MLB Notes & Quotes From Monday April 27th

“This club never gives in. I feel blessed to be a part of it.” – Raul Ibanez, Philadelphia. With the aid of two grand slam homeruns by Ibanez and Ryan Howard, Philadelphia rallied for a 13-11 win over the Washington Nationals.

“The night definitely belongs to Matt Harrison. They got four off him in the first two innings, and he settled down, kept the team in it, gave us a chance to come back.” – Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington. After giving up four runs early against Baltimore, Harrison retired 16 straight batters to help the Rangers come from behind to win 6-4.

“The guy throws like 100 miles an hour. You have to put it your mind to try and hit a mistake. I got a fastball up over the plate, and I didn’t miss it.” – Jason Bay, Boston Red Sox. Bay hit a three run homerun off Cleveland’s Kerry Wood in the 9th inning to lift the Red Sox to a 3-1 win.

“When he’s ahead in the count, he’s almost unhittable. Tonight was the Justin we expect to see every night.” - Detroit catcher Gerald Laird. Justin Verlander pitched seven scoreless innings against the Yankees allowing only 7 hits with no walks to give the Tigers a 4-2 win.

“It’s kind of funny. It seems that even when I’m struggling, I start feeling better and I look up at the schedule and we have a trip in here. It’s weird how that happens.” Lance Berkman, Houston Astros. Berkman hit his 20th homer at Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park, the most by any visiting player, and the Astros won their 10th consecutive game against the Reds on the road.

“There’s something going on out there. I got to find out. It’s only out there when we’re out there. It’s not out there when they’re out there.” – New York Mets manager Jerry Manuel. New York outfielders have already committed five errors this season. The Mets went on to beat the slumping Florida Marlins 7-1.

“You trust your defense. That’s why I throw that sinker no matter what time in the count, so they can hit it at somebody.” - Joel Pineiro, St Louis. With Monday’s 3-2 win over the Atlanta Braves, Pineiro improved his record to 4-0.

“I felt like a fan, I was pretty fired up. Whenever you get an opportunity to watch the greatest closer to ever play the game pitch for your team, it’s exciting for us.” - Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers on watching closer Trevor Hoffman make his debut. The Brewers beat Pittsburgh 10-5.
“The ball was slipping out of my hand the whole night. I really struggled getting a consistent release with it. At the same time, it was putting a real crazy spin on the ball. I throw my fastball without seams and it was literally slipping the whole night. The closest thing I can compare it to is the way a knuckleball pitcher throws. You don’t walk six and have an outing like that, but the ball was just moving all over the place all night. I just stuck with it and battled through it.”

“That’s not how I like to pitch. It was weird conditions, it was misting out there the whole night. So my hand was wet and he ball just sits there and gets wet.” - Brian Bannister, Kansas City Royals. Bannister pitched 7 innings, allowing one hit, against Toronto in the rain on Monday night. The Royals won 7-1.

“Both times I said, ‘Jimmy, go talk to him. You could see he was just on the verge of keeping it together or not. Big moments in the game, so I just thought it was the right time to go out there.” – Tampa Bay Manager Joe Maddon. Maddon sent pitching coach Jim Hickey to the mound twice to calm down starter Jeff Niemann who worked his way out of both jams to help lead the Rays to a 7-1 win over Minnesota.

“I told him, ‘Run until they stop you.’ He did. I don’t think they ever stopped him. I think he’s still running if we go look for him right now.” - Ryan Spilborghs, Colorado Rockies. Spilborghs’ teammate Dexter Fowler stole five bases against San Diego Monday night. The Rockies won 12-7.

“Today was just nice, because I looked around in the seventh, eighth inning, and guys were smiling on the bench, having fun. It’s a feeling I don’t think we really had the whole year.” - Dan Haren, Arizona Diamondbacks. Haren led the D-Backs past the Cubs 7-2 with a complete game performance.

“I just had a very productive out. That’s all.” - Bengie Molina, San Francisco. Molina hit a soft roller up the 3rd base side that scored teammate Edgar Renteria for the game winning run. The Giants beat the Dodgers 5-4.