[Dion]

Oct. 4 Buck Showalter postgame interview

Q. Buck, was everything OK with Zach Britton? If so, why was he not used?
BUCK SHOWALTER: He was fine. He was fine.

Q. Did you consider using him at any point?
BUCK SHOWALTER: Yeah, I considered a lot of things during the course of the game, but our guys did a good job getting us to that point. We just couldn't finish it off. Yeah, he was available.



Q. I guess is it the philosophical thing of not wanting to use your closer in a tie game on the road?
BUCK SHOWALTER: No, same thing, eighth inning, ninth inning, I liked the job that Darren could do, I liked the job that Brad could do, I liked the job that Michael could do, I liked the job that Duensing could do. It looked like it was going to be one of those that was more than one inning. Nobody has been pitching better for us than Ubaldo, too. So there's a lot of different ways to look at it, so that's the way we went. It didn't work out. Has nothing to do with philosophical.

Q. Buck, with the season on the line, do you regret not having your best relief pitcher in the game at all and leaving him on the bench?
BUCK SHOWALTER: You could do afterwards, yeah. But we went for about four innings there trying to get to that spot. It looked like if he pitches a couple innings, if he can physically, then you're assuming, which is a pretty good assumption with the way he's pitched this year -- no, playing on the road has a little something to do with it, too. But we have some good options that have done a great job for us all year, and Zach's one of those.

Q. Even with runners on first and third there and Zach's ground ball rate and you guys needing a double play, was there anything that crossed your mind about bringing him in there instead of Ubaldo?
BUCK SHOWALTER: Sure, it crosses your mind from about the sixth inning on. So there's a bunch of decisions to make there during the course of the game. Our pitchers pitched real well the whole game to hold that club to two runs at that point. You could make a case, probably other than Zach, Ubaldo is pitching better than anybody we've had for the last six or seven starts. Those are a lot of tough decisions, but we're maybe a little different if you're playing at home.

There's a lot of different ways to look at it. If we didn't have so many good options down there and we wanted to have a strong Zach and have him there in case the game goes extra innings. There's so much more to that game. But I know the world that you have to live in. So I respect that.

Then the ending where it gets a little testy!

Q. I'm sorry to harp on this --
BUCK SHOWALTER: Are you really?
Q. Well, I just don't understand it.
BUCK SHOWALTER: We can talk about it privately. I'll let you know everything I'm thinking. I understand you've got to ask your question. It's OK.

http://m.orioles.mlb.com/news/articl...ame-interview/