John Lackey Quotes (28 Quotes)

I'm not concerned about it at all. The trainers did a number of tests to be sure my strength was there.

I just hung a couple breaking balls. That was the main thing. I really have no excuses. We'll be fine. They've got to win a couple more games. We have two games left at the house.

I thought our pitching staff was pretty good last year. Any time you can add a guy like Weaver, it definitely adds to your depth.

Nolensville has been invited to the party, and they didn't show up to the dance.

I could tell warming up that I felt stronger. I felt like the ball was coming out of my hand good today. That was a good sign.

I just have to make better decisions.

I'm happy here. It's tough to beat Southern California.

We needed a win, and it was a big win for us. I was able to get ahead a lot, allow no walks, and make them earn it.

Any time you're facing a playoff-caliber team, it's always nice to show well. You never know when you might meet them next.

If there wasn't bad blood before, there is now. That's for sure.

The biggest key today was the guys giving me a cushion. I was able to use more of the plate than usual and guys, fortunately, hit the ball at people.

I give credit to the offense tonight. The guys scored some runs, and that's big. It's a huge positive. For most of the year, we needed really good starting pitching to win. This has got to give the pitchers and offense both a lot of confidence.

Our whole bullpen, being so strong down there, really allows us to go hard for as long as we can. We don't have to worry about saving things for late in the game. We can really go after our pitches ... from the beginning because we have a lot of confidence in the guys who are coming in behind us.

That guy can hit anything. When he hits the ball hard, it's homers, and when you make (tough) pitches on him, it's broken-bat singles. I mean, he can do everything.

I wanted to make it stand up, keep throwing up zeros. We really needed this to get us started in the right direction, and to show those guys that we're going to be hanging around.

Jason has a history of being out on the plate and keeping his elbow guard on the plate. I told him to move it back and he came after me. I was surprised, but I'm cool with that.

It is nice for them to show the confidence in me. It's nice the organization feels confident in me to sign me to a long-term deal.

I was pretty sore the next day. I got a pretty good rub they were trying to rub it out. You don't want to miss time, but it is better to miss it now than when it really matters.

The last time we got in a fight (with the Padres during spring training in 2002), we won the series. I'd be OK if that happens again.

The biggest key today was the guys gave me a cushion. I was able to use a little bit more of the plate than usual, and they hit some balls hard at people.

I felt pretty good. I had good command of all four of my pitches. They've got guys that can swing the bats over there. It's a challenge to face them.

Any time you're playing a playoff-caliber team, it is always good to show well, because you don't know when you'll be seeing them again.

I just hung a couple of breaking balls, didn't get them down to where they needed to be. I just hope to get another start.

Jason has had a history of leaning out over the plate, trying to get hit. He stuck his elbow guard out over the plate and I told him not to. He had a problem with it, and he came out and got me. He has a right to do that, and I'm totally cool with it.

Our mitigation strategy was the realignment of the road. We need to back up and start all over with a new strategy. Otherwise, I don't feel any level of comfort.

They've got a lot of guys over there who can swing the bats, and it's definitely a challenge every time you face them. But I was able to command pretty much all four of my pitches and I was hitting spots.

It hasn't been a season where we can pitch OK to win we have to pitch well to win, ... We know the potential of this offense. We have a lot of great players who can swing the bats. Some guys haven't had the years they thought they would have, but sometimes you run into some bad luck too.

The contract has nothing to do with it anymore. It's time to pitch.