits it soft, he'll beat it out every time. He has an incredible burst the last 15 feet or so. There have been six or seven times this season when an umpire will anticipate a little bit and call him out and then realize that he was safe. I got thrown out of a game or two because I got tired of seeing that. I don't know if he's going to win the rookie of the year or not, but there is no doubt he's an exciting player.

You've got to hit it to left field. If he hit the ball the other way, it probably wouldn't go. If you get it in that left-field lane, then it'll go.

The look that you saw in his face was total resolve, ... I don't think it was a matter of how long it was going to take, he was going to do whatever it took and I don't think I could have gotten the ball out of his hand anyway, and it was his game.