Clint Hurdle Game Quotations

We've always wanted to improve our bullpen, but until this year we weren't able to get the pieces we wanted. It's been frustrating. . . . It's not easy to spend the bulk of the game battling for a lead and then seeing it get away. . . . Now we have some depth. We have some quality arms.

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.

We made a lot of mistakes, though, through the game to put us in that position. I don't think you can hang the (goat) horns on Brian.

Leaving a game in the fifth inning I wouldn't think would make any pitcher happy, ... Sometimes different things will motivate people different ways.

One of the toughest things to do as a man in anything is to slow down when we're not doing what we think we should be doing. As men, we want to step on the gas. That's a defining point. It's a growth thing for me. It's the next step into a player becoming more entrenched at the Major League level, to have the ability to slow the game down.

He is capable of better and we need better from him. We know and he knows he can deliver better. I talked with him during the game and after the game. Sometimes you have confidence in your ability and wait for things to happen. And sometimes you have to make things happen.

He hit his spots, had a good split and worked his fastball on both sides of the plate. We're not on top of our game offensively and he didn't make it any easier on us.

He got off to a good run, but his command has become a little more inconsistent of late. He's got a history of issues with command. If his command doesn't get to be above average, he will fall in the line of a lot of pitchers who will show you a good game once in a while, and then you wonder why they don't have more success.

We took a chance, but it's not like we were drawing plays up in the dirt. We talked before the game that he wasn't going to get a chance to beat us.

His voice was stronger. He got a big kick out of the game last night. He sent text messages to the players after.

He didn't have his best stuff tonight. His command wasn't nearly what it has been in the past. He had a four-run cushion, wasn't really able to capitalize on it. But he still left the game with a lead, so it wasn't a lost effort by any means. He battled.

I talked to Todd (on Sunday) night after the game and left another message for him (Monday) morning. He told me he might not make it on this road trip and laughed.

Winning a season series is something we didn't talk about much after the first half. You look at the numbers and see where you are and think maybe we can steal a game or two from them. . . . Obviously, we've been able to do a little more than that.

We had a lot of guys just running hot, and we were running hot to start the game again tonight. That's a nice come-from-behind victory on the road for us. I've seen a lot of road games.

Whether it's an old team or a young team, ... there's a certain way the game has to be played.

We tried to create some game situations, and he moved around pretty well.

Everybody thought it was a stab and something unique. Sunny showed us a little something today, and in a game we needed some length, BK gave it to us.

There's nothing to read into that. It's the first opportunity to get him in a game and try to split the innings up and give them both opportunity to pitch.

as good a game as you will see here

This guy has a very workable package and a passion to play the game. I was open-ended with him today because of his competitiveness and he made a statement to finish it off and throw a complete game with 118 pitches.

A big game for Sullivan, and a big game for us. Everybody contributed. We played really hard and got a lot of things done.

I told him the beauty to this game is when you do well you don't go up. You stay around until you do lousy and then figure out how to do well again.

That's probably a pitch you'd like to have back. But we made a lot of mistakes in the game that put us in that situation.

That's as good a game you will see here as long as the place stays. That was top-shelf.

His breaking ball was on the plate today. The game against San Diego, he kept missing with it. His command was much better today.

His demeanor, his rhythm, the pace of game -- all of that is what you expect and what you need from your No. 1 starter. That's something he can bring every night, whether his best stuff's with him or not.

His counts got cleaner. He started with an inconsistent command, behind in counts. He got better as the game went on. There's better there, but that's winning without your best stuff early and then tightening up as you go along.

I don't think there was any big talk or meeting. It was the culmination of holding on to a perception. When you get to a point where you pitch, play defense and play smart baseball regularly, when the game gets clean, you win on the road.

He showed us what we needed to see to have confidence in his ability to put him in the game at any time, at any place in the outfield or as part of the lineup.