Showalter, Joseph, Young, Gausman and Brach after 7-3 win
By Roch Kubatko
WASHINGTON - The Orioles head to Toronto late tonight with a four-game lead over the Blue Jays in the American League East following tonight's 7-3 win over the Nationals.
Sleep fast. And be ready to play.
Here's a batch of post-game quotes from Nationals Park:
Manager Buck Showalter
On Kevin Gausman, who picked up the win after allowing three runs in six innings:
"It was a challenge for him. To be able to keep your team engaged in it when he's not in command. He had good stuff and everything, but he's not going to spoil us at the level he's had the last time or two out. He was good."
On Delmon Young, who had a pinch-hit RBI single:
"He got a big hit. He works so hard at it. I see him rattling in the cage from the first or second inning on, especially in the National League. I see the work he does, the things he did in the offseason. We had a good conversation when he first came to camp, talked about signing, what was expected. He's been beyond that, work-habit wise. He's a professional. The guy's 28 years old."
On Caleb Joseph, who homered and had a two-run single:
"I don't (know) what level it's going to end up being, but you don't do the things he did over a long season catching last year, driving in 100 runs and hitting close to .300, and not have offensive skills. But he's put so much emphasis on the catching part of it, receiving. He knows where his priorities are."
On Orioles fans making a lot of noise:
"I notice when we have eight. It was definitely nice. Don't think our guys didn't hear it."
On the challenge of winning tonight:
"It was a tough one, and then again tomorrow and the next day. These guys get to sleep around 5 or 6. There is not a peep out of them complaint-wise. It's part of what we have to go through to get what we're trying to get done. We've still got to go back to BWI to get on a plane. It's tough. We've had so many challenges with the schedule like most clubs do. No one wants to hear it. Just assume the position and get after it."
Caleb Joseph
On importance of win:
"One game and you really want to win it. We've been kind of struggling with the bat recently and one through nine everybody contributed tonight. It was great for the offense to kind of bust out there with a big innings, and Gausman gave us a chance. The bats came alive and hitting's contagious sometimes, and I really feel like that's what happened in that inning. Broke it open and had a little cushion there for our relievers. They've been doing such a good job for us, it felt good to go out and give them a little bit of a cushion instead of a high pressure situation. We're glad to win this one and we've got a big test coming up in the next few days."
On his hot streak:
"I have these new bats. No, I've been working really hard to iron out some mechanical issues, just some timing issues. And everybody goes through it during the year. You feel good and then you don't feel good. It's a constant battle when you're playing a lot, and (Jim) Presley's done a good job of keeping me confident. It's just one of those things that, I feel like I can hit at this level and I haven't shown it yet. The more confidence you get... Sometimes, hitting is all confidence and you get a little confidence and it breeds more confidence and you kind of get on a roll and then kind of get settled in. Just glad to produce offensively and continue to try to produce offensively."
On heading to Toronto with a four-game lead:
"It's good, but they can do some damage, too. They're a good team. We're going to have to go and play our game and pitch well and play good defense and get timely hitting. Feels good to be in first place, but we've got a big target on our backs and guys are going to be coming after us, so we've got to finish out what we came to do and continue to go out and play solid baseball."
Delmon Young
On his pinch-hit RBI single:
"Just go out there and probably get a good pinch to handle. There was a runner on third, it was a pitch up, so I swung at it."
On whether he's doing anything different to be 9-for-17 a pinch-hitter:
"No. Just go up there and try to square up a pitch and hope for the best."
On whether it's fun to contribute in that fashion:
"It's awesome, because if I went 0-for-17 I might not be here."
On going to Toronto with a four-game lead:
"To me, it really doesn't matter because leads disappear all the time. With two months to play we're just going up there to play one game at a time and play the baseball we've been playing. If our offense can do what it did today with the way we've been pitching, we're going to have a lot of fun the rest of the year."
Kevin Gausman
On his performance:
"I definitely had to grind through that one. It was tough for me at the start. I think it was kind of huge to get through six there."
On what was working:
"My split more than anything. I just didn't really have it really until the last six guys that I faced, and then it just kind of showed up. Tried to keep finding it, but it wasn't there. Went to my circle change a couple of times. Luckily, my fastball command was pretty good today, and I thought we did a pretty good job of finding the way through the lineup. That being said, moving the fastball in and out was pretty big today."
On the bullpen retiring all nine batters faced:
"Especially with what our offense just did. Kind of shut the door and not really give them even a chance. That was huge. They've been doing that all year. They continue to get better. These are the dog days right now. This is when guys get a little bit tired, and I think they kind of come in the game, and no matter who it is, they come in and pitch well. I think more than anything, they throw a lot of strikes. They don't walk guys. They don't give them a lot of free passes and they really attack hitters."
On Chris Davis' lunging stop of Tanner Roark's sharp grounder to end sixth:
"That was huge. That might be a double there. It might score two, Pretty huge. That was just something, I think that was the literally the only spot he was going to hit the ball. He was going to hit to either second or first, from that side of the infield. Pretty huge. He was right there and made a great play."
Brad Brach
On retiring all six batters he faced:
"With the lead I just wanted to go out there and attack the hitters and get us back in the dugout as quick as I could. After that first inning I was feeling good and I went back out there for that second inning and just wanted to get us back in the dugout again."
On allowing three runs in his last 24 innings:
"This is the best I've ever felt in my career. That's a testament to Dave (Wallace) and Dom (Chiti). They've done a lot for me this year just fixing a few mechanical things, and just basically the confidence between my teammates and the coaches and stuff has meant volumes to me."
On his at-bat in the ninth:
"It felt like being a kid again. A little bit bigger stage, a little bit bigger stadium."
