Innings Quotations

The Nationals tried hard to recover the lost ground. The final result, however, was the success of the Forest Citys by a score of 29 to 23 in a nine innings game, twice interrupted by rain.

I wouldn't throw all spitballs. I'd go maybe two or three innings without throwing a spitter, but I always had them looking for it.

To participate in a World Cup is a great honour and achievement. I've played in three World Cups. The whole world watches you during a World Cup and expects you to play innings to win games for your country.

Like an author, a cricketer signs his name on every innings he bats or bowls in; indeed for every cricket ball that challenges him on the field.

In sport, there is always room for improvement. Whenever I see my innings against the West Indies or Australia, I think, 'Maybe, I could have done this better or should have changed that.' See, cricket is a skill game, and one can always improve upon the impact one has on an innings.

We've added two innings starters, we've added some team speed, we've improved our defense, we've increased our depth in the bullpen. So I feel good about that. But we still have some things left to do. We'll continue to be aggressive.

We still need more intensity to start the game, as we left eight runners on base in the first three innings. Over the last four innings we concentrated more on what had to be done.

We're in pretty good shape moving forward but I think we have got to get better still. There are some areas we need to touch up - we probably need 10 runs or so more each innings and more strike-power when we bowl.

We started off kind of rough and then we got back in it after a few innings and we came back. We were just sort of rusty pitching wise coming off the Spring Break. We still hit the ball well and defensively we didn't have any errors. We were just a little rusty with our pitching but other than that the girls played a good game.

We started off early. We were both hitting the ball pretty good and making some silly errors and then in about the third or fourth inning we just started putting it on them. We had two innings in a row where they didn't even hit the ball. Three up, three down. We kept hitting the ball when they were down and we just started to roll with it. We ended up ten run-ruling them.

We're not going to rush him. We're not going to hold him back, either. But I'd like to see him get more innings at the professional level.

We're going to primarily rest our starting pitchers and give some guys a chance who haven't had a lot of opportunities to stake a claim for some more innings out of the bullpen. I anticipate Butler will be taking the same approach.

We're going to familiarize ourselves with (Hernandez) so we can get a pretty good idea, as we enter the season, of what we can expect with him as far as workload goes. I don't want to say, though, that because he threw 125 innings or so last year, that he's not capable of throwing 180 or 190 innings this year. It will all be based on how he feels.

We're going to have innings for all our starters, whether we carry 11 or 12 pitchers.

We're going to have a strong battery. Our pitching gives us the luxury of a lot of good innings defensively.

Us in the late innings -- we're tough, real tough. You know that they're going to break out. It's a good thing to see us not giving up in the late innings.

We're a young team, but I thought we settled down in the second and third innings and played better defense. I liked the defense overall.

We're a young and inexperienced team, which can make things difficult, but I saw some real improvements defensively today. We had a few good innings where our defense really came through for us.

Through my years, I've felt a closer needed to pitch about 20 innings in the spring. But I like the course Coco is on. As long as he keeps building up and feeling good, I think he'll be fine.

Ultimately, I did what I wanted to do. If I can throw seven innings the rest of the way and we sustain this lead, it's going to help me a lot.

We're still in the first or second innings of the ballgame of replacing Greenspan. But it's not like the game hasn't begun.

We've got different plans for Bonds. We're only going to pitch to him in innings that end in vowels.

We have to get the players mentally ready to play seven innings every night.

We have to get a quality start out of Tabor. Our bullpen has worked hard and we need to get five or six innings out of him and only give up two or three runs.

We were asleep. Our bats were cold but (Fischer) did a good job against us. We finally started waking up in the sixth and seventh innings but it was way too late in a seven-inning game.

We were trying to get some young guys some work, guys who hadn't been getting as many innings on the weekend. So that was the initial plan either way. So it worked out where a guy would struggle, but we had a guy ready to go.

We'll see what happens Tuesday. If (Marquis) can get a couple innings on Tuesday, that would line him up for Saturday and then we'll see what goes from there.

We did not execute on the simple parts of the game tonight. We were not ready mentally and when we got focused, the damage had been done. Hopefully, we can come out and be ready to play a full nine innings on Saturday.

We did not commit a single error in the game. When you can go five innings in high school baseball without committing an error, you improve your chances of winning.

We did everything we could, ... You're in a pennant race. ... We're trying to win. Five runs in two innings -- you can't go with that.

We hit the ball well up and down the lineup. We jumped up on them the first two innings (for a 6-0 lead).

We hit the ball well tonight. We had two good innings at the start and moved our base runners. We have to continue playing like this for the remainder of the season.

We've spread a lot of innings around. We've used nine different guys, and the roles on the staff are becoming much more defined.

When I did get the call to start, it took about three games for me to build my innings up. Now, I can prepare myself to start, condition myself properly, space my throwing out, build up from the beginning this year and be ready to start. I think it's going to help me in the long run.

We have just got our noses in front, although it was unfortunate losing Mike so close to the end. The morning session is crucial in the context of our first innings and maybe in the context of the game: if we bat well through to lunch we will be looking at a good score, if we lose a couple of wickets we will have to battle as long as we can.

