Chris crossing

NEW YORK - I have postgame quotes from Chris Tillman and Chris Davis, and one clever title to my blog entry. Tillman on his start "I felt good physically. The stuff was there. I fell behind every now and then. These guys grind out at-bats and make you throw a lot of pitches early. Give them credit. It was a tough one for me today. These guys grind away the whole game. They put consistent, good at-bats throughout the game. It wears on you, but at the same time, you know you've got to make pitches. Anytime, you're one or two pitches away. Look at it that way. "I was comfortable. In rhythm, not so much. They do a good job of keeping you out of rhythm and not letting you get in a groove. They always do. You know what to expect. I felt happy with the way my stuff was. I just didn't execute." On Davis homering in eight of his starts "I haven't noticed. No, I do. He's special. He puts some good swings on balls that probably shouldn't be hit and he's hitting them out of the ballpark. He's strong enough to do that. He's fun to watch. I'm glad he's on our side." On the American League East race "I think it's going to be tight all the way through. These guys have got a good team. They're going to battle, they're going to grind their way through like they did today. It's pretty clear that they're not going to go away. They've got a good team, a good young team. We look forward to facing them." Davis on the Orioles losing two early leads in this series "I think anytime you're leading early in the game, you expect to continue to lead or at least put up some more runs. You've got to give credit to them. They battled back and they beat us outright." On the Orioles sweeping in Baltimore and losing the first two games here "On any given day, anybody has a chance to beat anybody. I think the difference between the games at home and here is we got on them early and we kept getting after them. You know, one- and two-run leads in this game don't last very long. Especially with their offense and in this ballpark." On being 12-14 in one-run games "Last year, we did a good job of keeping the lead and handing it off to our bullpen. It was definitely a special year, a special run. You can't expect to produce that year in and year out. I think it takes a toll on everybody. Anytime we have a close game, we feel comfortable with our bullpen and with our lineup. We just couldn't pull it out today." On whether he can step back and appreciate what he's accomplished offensively "On the days that we win, I can. When you hit a home run and your team doesn't win, there's a feeling that maybe you could've done something more. I think the fact that I've been playing every day - left-handers, right-handers, no matter who's on the mound - has been huge for me. You get that momentum going, you start feeling good at the plate, you can carry it in day in and day out." On homering in eight of Tillman's starts "I didn't know that until you just said that. Maybe we can try to talk to Buck (Showalter) and get him to run him out there every other day or something like that. I think it's probably just a coincidence, the fact that I've hit home runs when he's started. Tilly's thrown the ball really well for us this year." In breaking with my "Chris" theme, here's a quote from executive vice president Dan Duquette on minor league first baseman Alex Liddi, acquired today from the Mariners: "Alex Liddi is a good defender, has power and at 24 should continue to improve his game." Don't forget that the All-Star voting will be announced later today. I'll post the names and quotes.