With the Yankees winning Game 5 of the American League Championship Series, you know that TBS is really happy over having another game tomorrow night. We have the quotage from last night’s contest from the pre and postgame shows, plus the game itself. Take a look.
Notes from MLB Postseason on TBS – ALCS Game #5 – October 20, 2010 TBS’ exclusive coverage of the ALCS continues on Fri., October 22 beginning at 7:30 p.m. (ET) with TBS MLB on Deck followed by the New York Yankees @ Texas Rangers (Game #6) at 8 p.m. (ET). The night will conclude with the post-game show Inside MLB.***** ***** ***** ***** *****TBS MLB On-DeckMatt Winer (host), Dennis Eckersley, Cal Ripken and David Wells (analysts) from Yankee StadiumTBS reporter Craig Sager interviewed injured New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira prior to the gameTeixeira on how he is dealing with his Postseason-ending injury: “It’s never happened to me before so this is definitely a new experience. You become a cheerleader and you have a lot of confidence in your teammates. Although I can’t be doing it on the field, I’ll be cheering as loud as I can.”Eckersley on Lance Berkman filling in at first base for Mark Teixeira: “There is a domino effect offensively. They say, ‘just move Cano up to third (in the lineup),’ we know what he’s done in the fifth slot all year. He’s had a MVP-type season. But (Lance) Berkman is going to come in here and not too many teams have a guy of his caliber come in to play first base. Obviously, he’s not defensively anywhere near (Mark) Teixeira but he’s a good left-handed bat.”Eckersley on Texas Rangers starting pitcher C.J. Wilson: “(Wilson) used to be a closer so he knows how to go after (hitters). He’s got good, sneaky cheese (fastballs), a little cutter, a curveball and what makes him a good starting pitcher is he’s got a good changeup. He’s got confidence galore.”Wells on Yankees starting pitcher CC Sabathia: “I like the way (Sabathia) goes about his business. He wants the ball at any given time. We know what he can do but he has the determination to go nine (innings). If its three days rest, five days rest or six days rest, this is a guy you want on the mound. He’s not afraid to fail and that’s what you want. He is a warrior.”TBS reporter Craig Sager interviewed Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton prior to the gameHamilton on the unity of the Rangers: “It speaks volumes about the depth of our team. About how each guy can get their job done at any time. (It speaks to) how we are one (unit) and how the chemistry is and how we have a ‘never say die’ attitude. A lot of people had us as underdogs so hopefully we can go out and (if we can’t) finish it here, we can finish it at home.”Hamilton on the support system he has in place to help deal with his sobriety: “It’s really not hard (to stay sober). You separate yourself from certain situations and that is 90% of the battle. I’ve got teammates that understand my situation and I’ve got a good support system. So right now, you never want to get comfortable but I’ve got a lot of people around me that love me, care about me and want to see me do well.”***** ***** ***** ***** *****Game #5: Texas Rangers (2) @ New York Yankees (7) – Rangers lead the series 3-2Announcers: Ernie Johnson (play-by-play), Ron Darling (analyst) and John Smoltz (analyst) with Craig Sager reportingSmoltz on the leaders of teams on the brink of elimination needing to set the tone for the rest of the club: “One of the things you have to do is have the leaders of your ballclub step up and say, ‘ok, this is where we come into play and make things change.’ Change the picture that everyone is looking at. CC (Sabathia) can do that, we know that and it would go a long way.”Darling: “The way you fail at it is trying to do too much individually. Just get back to what you’ve done all year long.”Smoltz on Rangers outfielder Jeff Francoeur’s high expectations when he was with the Atlanta Braves: “It was a little unfair what they did to (Francoeur). You have a great break-out season and everyone expects it (year after year). It’s tough to live up to it especially in your home city (Atlanta).”Smoltz on how players should never take anything for granted in the Postseason: “It’s 162 games (during the regular season) and you can see certain guys take things for granted, it’s a long year. But the number one thing I would say in the Postseason is never take anything for granted. Run everything out, don’t assume because you never know what point in the game is going to turn for your team and you better be prepared to be on that base or defensively making that play.”Darling on how the speed of Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus affects the defense: “Infielders have an (internal) clock. When they start to approach a ball, they know that (time is) ticking and they know that with (Elvis) Andrus, it’s ticking a little bit quicker.”Smoltz on how pitchers overcompensate when they don’t have their best stuff: “You have to change your body language and find a way to fake it. You’ve got plenty of time to get out there between innings and do the things you have to do. You need to change the mindset of your manager and pitching coach and the only way to do that is to mix your pitches and get outs.”TBS’ Johnson, Darling and Smoltz interviewed Rangers manager Ron Washington during the gameWashington on C.J. Wilson struggling in Game #5: “You can’t put (the Yankees) on the bag (on base). If you put them on the bag, they certainly know how to (score). In the second inning, (Wilson) couldn’t throw strikes and in the third inning, he couldn’t throw quality strikes. If he can settle down, we figure we can pick and peck and get back in this game. It’s a long ways from over. We just need him to settle down.”Johnson on how hard Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano hits the ball: “Does he ever hit a ball softly? Never. Everything (is) right on the barrel (of the bat).”Darling: “One thing you can’t teach is how hard the ball comes off a player’s bat. With the superstars, the ball comes off their bat different than someone else. Cano is in that superstar category.”Darling on how the top pitchers keep their teams in the game: “The elite pitchers, when they have their great stuff, put their team in a position to win. When they don’t have their great stuff, they always manage to keep their teams in the game.”Smoltz on how close the ALCS has been despite the final scores: “If you had only been noticing the scores of this series in the paper, you’d say this series hasn’t been close at all. But quite the contrary, it’s been a weird series from the final scores but (there have been) opportunities galore for both offenses.”TBS reporter Craig Sager interviewed Yankees outfielder Nick Swisher following the gameSwisher on the Yankees avoiding elimination and forcing a Game #6 in the ALCS: “We knew it was do or die and to come out and play the way we did today shows how resilient this team is. We never feel like we’re out of anything and that’s a great attitude to have.”***** ***** ***** ***** *****Inside MLBWiner, Eckersley, Ripken and Wells from Yankee StadiumRipken on how a team getting an early lead in a game relaxes the hitters: “Normally for the offense, when you get up early in the ballgame, the rest of the hitters start to relax a little bit. They start to make better swings and take the pressure of (the starting pitcher). It was really key that the Yankees got up early (in Game #5) because they relaxed and really swung the bat (well).”Ripken on two important factors for the Yankees going into Game #6: “The interesting thing to me is if (Yankees Game #6 starting pitcher) Phil Hughes is going to have his good fastball, some might call it an ‘invisible fastball’ because they are looking for it and swing right through it. The other thing is that the Yankees are getting their offense rolling. The longer they go; you can’t hold this offense down. I think they are going to keep scoring runs.”Eckersley on the ALCS possibly going seven games: “I think the Yankees are much better against the right-handed pitchers. But you’ve got (Rangers starting pitcher Cliff) Lee hovering for Game #7. As a fan, I want to see it go seven games. I really do because I think it’s going to be a great game on Saturday night. But you have to get through it and I think the Yankees will.”Wells on the ALCS coming down to pitching: “I think it’s all about the pitching from this point on. Who’s flawless? Who’s going to make the mistakes with the pitches up, pitches away, wherever it is? The walks are what are killing everyone right now because (the offense) capitalize on those walks.”
That will do it for the notes and quotes.
