Post-Game Thoughts From Torre, Kershaw and Martin

Tough loss for the Dodgers.  Here are the post-game comments.  Needless to say, it was a pretty short session.  Plus, it was Fireworks Night, so the guys either wanted to catch the show or beat the crowds out, depending on who you were listening to.

On the Game as a Whole (Joe Torre): “It was a good baseball game, but a very frustrating baseball game.”

On Missed Opportunities (Joe Torre): “That’s frustrating, but you have to give their pitching a little credit for that.  They missed opportunities too.  They had a man at 3rd base, nobody out.  We were able to get them on a good play.  There were missed opportunities on both sides.  Unfortunately they broke through and we didn’t.”

On Clayton Kershaw (Joe Torre): “You know what, he bends, but he doesn’t break.  He still was able to right the ship.  He’s paying a heavy price here, running that pitch count early.  But this kid doesn’t melt away and that’s certainly a step in the right direction.”

On the Offense (Joe Torre): “Yeah, we’ve been scuffling.  The longer it goes, the worse it gets because everyone puts pressure on themselves, saying, ‘I have to do it here.  I have to do it here.’  I don’t think the pressure of the game is getting to anybody.  I think it’s just the pressure that we’ve been scuffling and each guy is probably trying to do a little bit more than they’re capable of doing.”

On the Offense (Russell Martin): ”You get guys on third base, less than two outs, you’re supposed to put the ball in play and get the run in.  Some days it works, some days it doesn’t.  Today is obviously a day when it didn’t work, especially for me.  Maybe tomorrow.”

On Clayton Kershaw (Russel Martin): “He was kind of inconsistent with his location, his command, today, but he battled through it.  Kept them to one run.  You’re going to have days where you don’t have your best stuff and you just gotta compete and that’s what he did today.”

On His Pitching (Clayton Kershaw): “I just didn’t find a rhythm in the first inning.  Really in the second inning I just got fortunate and went deep in the counts.  Just one of those things that you have, probably over 30 pitches…it’s going to be tough to stay in a game past five innings when you do something like that.  So, just gotta figure out a way to minimize my pitches early in the game.”

On Throwing 97 Pitches Today After 112 His Previous Start (Clayton Kershaw): “I don’t think it has any affect at all.  I had four days to recover from it.  I don’t think it matters to be honest with you.  Pitch count is pitch count, but as a starter you get four days off so you can recover.”