Joe Torre, Andre Ethier and Clayton Kershaw Post-Game Comments

What a game!  Ethier’s three home-runs are the most since Hee-Seop Choi on June 12, 2005 and his six RBI are a career high.  Looks like the Dodgers got a little extra motivation from having Pau Gasol in the stands!  Mota’s also been “rebounding” (pun intended) pitching two scoreless innings.  That means shutout baseball in 13 of his last 14 games for a 0.52 ERA.  Since May 17, he’s lowered his ERA from 9.00 to 4.50.

Great post-game comments from Torre, Kershaw and Ethier.  Definitely don’t miss Kershaw’s take on his developing pitching style.

First up is Joe Torre:

On Ethier: “That’s the guy we all know is in there.”

On Kershaw:  “As far as Kershaw, he grew a little bit at his last outing on Sunday and tonight was just an add-on.  Any time you can put two or three back to back like that, that means you’re making some progress.”

More on Kershaw: “Early in the game he’s not trying to overthrow the ball.  He’s so agressive, and sometimes it works against him because he goes out there and just tries to throw the ball by people and you can’t do it at this level…not on a consistent basis.  I saw him using his pitches the last time out and he used all his pitches tonight.  I thought his curveball was better and we told him he was done after six and he had these big wide eyes and said, ‘Really? Is that it?’  We’re gonna try and get as much good out of this thing as we can.”

On Never Having a Three-Game Losing Streak This Season: “People told me that, and it’s great.  Streaks are great, but you certainly want the good ones to outnumber the bad ones.  I remember ’96 when I had the Yankees, we never lost more than five in a row and we never won more than five in a row.  There’s no question that if you keep going the rest of the year without losing more than two in a row, we’re in pretty good shape.”

Clayton Kershaw’s Post-Game Comments:

On Andre Ethier: “He’s so tough when he’s hot.  There’s really no right way to pitch him; maybe walk him is the best idea.  He’s just got so much power and he;s got power to all fields.  When he’s seeing the ball well like he was tonight, you saw what happened – there’s no one way to get him out.”

On His Developing Pitching Style: “I think that’s the key for me – trying to incorporate all my pitches.  Sometimes when I get into trouble I just want to go hard, hard, hard and get people out.  Sometimes the best way to do that is just by backing off.  When you’re in certain situations, like whether it was the Angels and the bases loaded or tonight with the bases loaded in the fourth inning, you’re really just trying to make quality pitches.  Sometimes soft is the way to go.  Brad and Russell have both been great.  They’ve both started calling the pitches that I need to throw.  Instead of shaking off like I have done in the past, I trust them and trust myself a little bit more.”

Andre Ethier speaks:

On Having ‘Quick Hands’ Tonight: “I just went in there and worked with Donnie and worked on some stuff and got back to where I need to be. So I guess not to expect that that’s what happen after you work with Donnie, but I’m relaxed, more comfortable up there and ready to go.”

On Hitting Seventh in the Lineup: “We have a good lineup.  You should be honored just to be in the lineup.  We’re now in a situation coming in a couple weeks where we’ve got a guy that will definitely be in the lineup and everyone’s got to fit in where they can and have their opportunities.  It just shows you that you should be happy to be in this lineup because it;s so good and deep from our bench to our starting eight.”

On Attending Wakamatsu’s Baseball Camp as a Youth: “I remember going to Don’s hitting and fielding camps in the winter there in Phoenix.  I’m surprised he remembers me.  I was probably 11…12 years old at that time.  I don’t know if he knew at that time that I’d be his opponent on the major league level.”

On His Home Run Power: “I was never a home run hitter.  I didn’t hit my first home run until I was 13 years old.  Not even Little League.  I didn’t hit one until I was a seventh grader in junior high. So I can say, never three in a game.”