Joe Blanton
Joe Blanton
Joseph Matthew Blantonis an American professional pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball. He has previously played for the Oakland Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Kansas City Royals, and Pittsburgh Pirates...
fastball work
The (pitch to Rivera) was a fastball in and that's something I need to work on.
breaks couple giving matter
We're going out and giving it all we have. It's just a matter of a couple breaks here and there.
deeper feels good innings pitches six stamina three throwing
Throwing 85 pitches in three innings and throwing 85 pitches in six innings feels completely different. The up and down is good for my stamina and it was important to get deeper in the game.
battling came game last playoff series spot time
When I came up last year, we were battling them for a playoff spot just like we are now. Any time we play each other it's a big series and every game is right down to the last pitch, for the most part.
ball baseball drives goes hit line maybe next seattle series
That's the way it goes sometimes. Maybe in the Seattle series the ball was going right to the infielders. Maybe in the next series they'll hit line drives right at people. That's the way baseball works.
ball baseball fix helpful middle missing quick reminding trying
I was trying to get the ball in, and he was reminding me of that. In games, I have been missing over the plate. It was helpful to have him out there for a quick fix right in the middle of things.
carry confidence game gets hopefully rest win
To come in here and win the first game at a place like this is big, ... Hopefully it gets our confidence going and we can carry it over for the rest of the month.
calls expect pitch taught trusts
He trusts my stuff. He taught me a lot. He calls the pitch that you expect to throw.
benefits locked looks ready team
He looks like he's getting locked in. The whole team benefits from him being in the lineup. He looks like he's ready to go.
barry games gave great kept leagues lose pushing remained six
We were 15 games under .500, and Barry always remained positive. We started bad, and he never gave up. He kept pushing us. He's 27 now, with six years in the big leagues and a Cy Young Award. We didn't want to lose a great teammate.
balls bat catch good inches job pitches speeds three
Three inches here or there and a lot of those balls are caught. Sometimes you catch a break, sometimes you don't. Sometimes the (artificial) turf speeds balls up. I thought I made some pretty good pitches they did a good job of getting the bat on.
april ball close either games inch instead
We had a lot of close games that could have went either way (during April and May). It was one of those where instead of the ball going an inch foul, it went an inch fair.
balls finding gave hit holes left
I just left some balls up. I gave up 10 hits, but I didn't feel like I got hit around a lot. Balls are just finding holes right now.
close couple either gave mixed pitches row singles threw walk
I just gave up a couple of singles in a row mixed with a walk or two. I threw a lot of close pitches that could have been called either way.