Thoughts and prayers go out to hitting coach Sean Berry after he revealed he has a possibly cancerous tumor in his right kidney.
Hampton, on Berry:
“It just puts things in perspective. No matter how bad it gets on the field you know that’s the bigger issue. We’re human. Though we’re on TV and a lot of people look up to us and what we do, being a professional athlete, it really hits home when you break it down to we’re just people and crazy things happen.”
Coop, on Berry:
“We’ve gone through four or five days that have been really tough for us, travel days and long days at the ballpark. Cannot make excuses. We still got to go out and play. But it was difficult to get the news about Sean.”
Pudge:
“It was a bad day for me behind the plate. I’m human. I feel like I was jumping a little bit behind the plate, trying to reach for the pitch instead of waiting for the pitch and receive it.”
Coop, again:
“But we put ourselves in kind of a bad hole from the start. If we don’t do that we keep the game close and we always have a chance with our offense.”
Cooper, on Harden:
He comes at you with fastball, split and he's got a good arm. We had a chance to get back in it one inning and get a hit, he walked a couple guys. We couldn't get a hit. Then he sailed through three or four innings through seven. He was efficient with his pitches. He's tough."
Piniella, on Bourn:
"Bourn can go get a ball. This young man is developing into a really good, everyday center fielder. He can get the ball as good as any center fielder in baseball. He was pretty close to catching Johnson's."
Hampton:
"As a whole, the road trip was a little tough. With the rain, and our bullpen being used. And if anything, that four-run first, I was like, man, just pitch as long as you can, because I know they need a break down there. They're just getting used and abused, basically. I tried to go as long as I could. It's tough. We tried to battle back, but they had a tough pitcher on the mound."
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