We are very excited with the way Aaron pitched. He had a no-hitter going in the fifth. Andy did a nice job for us on the end of our road trip and was outstanding in the last few innings (Wednesday).

Whenever you have to make a spot start, it takes you anywhere from three to five days to recover. And we're just not getting enough innings out of our starters.

We had been walked off the last two days, so it was good that we stretched the game to extra innings and pulled it out. It was a good win for us, especially starting a new month and being back at home. Definitely the kind of game that can get you started in the right direction.

We won't be able to use a couple guys tomorrow that we had planned on using (Tuesday). That just gives someone else an opportunity. We'll mix and match and try to get the nine innings in.

We were counting on 200 innings from Brian this year.

We need cleaner innings from the bullpen. He has had a lot of people on base when he has been out there.

We need better from him. He's capable of better. He knows he should be better. I talked to him a little bit during the game and then again after the game. ... He's capable of better. We've all seen better. He needs to take the momentum from the last two innings and roll that into his next start.

The plan for the year is to have (senior Jessica) Garvin start off with three or four good innings and have Pettit come in. We need our pitchers to come out and throw as well as they can.

Let's be honest, Pedro for five innings is better than no Pedro at all. With the way our bullpen is going to be structured, having a day off Tuesday, it might not be so bad to have him out there for only five innings -- assuming he's healthy and that's the most important thing.

Let's face it, it's very, very difficult to get our work in. The disappointing thing is that it looked like we were going to get our five innings in.

She's had some excellent outings, and she's had some not-so-good outings. Unfortunately, we have to put her in there, and she's getting more innings than I would have originally planned.

She's been hurt, and this is the first seven-inning game she's pitched in a month. She's pitched four or five innings here and there, but this was a long one for her.

She's amazing. She has the maturity, the physical ability and she's a clutch player. It was hard for her when simple errors hurt and she's doing her best. The last three innings were a big mental game for her but she pulled out of it.

Shock. It was shock. You almost feel you have three or four innings to play, but you go home. . . . We feel baseball is best in the U.S. and it's difficult not to carry that out.

Simon Jones bowled exceptionally well in the first innings, so after losing him, the bowlers in the second innings deserve a lot of credit, ... They kept running in on a placid wicket that was really very slow. We had to use all our resources to whittle out those ten wickets and restrict them to a total where we only had to chase 130.

She got a ball to drive and she didn't miss it. Our offense comes in spurts, we did nothing for the first three innings and then exploded.

She hasn't pitched in almost two weeks, so I really wanted to give her some innings out there, and I think she did a good job. One play here or there, and she's still in it.

Modest innings were draining him. He had no energy to give to the team, which was helping neither him nor us.

Maybe with relief pitchers, you need to look at not only how many saves a guy has, but how many innings he pitched getting those saves.

My first year in the big leagues, I made $17,000. It was easy to go out and get another $17,000 relief pitcher. I never worried about innings or pitches. I just pitched.

My first thought process was just keep it in the yard. Eighteen innings of baseball. That's unbelievable for two teams to go at it like that. It's the best game I've ever been a part of. I just want to keep learning and learning.

One reason I am looking forward to playing is because of the misconception that the United States is going to take this as an exhibition rather than a competitive tournament, and that could not be further from the truth. If I wanted to just relax I would stay in Spring Training, play my four innings and then go play a round of golf. I want to win this thing.

One of the things is that .... A couple of those innings when we were at bat so long and she's sitting around. ... I told her to go throw. I had to get her up a little bit to keep her arm loose. She did a nice job. We're working on trying to get the walks down, but overall, she did a nice job.

Obviously, we didn't come out and start well. We did a bad job of making adjustments. We've got to be focused for seven innings to win games.

Obviously, when you keep the ball up in this ballpark, you can see the kind of damage they can make. I was cruising for the first two innings and I lost it. That was the game right there.

One thing we're seeing is we're building some depth. We've had 14-15 guys play a bunch of innings and I like what I see.

Newman threw pretty well for her first time out. After Jeter threw 18 innings (Monday), we asked Dominique to get us three or four innings. She got us into the fourth and that?s what we wanted from her. She did a nice job.

Nobody wants to miss part of Spring Training. Not only do you have to get your arm in shape, but you have to get a feel for your delivery and feel for your release point and I think that's probably where he felt a little naked heading into the season. He just didn't have the innings the other guys had.

No doubt, our first target would be to pick up the remaining wickets quickly but we are already thinking about the second innings. I think the second day was not too bad for us if you consider our first innings total. But all know that we have a very poor record in second innings.

Right now, it's just working squads because there's so many guys over with the big club. They're getting their at-bats in, getting their innings in. Then, in the last two or three days, we'll do the teams.

Potter threw a ton of innings last year, but we've got four, five guys that are pretty good. The consistency has been great because we don't have a No. 1. We haven't had a complete game yet and I don't know if we'll have one all year.

