Ned Yost Quotations

We're not going to pack up and die. Key injuries happen to every team. I hate it for Benny and the team, but you have to pick up the slack and go.

Tomo was very crisp today. He was sharp, he was throwing his fastball as hard as he has all year.

We're going to give this a shot, and a shot is not one day.

We're doing a lot of little things right. We're getting some breaks, too.

We're getting a look at these guys for next year.

We're starting to get there. They know that by no means we're not there yet. They've got a lot of lessons to learn and there's a lot of experience to be gained, but they like where we're at.

We're looking for a little more offense at the top of the lineup now. We're trying to find a way to score some runs on a consistent basis.

We'll see what happens his next start. If he can win his next start then he'll start the last game of the year.

The only way he doesn't go out is if we get to his spot and there's a runner in scoring position, ... Then I probably would have hit for him, even though he was 2 for 2.

We're playing pretty sound, fundamentally. We're going from first to third when we need to. We're picking up big runs. We're running the bases good. We're doing a lot of little things right.

We're a player short for a day or two because of Branyan. We thought it was more important to have an extra player on the bench. It's only for, what, five games because we're off Monday. And if we run into pitching problems we can always turn right around and bring someone up.

We didn't want to get too far away from our goals. We felt we had to have something go right.

There are things we're still trying to accomplish. The .500 mark is one of them, and to continue to battle in the wild-card race is one of them. You can't fall too far behind in either one of those at this time of year.

We had battled back for him and got him in a situation where the score was tied,

When things aren't going you're way, funny things happen, and it's not much funnier than that.

When things are going good, they're going good.

We're going for the win, and Prince has a better chance of hitting a home run. That's the hardest thing to do in baseball. You have to have a special frame of mind going up there. He's got that special mind-set.

We're going against three of the best pitchers in the National League, and if you look one minute past today, you're going to be in trouble. If you start looking down the road, you're going to get sideswiped.

Lehr was up seven straight times, ready to come in (for certain situations). Getting up and sitting back down takes more out of you than coming in games. You can't keep doing that.

Look who did the damage. That's where we're at right now. We've got those kids and they're producing.

Looks are deceiving at times. Sometimes, they're not.

Left-handers don't bother him. He has faced them all his life.

One run there is a huge run, ... You give up five, but you still have 27 cracks at a young kid.

Rickie got a curve ball up in the fourth and hammered it. That was a big part of the ballgame.

Rickie got a curveball up a little bit and he hammered it. It was a big part of the game.

Rick Helling did a nice job. (He) had little spurts where he got out of sync a little bit. He made good adjustments and would get out of it.

Rick did a good job in Triple-A, and he came up here and has done everything we've asked him to do. We'll give him a shot at it.

Poor Jenkins, he was distraught yesterday. He was having a monster year. We're having fun; we're in the midst of a 10-game winning streak, and he was enjoying himself.

No. 1, I didn't really have anybody (available) I can trust to bunt,

If we put a lot of stress and emphasis on it, then, at times, it gets into your head a little bit.

If we put a lot of stress and emphasis on it, it will probably get in his head a little. But it's not a problem. It's not a concern. We'll keep working through it.

I don't have any idea how far it went but he crushed it.

I didn't want to take him out of this game,

I didn't want to get (Wise) in with everything on the line. I wanted him to be able to get his feet back on the ground. I felt good with Kane Davis, ... We're doing everything we can to preserve a one-run lead. We're just trying to get to Turnbow. We were one pitch away.

I don't know why people want to think it's a curse. We've been waiting three years for this.

Carlos is one of those special guys. When the lights go on, he's ready to go.

(Capuano) just struggled all day. He could never get it going. We had too many walks all day. We ended up with nine. When a team has been struggling to score runs a little bit like they have, you can't help them out by putting runners on. Then it only takes one hit instead of three to score a run. That was evident in the first inning.

Capuano had too many walks. We have been struggling to get runs, and we just can't afford to put runners on base. He just struggled all day long.

(Cappy) had pretty good stuff but he fell back behind and you can't do that against St.Louis. We're glad we could get the win for him.

But those things all turn around. Our pitching will get back on track and we'll be in good shape.

But that's just a start, it's not where we ultimately want to be. I'm tired of being labeled a loser for 12 years. If you lose one more game than you win, then that's what you are. It doesn't matter where you finish (in the division). I don't want anybody to call us a loser again.

I looked up and we had a run in every inning for awhile,

I don't think we're as fundamentally sound as they are yet, offensively or defensively.

I don't think you'd see that in too many other cities.

He's growing, he's learning, he's trying. He's going to make mistakes. His fielding is improving. You look at the number of errors he has made and how many of them have been throwing errors? Those things are easily fixed.

He was as sharp as he could be. He was just great. He was so sharp through the seventh inning that I hated to take him out.

He was dead on. I told him after the game, 'Let's put two of these together,' and he said, '2:14.' I don't think he quite understood me.

He was dead on. It just seems like when he pitches we match up with a pitcher who has a great day.

He went around the side and came in through the laundry room. He's already lost.

He works at it. That's the key to his growth. His command has been as good as I've seen it over an extended period.

He won a game for us there. Leave him there.

He's beating himself. That's what is frustrating. He's not making the other team beat him. He's beating himself. His stuff is too good for that.

