Mike Scioscia Quotes (132 Quotes)

A three-run lead in the Grand Canyon with that club is not a safe lead. But our guys, when they had to, made terrific pitches.

We had a lot of guys in our 'pen step up. Kelvim just shined the whole night. That's one of the big reasons why we have him for depth down there, and tonight it certainly paid off.

The velocity is matching the command and he's getting good results.

Our defense has been there all year for us. This is out of the blue, really. Everything you could've messed up, we messed up out there.

He had a couple good innings, then his pitch count got a little elevated and we were hoping that he could get through six. He found a second wind and he got through seven and eight.

It's jammed, but it's not anywhere near what he did three months ago when he missed all that time. We're going to take it day-by-day.

You have to remember, ... he was No. 1 on a lot of people's list a couple of years ago.

I think it was a terrific effort against a good club and considering the circumstances of being in a pennant race.

We were facing a real potpourri of pitchers, ... Everyone who came in the game made good pitches. All of those guys, they've got some good young arms. Woodyard had good stuff. Fortunately, we got to them late.

I don't think there's one thing you can hang your hat on and say you won or lost with. The two walks and the ball in center field that dropped obviously were bigger contributors in that inning than the missed call on the check swing. We just set the table for them and you can't do that to a club like the Red Sox. They're too powerful.

There's no question what he does for a lineup. He can make your lineup deeper. It's not going to relate to 12 runs every night, but tonight we got some runners on and drove them in. Vlad was in the middle of everything.

The only way to overcome this is to grind it out. There's no easy fix. We're a good club and we'll get it back.

We can't look at the standings. If we play the way we are capable of playing, we will reach our goal.

Vlad has had some stretches occasionally where hits haven't fallen in. But he's the type of hitter that takes one swing to get him locked in seeing the ball again, and he can go crazy. That's a dangerous player, and they have done a good job with him so far.

Ervin was a little bit shy on command, but when he needed to make pitches he did.

It's not anywhere near what he did three months ago, where he missed that much time.

When that happens it puts more of a burden on a guy like Vlad. Sometimes you can pitch around one guy in the middle, and we've seen that. When Vlad was out of the lineup we hung in there. We had some guys swinging the bat well. I don't think we go as far as Vlad goes, but we need more than that.

But we're not going to get there if we don't play better baseball.

I think if you looked at Jon Garland's chart tonight, I'd be surprised if he missed with a dozen pitches, ... It might have been one of the top couple games we've had pitched against us all year.

He came out and got in a zone early and got in a nice groove. We just couldn't pressure him enough early on to make a difference.

It started with the leadoff walk to Cora and the walk to Damon. Those two are things you can't do against the Red Sox. You've got to get in the zone. You've got to make pitches. Ervin was a little bit off.

It is something that we would welcome, but it is not an absolute necessity, ... does not have to hit home runs to be productive. What we need is for his production to get back to where it needs to be. He is one of the premier RBI guys in the last few years and we need that to re-emerge.

I just know that in Southern California, the way that championship was received was absolutely along the lines of what we saw in Boston,

I couldn't be in a better environment for us to achieve our goals, ... From everything from what Arte has committed to this organization, from the top down to the Minors couldn't be better. Nobody has a crystal ball, but I don't know if there is a better managerial job out there in baseball.

He pitched a great game. Offensively, we didn't get anything going and every pitch is magnified. He didn't make many mistakes today at all. We just didn't pressure them enough offensively.

We still have to remain conservative. Even if there is a date that says 'Opening Day' soon, you still can't risk losing a big part of the season.

Give him credit. We had some opportunities, but he made some pitches and shut the door.

He was fine last night. He was a little stiff today and got some treatment.

If you've got five starters that you perceive to be terrific starters, then go get a sixth because that depth is going to come up there is no doubt about it. From our perspective we feel very strongly about being a perennial contender and that means the s

A muddy track is not something that works in our favor. I think we need to run the bases, we need to stay aggressive. I think whether we play tonight or tomorrow or any time this series, you're going to have a slower track just because of the wetness that you anticipate the field having.

We did a nice job on the mound against a deep lineup.

(Lackey) wasn't as sharp as we've seen him, ... He threw a lot of pitches early, and then he settled in. I thought he kept his composure, and he pitched. You look at the linescore and see seven scoreless innings and say he breezed, but it wasn't easy.

When you're not swinging the bats well you look flat. Our club was ready to go. We had a lot of energy.

This is out of the blue. Everything you could have messed up, we messed up out there. These guys have played terrific defense all year, so it's very uncharacteristic.

I guess I haven't seen that play work since Willie Mays Hayes (movie Major League). It's a great hustle play. I don't think we'll design it or use it again, but it worked out tonight.

He's been playing great. I think he's got to be a candidate. With the type of year he's having, you'd have to consider him.

His velocity was good, his command was not as crisp as it has been. In the deep counts he ran, he came back and made some terrific pitches. When he had to make a pitch, he did.

He's day-to-day we're not going to play him if there's a risk of injury and missing substantial time. If the lead shoulder is not impacting his swing and he's not at a risk of injury, he'll play.

I think he looks very smooth back there, and it's obvious that he works well with the pitching staff. He's mobile, he's got a quick release, and I think his arm is solid.

I think the important thing, ... is for us is to bring our style of play into the game.

There's been no indication that there is any damage in there that would impact him moving forward. But they're going to do some tests and we'll get a better idea this week exactly what his status is. I think as soon as he came out of last night's ballgame it was pretty ominous and pretty obvious that he wasn't going to be able to help us in this series.

What he has to do now is regain some stamina to become a starter again. He has as good a stuff as anyone.

He's a good defensive third baseman, and he's quick and he's got good range. Early on this spring, he wasn't moving his feet like he can, but you can see today what type of third baseman he can be.

We are at the point of the year where if you push him back, it could mean one less start at the end of the year. We need to make sure that he can pitch. If we do push him back, we want to make sure we have the matchups we need at the end of the season.

He's a special pitcher. If you look at what he's accomplished from the middle of last year 'til now, I don't think there's a pitcher who can match what he's done.

We're good at situational baseball. And running the bases well is more important offensively than anything we do.

Finley's been swinging the bat a lot better, ... It's good to see him chip in.

That is not necessarily a good thing and not necessarily a bad thing at this point of the season. There is a danger of a guy getting cranked up for a competition that is going to be more intense. But I don't feel there is any benefit for it, no.

That's a tough lineup, and you have to make pitches in good locations to get them out. I think he got a little too fine in some counts.

I don't know if there's any pattern, other than the fact that it looks like the number of teams that are going to contend has expanded because a lot of teams have stepped it up a level.