Joe Torre
On Travis Schlichting and the performance of the pitchers:
“Schlichting pitched his tail off, as everyone else did. I have no clue where we’re going to go from here.”
“That’s the one area that’s made a big difference in our ball club. Anyone who tells you that pitching isn’t a main part of the game should take a look at those numbers.”
On Garret Anderson:
“He’s a pro. I’m happy for him. He’s a guy that’s used to playing all the time. Playing off the bench isn’t the same, but he comes in like a pro every day and it’s nice having him here.”
On Carlos Monasterios:
“I thought he was terrific. I took him out because he had a little blister. That’s why he came out of the game, although his pitch count was about where we wanted it. We were going to send him out there for another inning.”
On Travis Schlichting:
“He’s gone three innings a number of times and his pitch count was pretty good. But that was going to be his last one and we were going to come with Weaver. That was something I certainly didn’t want to, but at this point we had no choice.”
On who would have pitched after Jeff Weaver:
“I have no clue. A lot of it would have depended on that inning. If [Reed} Johnson has to pitch, now I’m out of players. Even if you go to a position player, you’re going to have to have a pitcher play someplace."
On Reed Johnson potentially pitching:
"I don’t know…I didn’t poll anybody. Short of one of those things, I was hoping that if we weren’t going to score, that it would be Garrett making the last out so at least the next inning I’d have Johnson leading off and I’d have nine guys. Pick one of those guys to pitch. But if I had to use him in the 14th inning, then I was going to have to probably use a pitcher to play a position and not pitch, which is something I’ve never had to do."
On potentially making a roster move to add a reliever:
"Kim [Ng] is out there waiting to talk to me. She’s going to come in and ask me the same question. I haven’t really digested this yet and I don’t know where we would make room for that person, but we are going to be a bit short, so we’ll have to see.”
Travis Schlichting:
On his performance today:
“I felt great out there. Last year I was a little nervous coming out, and this year…I just felt more relaxed and calm out there which is a good thing to feel.”
Garret Anderson:
On how big the game-winning hit was for him personally:
“I don’t really worry about myself personally too much. I just try and contributed as much as I can with what I got and fortunately I was able to do something today when it counted.”
On the fans getting restless:
“I’ve had that before and it’s well deserved. I don’t mind hearing boos when I’m out there not doing the things I’m capable of doing. So yeah, I’ll take those boos.”
Carlos Monasterios:
On how soon he can throw:
“I can throw. We’ll see tomorrow.”
On how happy he was with how he pitched:
“Very happy.” (with a huge grin)
Joe Torre’s Pre-Game Comments
On John Ely:
“He doesn’t have an issue with taking the mound in any ballpark in any city…He’s in his own world out there. Guys feed off the enthusiasm.”
On Ely facing the Diamondbacks for the second time:
“That’s important, because as I know as a hitter, sometimes you get familiar with a pitcher, you know what you want to hit. When he’s able to throw as many different as pitches for strikes, it makes it a little tougher to do that. He sort of puts you on your heels a bit as a hitter, because he works so quickly. It’s really unlike a lot of the pitchers these days.”
On George Sherrill:
“I watched him throw the [simulated] game the other day and he threw the ball well. He’s going to go tomorrow again with Padilla and then he’s ready to come off in probably five days or so.”
On giving so many starters the day off today:
“I think we’re better this year with the quality of the bench and A.J. [Ellis] has been remarkable because he hasn’t played for so long, and he had some good at bats this last game. Defensively, he’s certainly not a concern at all. I think you have to do what’s necessary, whether you have the quality on the bench or not.”
On Andre Ethier’s mechanics:
“It’s just timing right now. I’m glad he got his base hit, but it’s still a matter of timing. That’s the thing about hitting. He doesn’t look inhibited in any way or trying to protect anything. He’s pretty comfortable swinging the bat. It’s just a matter of getting the rhythm back.”
On A.J. Ellis missing the birth of his child to stay with the club:
“It’s a throwback, that’s for sure. Normally a player, when his wife is pregnant, will come in and say ‘My wife’s expecting in a month or five weeks.’ I always tell them, if you need to be there, take as long as you need. Catcher’s a little different than other position players, unfortunately. But he never came in and asked for any consideration. He knows it’s an opportunity right now. It’s an opportunity this kid has, and when you play this game, it’s a family commitment. You spend so much time with your teammates than you do your family. I’m sure it was tough. He did say that he did watch it on the computer….but it’s not the same.”
On the team’s recent hitting struggles:
“I think our at-bats have been ok. You go through those ups and downs. Manny’s struggling a little bit, Ethier is just getting going and Matt [Kemp] seems to be getting comfortable again. Those guys don’t hit, and then you’re asking the support guys to do the job. Even Furcal is trying to find his stroke. I think we’re just going through a little bit of a dry spell, that hopefully we can start coming out of. Casey [Blake]’s been swinging the bat really well. James [Loney] is struggling again. He can be as ugly as it gets, and then all of a sudden, three hits will come out of him.”
On Carlos Monasterios:
“Like Ely, he gets the ball and throws it. It’s going to come down to throwing strikes early to keep him from trying to hard. He falls into that too when he’s struggling a little bit.”
On Charlie Haeger:
“We can’t start him up again until the start of the week. His foot is getting better. The only thing he really hasn’t been tested on is touching the bag, but he’s been doing a lot of stuff. He’s just about back to where he should be right now.”
On Russell Martin’s slide from last night:
“I thought it was hard, but I thought it was clean.”
On the benches clearing after the slide:
“I told Matt Williams: you’re mine.” (Torre was obviously joking here)
On Jason Hayward coming to town with the Atlanta Braves:
“I am curious. He’s a pretty special young man. Bobby [Cox] doesn’t throw compliments around as easily as you might think and when he started talking about him in the spring, that got my attention. I hope we can deal with him.”