Showalter speaks after 6-4 win

Tonight's attendance: 25,754


Elias says you can add one more name to the list of people who have a three-homer game and a win in the same season: Louisville's Guy Hecker in 1886.

Manager Buck Showalter was asked for his thoughts on Chris Davis' three-homer night.

"It's about time. We've had it done to us," Showalter said.

"Chris was kind of pressing a little bit there in Texas. He puts some good swings on the ball, he's a strong young man. He hit a slider or cutter for the second one. The first one, he kind of ambushed a fastball in. And the other one was a high heater. Chris doesn't have to pull the ball for a home run. It was a good night for him, obviously, and I thought he handled it well.

"I thought they were all needed. It's not like they were pile-on runs. It was runs we knew we were probably going to need. Chris has been a contributor. His contact-to-damage ratio is always good and I know he gets frustrated some, but he hasn't given in all year. He's not one of those guys who just says, 'Well, it's just something that guys go through.' If you had that type of power, you would really be frustrated when you weren't making the contact he's capable of. But he's certainly got people's attention. He's been a big part of what we're trying to do here."

Showalter wasn't aware that his club made history tonight by being the first involved in back-to-back games with a player hitting three home runs. The Rangers' Adrian Beltre did it Wednesday.

"I hope it doesn't happen again because that means we've got to wear one on the other side," he said. "With this team, it's like Billy [Martin] said a long time ago, 'Let's go down the runway and see what they have in store for you.' You think it's usually pretty good. I look forward to coming out here every night and see what they run out there."


"It's important for our team. It's not important for Zach. It's important for our team," Showalter said.

"We've got 30-something games left and it's about giving us a chance to win with these guys we put out here on the bump. And we're hoping Steve (Johnson) can do that tomorrow. It's not about right now doing something that bodes well for his future and all that other stuff, even though it does. It's about putting a good foot forward to give us a chance to win a baseball game.

"He had good, crisp stuff. And Matt (Wieters) and him did a good job of slowing some guys down a little bit. He had one four-seamer in a bad count that he probably shouldn't have gone there, but other than that it would be really picky to fault anything. He had good late life and he trusted it, threw it over the plate. He attacked the hitters."


"It was a quick call," Showalter said. "He came in today and I said, 'We'll talk a little later. Be ready to pitch tonight.' On call, get up, get ready, come in. It's kind of like Chris a little bit over in Boston. You don't want a lot of squirrels running around, hamsters going around the wheel. Here it is, come in and try to get them out. But we did have [Pedro Strop] up behind him.

"It's tempting to run him back out for the rest of it, but he's left-handed. You want to have him available every day that you can. That's why it's going to be tough using him for length until we get another left-hander here."

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