"Probably there's a lot more expected than there was the first two years. It's my turn to contribute a little instead of riding everybody's coat-tails."
"Scoring runs early is huge for any pitcher. It lets him go out and do what he wants to do, not feel like he's pressed to not make any mistakes."
"It's tough. But you take your slumps. It's just a matter of how you bounce back."
"That's not a bad thing. I'm seeing the ball great and having good at bats. This is definitely a lift for me. It was just a matter of getting some pitches out over the plate."
"It's a matter of gelling and having the guys feel comfortable. The guys in the bullpen are starting to understand their role, and the hitters understand their role. We're playing defense as well as offense and things are working out."
"My faith grows stronger every year, too.I think that's the biggest key for me, my prayer life and being consistent on the field every day. I don't pray for the homeruns. I pray to play hard everyday and give it the best shot I've got."
"It's tough, but you take your lumps. It's just a matter of how you bounch back."
"That's not a bad thing (hitting homeruns)."
"But we've got Big Mac and Jim Edmonds. It's important to drive in some runs, but I'd like to score a bunch of runs, being on base ahead of some of those guys."
"I'll do what I can and try to get better as quickly as I can. There's still a lot of the season left. Hopefully, I'll get in there soon and pick it up right back."
"I have mom, dad, a couple of grandmothers (at the game). It's always good to do something while they're here."
"I can't picture myself being here for three years
already."
"I know I wasn't expected to do as much then as I am
now when I step out on that field. It's like when I
step in the batter's box, there's a different
expectation now from all our players in the dugout
then in my first two years. Now, it's 'Jd is going to
come up with a big hit,' where it used to be 'Maybe he
can come up with a big hit.' They don't expect me to
let them down."
"If you look at us and think we're perfect, you're
going to find out every time that we're sinners and
we're not perfect. You're going to see me stumble. I
don't show it on the field, but I get frustrated and I
take out [those frustrations]. I go in the tunnel and
just really try to get a grasp of things. When you're
hitting .300, you're failing seven times out of every
10, and a lot of times an out could be a two-run
single."
"We ought to have some kind of share of the division.
It just can't come down to head-to-head. We went to
the last game of the season a game up and we just
happened to lose."
"Where God got my attention was I had a really good
first half of spring training, then all of a sudden I
couldn't find anything and it carried over to the
season."
"The big key can be going oh-for-three but going up
there for that fourth at-bat and still having those
three things [Attitude,Concentration,Effort]. That
will save you for a hit instead of giving up because
of frustration. that's the difference between this
year and last year. I'm not giving up."
"I can remember in college thinking, 'You know, I'm
going to hit a home run in this at-bat.' I just seemed
to be able to get a pitch and see it well and hit it
good."
"When they [family] came in town for that [White Sox]
series, I thought how neat it would be to hit a home
run for them."
"It's hard for me to explain why I've already hit 21
home runs where I only hit 18 all last year. It's a
matter of getting older, getting to know the pitchers
better, preperation. But more than anything, it's a
blessing, enjoying the game and enjoying my teammates.
It's just fun to come up to the ballpark."
"I've learned a lot the last three years, and I'm sure
I'll learn a lot more the next six or seven."
"I love St. Louis and I think you'll get that from a
lot of players," Drew said. "It's a great place to
play. This game is a crazy business and I dealt with
it at a young age. I enjoy this town and I enjoy
playing for Tony [La Russa]. I love the guys in the
front office with Walt and the guys that work with
him. It's a great place to play."
"I set my expectations high for myself, higher than
other people ever could. I'm not competing against
other players, only against what I'm able to do. I
just want to fit into the lineup, be aggressive on the
bases and at bat and defensively, and then we'll see
what the score is after nine innings."
"It's important to be comfortable with your
surroundings, and me and Jimmy [Edmonds] work really
well together. We understand where each other's at,
and I think that's a big key. I know what balls he's
gonna get to and (he knows) what balls I can get to.
It's a good feeling when you go into a game and know
that you don't have to worry about a collision or
getting to a certain ball. We work hand-in-hand, cut
up, play around, enjoy the game and enjoy working
together. It's been a lot of fun."
"Good pitching hurts good hitting. You'd be surprised how many times the problems we're having is because of good pitching. But sometimes you can get good clutch hitting if you take a good approach at the plate. We're having our ups and downs."
"You never know about the elements. I know we didn't want to play two games today."
"I know I have a lot more to learn in this game."
"There's a lot of downtime at the ball park, in between getting treatment, going in to get stretched, and I want to fill it up with something constructive."
"I wasn't really a big reader before. I wish I would have been, but I've got a lot of free time now. In between batting practice and the games, I'll go in and read a chapter or I'll read some on the road, on flights.
"It's a matter of gelling and having the guys feel comfortable. The guys in the bullpen are starting to understand their role, and the hitters understand their role. We're playing defense as well as offense and things are working out."
"It's a long way out there. I did get a good swing on a nice pitch. Luckily, it gets out."
"That's not a bad thing. I'm seeing the ball great and having good at bats. This is definitely a lift for me. It was just a matter of getting some pitches out over the plate."
"The at bats I'm having strikeouts on, it seems like I get some bad pitches called against me. It's tough to make adjustments at the plate when you don't know what's going to be a ball and what's going to be a strike."
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