On the upcoming series in Toronto:
"We still have two months to go. Even if we go up there and lose two games or something like that we still have two months to go."
Here's a batch of post-game quotes from Nationals Park:
Manager Buck Showalter
On Kevin Gausman, who picked up the win after allowing three runs in six innings:
"It was a challenge for him. To be able to keep your team engaged in it when he's not in command. He had good stuff and everything, but he's not going to spoil us at the level he's had the last time or two out. He was good."
On Delmon Young, who had a pinch-hit RBI single:
"He got a big hit. He works so hard at it. I see him rattling in the cage from the first or second inning on, especially in the National League. I see the work he does, the things he did in the offseason. We had a good conversation when he first came to camp, talked about signing, what was expected. He's been beyond that, work-habit wise. He's a professional. The guy's 28 years old."
On Caleb Joseph, who homered and had a two-run single:
"I don't (know) what level it's going to end up being, but you don't do the things he did over a long season catching last year, driving in 100 runs and hitting close to .300, and not have offensive skills. But he's put so much emphasis on the catching part of it, receiving. He knows where his priorities are."
On Orioles fans making a lot of noise:
"I notice when we have eight. It was definitely nice. Don't think our guys didn't hear it."
On the challenge of winning tonight:
"It was a tough one, and then again tomorrow and the next day. These guys get to sleep around 5 or 6. There is not a peep out of them complaint-wise. It's part of what we have to go through to get what we're trying to get done. We've still got to go back to BWI to get on a plane. It's tough. We've had so many challenges with the schedule like most clubs do. No one wants to hear it. Just assume the position and get after it."
Caleb Joseph
On importance of win:
"One game and you really want to win it. We've been kind of struggling with the bat recently and one through nine everybody contributed tonight. It was great for the offense to kind of bust out there with a big innings, and Gausman gave us a chance. The bats came alive and hitting's contagious sometimes, and I really feel like that's what happened in that inning. Broke it open and had a little cushion there for our relievers. They've been doing such a good job for us, it felt good to go out and give them a little bit of a cushion instead of a high pressure situation. We're glad to win this one and we've got a big test coming up in the next few days."
On his hot streak:
"I have these new bats. No, I've been working really hard to iron out some mechanical issues, just some timing issues. And everybody goes through it during the year. You feel good and then you don't feel good. It's a constant battle when you're playing a lot, and (Jim) Presley's done a good job of keeping me confident. It's just one of those things that, I feel like I can hit at this level and I haven't shown it yet. The more confidence you get... Sometimes, hitting is all confidence and you get a little confidence and it breeds more confidence and you kind of get on a roll and then kind of get settled in. Just glad to produce offensively and continue to try to produce offensively."
On heading to Toronto with a four-game lead:
"It's good, but they can do some damage, too. They're a good team. We're going to have to go and play our game and pitch well and play good defense and get timely hitting. Feels good to be in first place, but we've got a big target on our backs and guys are going to be coming after us, so we've got to finish out what we came to do and continue to go out and play solid baseball."
Delmon Young
On his pinch-hit RBI single:
"Just go out there and probably get a good pinch to handle. There was a runner on third, it was a pitch up, so I swung at it."
On whether he's doing anything different to be 9-for-17 a pinch-hitter:
"No. Just go up there and try to square up a pitch and hope for the best."
On whether it's fun to contribute in that fashion:
"It's awesome, because if I went 0-for-17 I might not be here."
On going to Toronto with a four-game lead:
"To me, it really doesn't matter because leads disappear all the time. With two months to play we're just going up there to play one game at a time and play the baseball we've been playing. If our offense can do what it did today with the way we've been pitching, we're going to have a lot of fun the rest of the year."
Kevin Gausman
On his performance:
"I definitely had to grind through that one. It was tough for me at the start. I think it was kind of huge to get through six there."
On what was working:
"My split more than anything. I just didn't really have it really until the last six guys that I faced, and then it just kind of showed up. Tried to keep finding it, but it wasn't there. Went to my circle change a couple of times. Luckily, my fastball command was pretty good today, and I thought we did a pretty good job of finding the way through the lineup. That being said, moving the fastball in and out was pretty big today."
On the bullpen retiring all nine batters faced:
"Especially with what our offense just did. Kind of shut the door and not really give them even a chance. That was huge. They've been doing that all year. They continue to get better. These are the dog days right now. This is when guys get a little bit tired, and I think they kind of come in the game, and no matter who it is, they come in and pitch well. I think more than anything, they throw a lot of strikes. They don't walk guys. They don't give them a lot of free passes and they really attack hitters."
On Chris Davis' lunging stop of Tanner Roark's sharp grounder to end sixth:
"That was huge. That might be a double there. It might score two, Pretty huge. That was just something, I think that was the literally the only spot he was going to hit the ball. He was going to hit to either second or first, from that side of the infield. Pretty huge. He was right there and made a great play."
Brad Brach
On retiring all six batters he faced:
"With the lead I just wanted to go out there and attack the hitters and get us back in the dugout as quick as I could. After that first inning I was feeling good and I went back out there for that second inning and just wanted to get us back in the dugout again."
On allowing three runs in his last 24 innings:
"This is the best I've ever felt in my career. That's a testament to Dave (Wallace) and Dom (Chiti). They've done a lot for me this year just fixing a few mechanical things, and just basically the confidence between my teammates and the coaches and stuff has meant volumes to me."
On his at-bat in the ninth:
"It felt like being a kid again. A little bit bigger stage, a little bit bigger stadium."
On the upcoming series in Toronto:
"We still have two months to go. Even if we go up there and lose two games or something like that we still have two months to go."
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