Sunday, August 7, 2011

Gibson irked by D-backs' baserunning mistakes

By Anthony Fenech / MLB.com | 08/07/11

PHOENIX -- D-backs manager Kirk Gibson wasn't happy before Sunday's game against the Dodgers.

He wasn't happy with his health, he wasn't happy with himself and he certainly wasn't happy with the way his team has been running the bases as of late.

"We've just got to play a better game," he said. "We've made several baserunning mistakes this series, and while I want them to remain aggressive, we have to do a better job understanding ...

"Like when [Ryan Roberts] went last night, that was not a smart play," he said about Roberts advancing to third on a close play after a wild pitch while down a pair of runs with an out in the ninth inning on Saturday. "You've got to stop doing that [stuff].

"We've got some work to do and we have to talk about some things," he continued. "The guys have to be smarter."

He also talked about running into a double play to end a seventh-inning rally on Friday night.

"[Sean] Burroughs got doubled off the other day and people can say, 'Oh, that was a tough one,'" Gibson said. "It's not tough. You're down by three runs or two runs, whatever it is, you don't get doubled off, end of story."

But the manager was not immune to criticizing himself.

"That's on me," he said about the number of ground balls that have been finding holes in the D-backs infield. "Those are types of things that I look at to get better at."

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