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Clint Hurdle: Pirates Focus On Themselves, Not Cardinals

PITTSBURGH (KDKA 93-7 The Fan)- Pirates manager Clint Hurdle joined Bob Pompeani Saturday from Atlanta.

The Pirates entered Saturday trailing the division-leading St. Louis Cardinals by 6.5 games. Hurdle said that the Pirates have tremendous respect for the Cardinals, but the team's focus is on themselves.

"That's not our concern. My concern is for us to play the best baseball we can play one day at a time. Bob, if we do that, we will be the best team in baseball. That's what I believe in, that's what I tell the players, and I believe that's what our players believe in. Outside of that, we've still got over 100 games to play. Where the season's going to go, nobody knows," Hurdle said.

Pompeani asked about Hurdle showing faith in players that are struggling.

"It's not fantasy baseball, okay, they're not baseball cards, they're people," Hurdle said. "So when you can show faith, when you can go through the hard times when a lot of people have left, and be one of the few that's still standing around believing in them, and push through that hard time together, and they come out the other side, there's a tremendous amount of trust that's built."

Pompeani asked if Francisco Cervelli has exceeded expectations, to which Hurdle replied said he doesn't have expectations since the season's not over.

"He's done a very good job of learning the league, learning our pitchers, still working through some scenarios on staying with pitchers strengths," Hurdle said. "Offensively, he's been very consistent with his at-bats, he gets good looks at the plate, he sees pitches."

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