BOSTON - Don Werner, the Orioles minor league catching instructor who's been fighting cancer since he left the club in spring training, returned to the field today in the instructional league in Sarasota.
Manager Buck Showalter eagerly passed along the news to reporters following today's 10-6 win over the Red Sox at Fenway Park.
"That's pretty cool," Showalter said. "That's the highlight of the day."
The Orioles earned their first series sweep against the Red Sox since September 2012 in Baltimore. Their last sweep in Boston came in May 2012.
According to Elias, the Orioles didn't have 10 different players score runs since Aug. 1, 2008 in Seattle.
Let's get to today's postgame quotes.
Showalter:
On Red Sox scoring five runs in the ninth inning
"That's one of things about our club, they never assume anything. The add-on runs, especially in this ballpark, especially against a team that's hungry... They've got a lot of young players that are trying to make their mark. They're never going to drop their guard. They're going to keep taking every opportunity. We never assumed it. That's why we kept adding on runs. We knew that at some point a major league club is going to make a run at you."
On Wei-Yin Chen
"He attacked with a lead. He pitched real well with a lead. A lot of guys nitpick around, continue to pitch, just throwing. He had some depth to his off-speed stuff again. I thought he was crisp from the first pitch. It was good to see. He gave us seven strong innings."
On the sweep
"You watch the games, none of them are easy. Winning a major league game is one of the hardest things to do in sports. It's nine innings. It's a grind every night. This is one of those sports where you can never drop your guard and assume anything. In the major leagues, there's too much power scattered throughout their lineup."
On the defense
"The little things you take out of today. I'm thinking today, it's an 8-0 game and Nick Markakis makes as good a play as you want to see in right field. That's what people miss about the essence of Nick. I was in the dugout just marveling. I'm sure Wei-Yin appreciates it. How many right fielders are making that catch? We had a lot of good plays. Jonesy (Adam Jones) made a good play in center field, too."
On Chen's flirtation with a perfect game
"I tell you, I didn't pick up on it until about the fifth. I was looking at some other things. There was that potential. We were fortunate. Boston has a lot of guys banged up, sick. We caught them at a tough time for them. They'll be better at our place."
On Ryan Flaherty having career-high four hits
"I pay attention to ballparks. He's always hit well here. He's comfortable up here. It's kind of his home area. I always feel great that he's performing well in front of a lot of free-ticketed people, and it's good for him. He was really beating himself up there in Tampa a little bit. Ryan puts so much work into it. He had a big day for us. We needed it. Our guys never assumed anything. That's one of the things about this club, that's why they kept adding on runs. You know they're going to get a run on you, especially in this ballpark."
Starter Wei-Yin Chen:
On thinking about perfect game
"It comes across your mind, but still a perfect game is very difficult to do. I just tried to concentrate on each at-bat and if I had it, I had it. If I don't, it's OK."
On what was working
"When I don't do well, I start off with balls and fall behind, but today I was able to get ahead of the hitters. I think they got more aggressive than they should be. That's why I was able to be so efficient."
On having 15 wins
"I have to thank my teammates, my catchers. They scored a lot of runs for me this year and played good defense for me so I can concentrate on my part of the game."
Catcher Caleb Joseph:
On Chen
"He just located. Located his fastball up, down, in and out. He had a good slider, kept them off-balance with his changeup, mixed in a few curveballs. When he's got pretty good pinpoint action, he does a good job of getting deep in games and gives us a chance to win."
On realizing Chen had perfect game
"Probably the fourth inning. I was wondering, 'Has anybody been on base?' And then I looked up and saw that and kind of replayed all the hitters in my mind and realized, 'We've got a chance to do something special here.' He gave up a (double), but he did a good job of getting back on it and kind of closing it out."
On sweeping the Red Sox in Boston
"We're trying as fast as we can to seal our deal, so we're trying to win every single game that we can. Same thing as we did when the season first started and the middle of the season and now. Nothing really changes. We just come out and try to play our game each and every day - quality hits, good pitching, good defense. Keep doing that."
On third inning
"We've got so many guys who can put the barrel on the ball. We got a lot of good two-strike hits today, a lot of guys battling. Late in the season it's kind of easy after you've won two games to just kind of be content with that, but this group, I've never been part of a group that, as Jones would say, stays hungry to win every day. And that's a testament to the leadership that we have here. These guys come out and post up each and every day and they kind of lead us, and the other guys, we just try to follow them because they've been there and done it. We're just trying to do as they do."
On Red Sox's ninth inning
"It was pretty bizarre. We've had a few of them here, I think, so no real panic button we hit there. We just had to get two more outs and had to use a few guys."
On not being sure whether he had home run in fifth
"I hit it and I had no idea if it was going to go or not, so I was just trying to run as fast as I could to maybe stretch it into a double. And then I realized after looking at the umpire that he was giving the signal. At that point, you're kind of caught in the middle like, do I need to pick it up? Because I must have been the only one who didn't see that it was a homer. It felt good."
Shortstop Ryan Flaherty:
On first four-hit game more special here because he's a Maine native
"Four hits is four hits. Take them anywhere, especially this time of year. But my family and friends really don't get a chance to see me play, so sure, it means a little more."
On enjoyment of third inning outburst
"It was nice to give Wei-Yin a little help. Not that he needed any. It was a big offensive inning early in the game and really set the momentum."
On the Red Sox's ninth inning
"It's tough to pitch, obviously, in that situation. You come in and it's 10-1, crowd is kind of out of it and it's not easy to pitch then. So it happens."
On sweep
"Coming up here and get a sweep is tough. It doesn't matter if they're in first or where they are. They're a tough team, they play hard. It was a good three games."
On noticing the perfect game
"You notice it in the fifth inning. Obviously, you kind of look around. But he dominated from the get-go all the way through. He's been like that pretty much all year for us."
On magic number being eight
"I really don't think the team really looks at that. There's a chance every night to win and we expect to win every night. Doesn't matter what the circumstances are."
On feeling bad about two errors in Tampa
"Yeah, I mean, you never want to make an error in a situation late in the game like that. Put it behind you and keep going forward is all you can do."
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