He had very good stuff. He had an outstanding (split-finger fastball). He's working one expanding (his strike zone) a little bit.

He had struck him out the first three times up. I was going to give him an opportunity to face him, and he struck him out again. That was the turning point of the game.

He had pretty good stuff but he fell behind too much, ... But he made big pitches when he needed to and really limited the damage outside of the four-run inning.

He has made tremendous defensive improvement at every position. He's good at all of them.

He has grown up in this atmosphere. That's why he wasn't in awe like some guys will get. He's been there, done that.

He hadn't thrown in four days and I wanted to get him an inning, keep it within one run and see if lightning might strike for us in the bottom of the inning.

He had enough savvy to get through it.

He has done a nice job. He's been impressive.

He grew up in this atmosphere. So the expectations others had for him have never bothered him because they can't match those that he's had for himself for a long time.

He got a pitch in on Carlos that Carlos hit out of the park, and Billy drove a pitch out over the plate, but other than that we couldn't muster much offense off him.

He got a lot of groundball double plays and he stayed away from the guys that could possibly hurt him, ... He's seemed like he tries to get you to chase a little bit and tonight, he was locating real well.

He looked outstanding. One ball was smoked and he made it look like a slow roller.

He'll play until Brady gets back. He's been swinging the bat real well. He can do a lot of things to help you win.

He never got settled in. He never found a groove, never got anything going. He was fighting all night long.

He'll fit in quite nicely. You can't win without talent and we couldn't pass up the ability to pick up someone with talent and experience, too.

He needs an inning badly. It doesn't help matters for any closer to go that long without pitching.

He might get an occasional day off but he's not coming out of the lineup.

He came into camp in great shape. He really looks good.

This was nothing new. He just continued what he's been doing all spring.

When he pitched more aggressively out of the bullpen, something started clicking. Later in the year, he was strong and the more I saw him, the more I liked him. I think he has a lot of up side. I saw him blow away some good hitters.

To fall behind 2-0 and then come back and score two runs and then again to fall back by four runs, making it 6-2, and tying it up in the bottom of that innings against the guy the caliber of Carpenter is a good feeling. We had a lot of timely hits. Overbay and Billy Hall had big nights. Even Cappy had two big hits to help his cause.

He's a good pitcher having a bad year. And the good pitcher in him came out tonight.

He's a solid, veteran leader. He's got great fundamentals. He's a very versatile guy, and he's got a great attitude.

He's always been good against us. Every time he pitches against us, he pitches tough.

He's got more guys around him now that can do the job. He's more comfortable. He knows the league a little bit better; he knows the guys around him are a little bit better, too.

He's been steady ever since we started. He was good the first day we went out, and he's been good ever since. Great addition.

He seems like a very quiet, confident veteran. It's hard coming to a new clubhouse. He knows exactly what he's trying to do and is setting out to do it.

He's hitting a lot of balls on the nose.

He (Sheets) was lights out. Both pitchers threw phenomenally well tonight. They both had great stuff and were hitting their spots. Benny was about as good as Benny could be.

His workload has been real heavy. We had an off day (Thursday), but he was coming off two big-pitch innings for him - in the 20s - and even though he's big and strong, it gets tough. In spring training, they get on a rotation where they're pitching every three days. Then you pick it up a little and they're pitching every other day. Now, he's been in four out of five days. To be thrown into that, even though you're big and strong, it's still a little early to have that type of pressure put on you.

His workload has been real heavy. To be thrown into that, even though you're big and strong, it's still a little early to have that type of pressure put on you.

He's as tough as they come. He doesn't make mistakes.

He's as tough as they come, ... and when you fall behind a guy like that it's tough to come back.

He's a very mature young man who has a chance to be a real offensive force. He's a pure hitter. He grew up in this game, and he's ready for his chance at stardom.

He's going to be a 3, 4, 5 hitter throughout his career. He's not going to sit in the seventh spot. And I don't know if you've noticed lately but we haven't been winning too many games, so something's broke.

He's fine. Right now, it's almost as if nothing happened.

He's been an important piece to our starting rotation, along with Ben Sheets and Doug Davis. They've really solidified the first three starting spots.

He's done everything we've asked him to. He's worked very hard on his defense and played very well defensively.

He's done a good job keeping the ball in the zone. He has had short, quick innings. He throws that knuckleball, and then he throws an 83-mph fastball and jams good hitters. He's got some weapons.

He's doing much better today than yesterday. We were going to be nervous if he wasn't. (Friday), every time he moved, it would spasm up. It's not doing that. That's a good sign.

He's doing everything right now. I don't think there's a guy I'd more want to see up there in that situation than Carlos.

When they got the big inning in the third, it ended up costing us the game. That's something we'll work on all year.

Hudson is 83-4 when given a four-run lead. Our goal today was to keep it to three runs or less to give us a chance to win.

He was on the attack, he had command of his pitches. He felt good.

He was really hyped up. He never got in a groove. He was overthrowing and he couldn't make the adjustment. It's the first day and it's tough on the young kids.

He was moving his pitches in and out. He had a good split.

He was making pitches over the corners, not over the middle of the plate.

He wanted to go back out. We didn't want to take any chances with him.