RON ROENICKE:
[Didn't hear question.]
It was definitely a blow. You've got your guy out there pitching. Zack's been pitching great for us and he's taken out of a game in the first inning and [then we're] trying to scramble and figure out what we're going to do.
From your vantage point what did you see transpire? What did Holbrook tell you when you got out there?
He said he thought Zack showed him up; was mad at the call. He ... that was basically it. I saw the replay and I talked to Zack. Zack was mad at himself for not covering first base. He said that it was the first time that he ever player beat him to first base. And you can clearly see that if you look at the replay. He overreacted. He [Holbrook] didn't even see what happened. Zack was behind him and he didn't even see him spike the ball or anything. You need to know. You need to know 100% what happens if you're going to kick out a starting pitcher after four pitches in a ball game.
How did Zack react to that when you talked to him? He must have been upset I would assume.
Well he was upset. He realizes that he shouldn't have done what he did. And he shouldn't have. You're putting an umpire in a tough position when you do that. And he's upset about putting us in a bad position trying to fill up that game. Livan comes in after throwing some pitches last night. Did a nice job in getting us some innings. But it was a tough place to be in.
Did you guys have any discussion about whether you would bring him back tomorrow, Zack?
We've already talked about it and we'll talk about it some more and make a decision tomorrow.
What will go into that determination?
We already talked to Zack and he thinks he would be fine. I've already talked to Estrada and we're not positive which way we're going to go. We've got some more conversations that we'll do when I leave here. We'll know tonight which way we're going.
How's the bullpen for tomorrow?
Well we'll see where we are tomorrow. Definitely Livan is down but the other guys I think are still OK. With the pitches that they made they can bounce back tomorrow. And you know, you've got the break after that so I think we're OK. If we did start Zack we've got Marco to back him up.
On Randy Wolf coming in on short notice
We talked to him about it. He actually came in and asked to do it since he's going to have a long time off in between the break. And we thought about it yesterday. We didn't really want to do it yesterday. He said he was available. But today and tomorrow were days where we thought if we can get him an inning, we'll do it. And today worked out where we needed him. He felt good after that first inning. And second inning I thought he threw the ball great.
How'd the team play under the circumstances?
If you want, you can probably ask Jerry more about that. From what I saw, I thought they did a good job. We certainly had opportunities to score more runs but you're right when that happens to a starting pitcher, especially one as good as Zack, it changes how you feel about that game to the players. And when you get behind in that like we did it somtimes is hard to bounce back.
ZACK GRIENKE:
I threw a cutter to Altuve and I thought he hit a ground ball to second base so I didn't think about covering first at the beginning and then I realized what was going on and I ran over real quick and I knew that Altuve could get to first quick so I already knew I had to get there really fast and he beat me to the bag and I got real mad at myself 'cause it's a mental mistake and I think it's the first time I've ever not covered first on a ball hit to that side. I was just really mad at myself. I don't know why I threw the ball like that. I was just ... I never make mental mistakes like that so I guess I was just really upset with myself. And the same thing, I don't really blame the umpire for what he did. I mean, I didn't mean it towards him. I thought the guy was safe. I shouldn't have done that. I didn't think about it at the time. I didn't think there was anything wrong with it but then after looking back at it, it definitely didn't look good. Definitely didn't look like how I meant it. And I put the umpire in a bad position and he had to make a decision. I wish he didn't make it that way but it was tough.
Were you shocked at the ejection?
Well, first thingI can remember, I wanted to know what was going on. I think the first thing I said was 'Is it an automatic ejection if I throw the ball?' because I knew in my mind I had no intention of being mad at the umpire. And then he said something about it being a close play and it looking bad or something. I don't remember what he said but I think it was something along those lines. And then I realized what happened, I think, felt bad about it and I really hurt our team today. It was a mental mistake not getting there in time and a mental mistake throwing the ball and I just ... I don't know if it was anger or what it was just getting the best of me.
Did you yell anything?
I think I yelled out dang it 'cause I was mad at myself. I thought it was soo I mean, I gave the guy a hit. That's the only thing that I get mad at about is when anyone on our team makes a mental mistake and I did it and I was just not happy about it.
Is Greinke going to pitch tomorrow?
I don't know what's going to happen yet. I don't really want to tell you guys what the plan is. We'll see. It would be a shame to waste a day I should have been pitching.
[Couldn't hear question]
I was pretty much just embarrassed by how it happened and put us in a really tough situation--the whole team. I mean, the relievers have no plans of ... that happens like once a year when a reliever has to get ready in the first inning. I put Livan in a really tough situation. I mean he did the best that he could. I mean I put our entire team in a bad situation and I made it really tough for us. And Wandy went out and pitched really good and that made it tough too.
Would he be physically ready to pitch tomorrow?
I'll just let Ron talk to you guys about that. We'll see.
Has he been thrown out before?
Yeah, four times. Two for throwing at guys and one time for yelling at the umpire from the dugout. And then today but today was probably the only one where I'll look back and regret what I did. The other ones were just ... the dugout one really didn't matter, I was just mad at the umpire and like it didn't cost our team or anything and the other ones are just part of baseball. And this one was just me acting not like how I should act.
This is way harder than it looks. Sorry if some of this isn't quite right.