Joe Blanton
Joe Blanton
Joseph Matthew Blantonis an American professional pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball. He has previously played for the Oakland Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Kansas City Royals, and Pittsburgh Pirates...
balls bat catch good inches job pitches speeds three
Three inches here or there and a lot of those balls are caught. Sometimes you catch a break, sometimes you don't. Sometimes the (artificial) turf speeds balls up. I thought I made some pretty good pitches they did a good job of getting the bat on.
deeper feels good innings pitches six stamina three throwing
Throwing 85 pitches in three innings and throwing 85 pitches in six innings feels completely different. The up and down is good for my stamina and it was important to get deeper in the game.
atmosphere good guys keeps loose mix relaxed
It's a loose atmosphere here. I think that's good for a lot of the young guys here, we mix in pretty well and do our thing. It keeps us relaxed and confident.
coming good last late leave outing spring start time
It's real nice, especially coming this late in the spring. You always want to have that one good outing right before you leave Spring Training, and this is my last start down here, so it was a good time for it.
barry games gave great kept leagues lose pushing remained six
We were 15 games under .500, and Barry always remained positive. We started bad, and he never gave up. He kept pushing us. He's 27 now, with six years in the big leagues and a Cy Young Award. We didn't want to lose a great teammate.
april ball close either games inch instead
We had a lot of close games that could have went either way (during April and May). It was one of those where instead of the ball going an inch foul, it went an inch fair.
benefits locked looks ready team
He looks like he's getting locked in. The whole team benefits from him being in the lineup. He looks like he's ready to go.
carry confidence game gets hopefully rest win
To come in here and win the first game at a place like this is big, ... Hopefully it gets our confidence going and we can carry it over for the rest of the month.
calls expect pitch taught trusts
He trusts my stuff. He taught me a lot. He calls the pitch that you expect to throw.
breaks couple giving matter
We're going out and giving it all we have. It's just a matter of a couple breaks here and there.
fastball work
The (pitch to Rivera) was a fastball in and that's something I need to work on.
battling came game last playoff series spot time
When I came up last year, we were battling them for a playoff spot just like we are now. Any time we play each other it's a big series and every game is right down to the last pitch, for the most part.
confidence game win
I want a win anytime. It's just big getting the first game in a place like this. Hopefully, it will get our confidence going.
face jam nice rolls season
You never want to get into a jam but it was nice because it's something I'll need to face once the season rolls around.