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MLB ALL-STAR GAME

July 12, 2011

Ron Washington

PHOENIX, ARIZONA

Q. How much did it hurt not having Josh Beckett available, and how did it affect you not having some of your other top pitchers available tonight?
RON WASHINGTON: Well, you know, we had to make an adjustment, and that's exactly what the game is about. But we were able to get some pitching out there, so we are not going to use not having Josh as an excuse.
I think when you look at the ballgame, the bottom line is the National League pitching was outstanding. You know, we ended up giving up one big inning, and they didn't give up any. So I think you just have to credit the pitching, not the fact that we didn't have anything.

Q. In the sixth inning when you were trailing 4-1, Bautista and Hamilton were due to lead off the 7th but you replaced them with (Carlos) Quentin and (Matt) Joyce; did you consider giving them a third plate appearance, arguably your two best-middle-of-the-order hitters there?
RON WASHINGTON: No, at that point I only had intentions of playing them four innings, five at the most. If they would have hit in that inning, I would have let them go, but my intention was to get the other guys in there, they were All-Stars, also. That's the way it went.

Q. Did you have it so you wanted C.J. to face Fielder in the fourth and get the lefty/lefty?
RON WASHINGTON: Well, that's where Beckett came into play. Once he was out, I wanted to get me a quality starter up in there to go through there and of course it was at the point where the big lefty was coming, but you know, C.J. made a pitch way from him and Prince went with the pitch and that was the big inning there that crippled us. Their pitching came in and did the rest.

Q. Does your heart bleed for C.J.?
RON WASHINGTON: Of course my heart would have bled for anyone that would have given it up, but that's the way baseball goes. A good hitter got him, and I don't think that's the first one that Prince got. I still consider C.J. one of the top pitchers in the game. It's just in the fourth inning they put a big inning on us, simply because of the good pitching out there; it just shut us down.

Q. Obviously all of your pitchers are having great seasons, but did you feel a little bit hamstrung by all of the guys who couldn't pitch, who had pitched on Sunday with Beckett getting hurt? Did you feel like a little limited?
RON WASHINGTON: Well, you know, this is not a game about excuses. I still feel like we had quality pitching. It's not like they ran all over us. They put one big inning together in the fourth, got three runs. And from that point, I thought the pitching we brought in did a good job. You would always like to have the best All-Stars that are out there, but you know, you've got to go with the team you've got and you can't make any excuses about it, and we are not going to do that. National League beat us.

Q. What happened with Cabrera? What was the situation?
RON WASHINGTON: Right oblique strain, slight. When he took a swing, he felt it, so we didn't take any chances. We got him out of there.

Q. I know you would have liked to have won the game, but your overall thoughts of the last couple of days, your first time managing in the All-Star Game.
RON WASHINGTON: I had quite a bit of fun. It was nice to be around those type of players. I think I can do a lot with that group if I have more than one day (Laughter.)
But you know, once again, pitching stops hitting, and I mean, those guys over there pitch very well. The arms he brought in and the stuff that they threw up there at that plate, you know, I think we had two innings where we had an opportunity to maybe get some runs but they constantly shut it down.
So I had a good time. I really did. I wanted to win just as bad as anyone in the stadium and it didn't happen, so now we go back to focusing on the rest of the season. It's something I will always remember and I certainly hope I get another opportunity, and maybe I can't do anything with Bruce Bochy. (Laughter.)

Q. Do you think the game would have been different if Jeter and A-Rod played in today's game?
RON WASHINGTON: That's tough to say because you never know what their at-bats would have looked like either. They would have had to go against Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee in the beginning. Gonzalez got Cliff Lee, and then all of a sudden Bruce just started going to the bullpen bringing in those arms.
As I said, you would like to have every single one of the All-Stars that was supposed to be here, but they wasn't here and everyone that was here is capable. We just didn't get it done, and you have to credit the pitching staff in the National League for that.

Q. How difficult was it to balance the game situation with the desire to get in as many players as could you?
RON WASHINGTON: It wasn't tough at all because I had confidence in every single guy in that clubhouse and I wanted to give them an opportunity to get out there, and I did that. I didn't get (Jose) Valverde in because he was my closer. Romero was my guy I designated in case it went extra innings. (Aaron) Crow was the only guy I didn't get. I got Gio (Gonzalez) in there in a good situation, and in the 9th inning I was hoping we could do something so I could get those other guys in the game, but it just didn't happen. They had a good time. I thanked them all before I came here, and I had a good time. And now it's time to get back to business.

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