There’s no confidence loss going on anywhere, me or them.

If you give up just one run, the game’s over if you don’t score. When it’s 11-0, it’s everything, pitching, defense and hitting.

Rickie got a curveball up a little bit and he hammered it. It was a big part of the game.

We wanted him to try to go out and pitch five innings and 80 pitches, and he ended up (going) six innings and 70 pitches.

He just struggled. They didn’t hit the ball hard, but they found holes. They put five runs on the board on him quick.

When things are going good, they’re going good.

The difference between us last year and us this year was those young players being here getting us over the hump.

I’ve been real pleased with our catching this season. Damian has given us a little more pop, and Chad hit better after a bad start. Both do great jobs behind the plate.

Again, we’re just experimenting with stuff.

We’ve never played as well as we’re playing right now, since I’ve been here. We’re playing the game so mistake-free.

It’s just down to basically the bullpen. There are still some spots open. We’ve got some things to decide.

He’s trying to get comfortable. He will.

We’re looking for a little more offense at the top of the lineup now. We’re trying to find a way to score some runs on a consistent basis.

The first time we saw Howard this year, it looked like he didn’t belong in the big leagues. It looks like he’s pretty much got things figured out now.

In terms of experience and guys getting better, we’ve taken that step. We’ve made the strides that we set out to make this year as far as big-picture stuff.

I’m not going to concede too many runs in this series, … It depends on who the hitter is, what stage of the game we’re at. I’ve seen a lot of games lost where you’re...

I know these guys will play with a lot of heart and a lot of pride. I knew it was matter of time before we got it going again.

Playing .500 is the first step. Eventually, we’re trying to get to where we can contend with St. Louis for the division. I’d rather have a winning record. We’re tired of being labeled a loser...

When you ‘ ve got a guy who ‘ s supportive and is loyal to his team as much as he is, as opposed to somebody who doesn ‘ t take that interest in the...

That was big for him, to go out in more of a formal situation, facing another Major League team. The second inning he came out with easy life on his fastball. You could see he...

For the first time in a couple of years we’re not going to have to turn the roster over to get better, … We’re going to have to increase our depth on the bench, the...

Tomo was very crisp today. He was sharp, he was throwing his fastball as hard as he has all year.

Not knowing who’s going to be the starter, the other two guys will probably fall back in and be in the pen. It depends on who has the most versatility to fill those spots.

I tried to set Robin up as much as I could.

It shows the character of our club. We kept battling until the last out.

I think Billy can play, quite honestly, every day at second, probably every day at short, every day at third, or every day in the outfield. He could be adequate at all those spots.

We haven’t pitched very well. But those things turn around.

It’s tough on him. He’s either pitching a lot or not pitching.

I imagine you’ll be watching that one on SportsCenter a lot.

I thought we had a chance after that.

[When they won their 10th straight game last week, manager Ned Yost and his coaching staff went through with a promise to wear Hooters waitress outfits on a plane trip from Cincinnati to Chicago.] You’ve...

I think Doug Davis would be a No. 1 starter on a lot of teams. He’s every bit a No. 1 starter as Benny is. We feel good about him.

He’s unfailingly patient. He never panics. He has a knack for taking a lot of pressure off of everybody. He never dogs anybody, no matter what. He just treats people like people. He doesn’t treat...

We kept smoking the ball. They just went right at people. You’ve got to give some credit to Valdez. He got the outs when he needed them.

He was making pitches over the corners, not over the middle of the plate.

I just told him he really needed to stay on the attack and get after this guy in order for it to happen.

We played solid and consistent baseball. That’s our goal, to be consistent as we can be.

I really like the board, but the green was a little bright. Now it fits the wall out there.

He can barely walk again today. The trainers had to help him put on his pants.

Hudson is 83-4 when given a four-run lead. Our goal today was to keep it to three runs or less to give us a chance to win.

He’s always been good against us. Every time he pitches against us, he pitches tough.

That shows you why we feel good about where we’re going.

We’re going against three of the best pitchers in the National League, and if you look one minute past today, you’re going to be in trouble. If you start looking down the road, you’re going...

He’s done a good job keeping the ball in the zone. He has had short, quick innings. He throws that knuckleball, and then he throws an 83-mph fastball and jams good hitters. He’s got some...

Rick Helling did a nice job. (He) had little spurts where he got out of sync a little bit. He made good adjustments and would get out of it.

He threw the ball OK, but he got a few pitches up in the strike zone. The wind blowing out didn’t help him.

He got a pitch in on Carlos that Carlos hit out of the park, and Billy drove a pitch out over the plate, but other than that we couldn’t muster much offense off him.

We’re not going to do anything stupid. We want Benny for the long haul.

Everybody goes through that. It’s nothing to worry about.

There’s a reason why guys win 300 games. They can field their position, they can swing the bat and they can throw strikes. That’s a big part of his game. There’s not a lot of...