I was going to let him go out of the windup to 80 pitches. If anything was in the stretch, he was out. He could have finished that inning. But we had a number in our mind. You know six innings was a bonus.

I would say he threw pretty good. He's probably a little bit rusty, but still threw pretty good. The first couple innings he was sharp. With the exception of a couple home runs, I thought he threw the ball pretty good. It was basically his first outing of the spring.

I was pleased with the guys' hitting today. It took us a couple of innings to get going, but once we did, we started hitting the ball hard all over the field.

If we'd taken our opportunities, things could have been really different. Both guys we put down in the first innings went on to make hundreds.

If we have a lead in the seventh inning and you're throwing him two innings and Frankie one, we're looking pretty good, ... Everybody knows what Escobar can do, and he's giving guys like myself and Brendan Donnelly some rest. And if you look at what we've done the past few weeks, we're as strong as we've ever been. That's a pretty good thing to have.

I got some easy outs in some quick innings with some changeups to the lefties, ... Coming back and taking the lead, giving us momentum after the fifth inning, I just started feeling strong and stronger. I felt like my fastball was livelier. The wind stopped pushing so much at my back, which I think made my breaking ball a little bit better because early on I didn't think it was good.

If we can get one good stand then we can take a first innings lead which is important on this pitch.

If they go all the way to the finals, he might be stretched out to two innings while we are trying to stretch him to six, seven innings. That's the biggest concern.

If we can squeeze a few more runs out of the tail and then bowl well first thing in their innings it could be very interesting. That's not a bad total and it could be an even better one if we bowl well tomorrow - it's certainly not the end of the world as far as we're concerned.

I didn't get the ball down at all today. Eleven hits in six innings proves the point that I wasn't pitching down in the zone. ... When Furcal got the home run in the fifth, it shifted the momentum back to them.

I'd like to sit and talk to him between innings when I'm pitching. It keeps my mind off the game a little. Most of the time, I like to talk not about the game, but something else. The last couple years it was a little hard because Leo wasn't like that. He's really into the game. So I'd talk to whoever sat next to me. We'd talk about anything.

I don't know what to say. When you don't get innings out of your rotation, it's always going to come back to haunt you. That's been the case the last couple of days.

I don't know -- that'll all go into the final evaluation. Clean innings would be a big plus. There's something to be said for getting out of them. But when you have men on base, they're going to score sooner or later. He's done a fine job so far.

I batted well in both the innings and have played well over the last four-five months. I hope to do well in Pakistan if my present form continues, backed by a bit of luck.

Butch came in the last two innings and we saw the old Butch.

Barry was supposed to go four at-bats, but we had some long innings at night. I just didn't think one more at-bat or one trip to the outfield was going to do that much. He got a good workout.

I felt pretty good, kind of a strange night. Being wild like that didn't give them any time to lock in on me. Usually five walks in six innings is a problem for me, but I was able to get out of jams. I would have rather given up a hit than all those walks.

I felt good. This was the first time I went three innings right out of the chute. It's definitely something to build on.

I felt like I started pretty well and probably got worse as the innings went on,

I felt like I was in a groove. Obviously, the four runs did help. It gave me a cushion there. But I really feel that having those innings in Spring Training helped me, and I feel a little bit more at ease this year.

I felt good before the game, but in the first couple of innings I couldn't find my release point and everything was going high. I had a slow start, but I just had to come back and adjust.

I felt better than the last time, which is good. It's still early. You've got to wait and see, rack up some innings, to see if you start feeling better. Who doesn't feel good after five innings (in spring training)?

I feel good, and I'm fine. My slider is working, and I have made two mistakes. That's about it. I'm going to get work and the innings in.

I feel like Wandy's thrown the ball really well the whole year, ... I know he's had a few rough starts, but you can't expect a rookie to come up and give the innings he's given us.

I feel like I'm just now getting in a groove, feeling pretty strong. I've got just over 100 innings under me right now and I feel like I'm just about getting things going.

I feel much better when I throw eight innings on 80 pitches than eight innings on 120. I think I'm a more mature pitcher.

I didn't have any choice because I had a short bullpen. If we tied the game up, and I'm out of pitchers, where I have to hit for them -- I only have five guys. That's why I double-switched, to get the most innings out of the guys pitching without running out of pitchers and running out of position players.

I can't quite believe it. I thought I tried to bowl too fast in the first innings and I relaxed today and just put it in the right place. It was one of those days.

Four innings were good, one inning was bad, one inning was ... whatever,

From his point of view as far as I've seen and talked with Shane, he's fine and ready to go. I think he'll be ready either for the second part of this innings or certainly the second innings of England's.

For Sam Spencer, a senior we don't use a lot who hasn't pitched for a while, to come in and chew up some innings was awesome.

If anybody was going to come through with a hit like that, I'm glad it was a senior. A couple of innings prior, Jenna was in a situation where if she'd got a base hit, we would have scored a run, but she didn't. So this was huge.

I expect Harker to pitch that many innings if not more.

I expected a tough game. They're much-improved. For nine batters, we didn't hit the ball. That's three innings you lost.