8-3 loss in which the F-Bomb/Pitch ratio was very high...
Jose de Jesus Ortiz:
As Cecil Cooper slowly walked to the Minute Maid Park mound in the ninth inning to yank yet another pitcher Thursday night, he seemed to be in a daze as he approached Felipe Paulino, the fourth of five relievers the Astros needed to pick up the pieces for Russ Ortiz.
Ortiz:
“I know every guy in here that’s a starter is going to go as long and as hard as they can for as many innings as they can. I think right now we’re in a little bit of a rough patch. That doesn’t mean it’s something that will continue to happen. No starter likes to have to have the bullpen used that much, because these guys need rest just like everybody else.”
Cooper, on yanking Ortiz in the 3rd:
“When do you just sacrifice the game and let them just go? I don’t think you just leave a guy out there to die like that. That’s not the way I do things. I thought we had a chance to hold the game there, and we actually did.”
Piniella, on Lilly:
"Lilly struggled early but he picked it up and he hung in there. Truthfully I was thinking, 'I hope we can just get through five with him.' But I tell you what, he threw six pretty respectable innings."
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
