Orlando Hudson's 9th-inning AB did a number on JV, as the ball hit him on the ankle, and then he pulled his calf trying to throw him out.
"Right now, I just put it on ice and check it tomorrow. See how I feel. "I felt it a lot. It affected me a lot. I wanted to pitch. I wanted to support my team, and that's what I did today.”” I guess when you're in pain you talk like Ernest Hemingway writes.
Then JJO had this item:
Valverde, who blew a save Friday while pitching with mild back soreness a night after he couldn’t pitch because of the back problem, refused to come out even though trainer Rex Jones, manager Cecil Cooper and catcher Pudge Rodriguez suggested he’d ex
This is what's most troubling to me. It worked out, I guess, last night for Valverde because he got the save. But if your catcher, manager, and trainer come out to the mound and you tell them to leave...? I guess I understand, because who the heck else are you going to put in that situation. I'm not thrilled with Valverde's performances to this point, either, but I'm more comfortable with him in the 9th than anybody else in the bullpen right now.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
