He doesn’t seem to panic. He gets a jump on the ball and then is in the right position to make his leap.

He could make our decision easy — one way or another.

I’d say, right now, he’s their ace. They have a few aces as far as I’m concerned.

We don’t need someone not to say something. We need input.

He’s pitched better than that, there’s no doubt about it. I think that’s really it. Seven innings against the White Sox, I’ll take that every time. He’s given us all he’s got. He deserves more.

[Kotsay] doesn’t have that great foot speed, but he’s quick. He’s just quick to the ball instinctively. That’s like Granderson. And Granderson is faster than Kotsay in foot speed. I’m just giving an example of...

Applying it is the difficult part,

We want to win as many games as we can, … but not at the expense of losing somebody like that for possibly longer.

It’s been too long,

It’s not easy right now,

He’s a little banged up.

We need to stop this thing,

He fell behind, and we swung at a borderline pitch.

There’s a lot of work to be done. They don’t deny it.

He’s a little taller (in his batting stance), a little more aggressive to the ball. He’s not collapsing on his backside. His swing’s more level.

I think it’s pretty obvious that he’s comfortable against him.

The first thing that comes to mind is athleticism and type of players they have,

That’s just the way things are going for us. We could have gotten a run out of it, but we wouldn’t have gotten out of the double play. He tried to curl out of the...

He was more aggressive. That’s really been the whole thing with [pitching coach Bob Cluck] going over film with him, being too fine. He has a sinker, so he needs to use more of the...

his ability to get along with everybody — making you feel welcome.

Going back to July, we had a pretty good month, … Shelton was hitting third and Pudge was hitting sixth.

We haven’t had too many of these games lately. Carlos comes out right from the get-go with a home run, and it seemed to kind of snowball from there.

We’re doing our job,

I’ve said many times this year that at times, we can play with anybody, … And we’ve shown that. We just haven’t been consistent.

I can’t even, it’s just almost too much to take to be honest with you. It’s like we can’t catch a break. In light of us struggling, it’s just not coming easy, all the way...

We didn’t muster much. Ryan Franklin had good command of his breaking ball, slider, change and curve. He throws all four pitches.

I can’t answer exactly how I’m gonna work through this thing. But it’s a nice problem to have.

The runner has to keep his head up in that situation.

To Brandon’s credit, he was running hard. You often see guys going 60 percent on a ball like that, and they don’t score.

He’s a kid who wants to help carry us — which is commendable — and of late it hasn’t happened. It’s like we say about hitters who want to go out there and do too...

Our bullpen just didn’t do the job. Yesterday, they were great.

It’s been a rough couple of weeks,

I’m sure we’ll discuss quite a few things, to be honest with you.

If those comments stir things up a little bit, that’s OK, because we’re all accountable,

We haven’t played that bad.

There’s nothing that we haven’t talked about before.

That typifies how, when things aren’t going well, how tough it can be.

I don’t like it at all. I am in charge so it is my responsibility. It bothers me. I’d love it to stop as quick as it possibly could.

I don’t want to say this week [or] next week. He’s feeling much better.

That first inning could have been something to get you going, … But then it was, ‘Ah! Here we go again.’

Like a lot of guys, Pudge has tried to do too much. Yes, he’s a free swinger — to a limit. This year he has expanded his zone.

They’re a lot further along than the Tigers were when I took over in 2003. … I’m not afraid to work,

This is the next stage.

If I leave, I leave with my head high, … I know in my own mind we’re making some headway, I believe that.

[JUST SHORT: Chris Shelton needed to go 3-for-4 on Sunday to hit .300. He went 2-for-4 and finished at .299. Shelton — called up from Toledo during the season — hit his 18th homer Sunday.]...

So many times when you think that way, you make a bad pitch. And those other teams that we play aren’t missing them. Flat-out. They’re not missing them.

Does that tell you how it’s been going for us?

His next start would be Friday. Right now, that’s up in the air.

We’re all responsible, … I’m the leader, the captain of the ship, and I have to take responsibility.

I give those guys credit over there, … They have a worse record. They’re battling. And that’s what we should be doing, to be honest with you. That’s the kind of way you’re supposed to...