Volquez bringing team-first rah-rah attitude

MILWAUKEE -- When he took the mound Saturday night for his second start with the Bucs, Edinson Volquez proved adept at not only pitching, but also at multitasking. He wasn't too busy holding the Brewers to one earned run for 6 1/3 innings to cheerlead and do a little weightlifting.

The weight he lifted was Andrew McCutchen's 190 pounds.

In a 2-2 game during an eventual 3-2 loss, McCutchen had run down Khris Davis' seventh-inning leadoff fly to left-center but had the ball clang off his glove for an error.

On the mound, Volquez waited for the ball to return to him, put his head down and went back to work.

"What you see as most impressive is the mound reaction: He didn't have any," manager Clint Hurdle said. "He just hung in there with it. [His teammates] see that, too. When they see a pitcher [react] because a guy made an error, they're like, 'Whoah, come on now.' But Volquez -- he held serve."

With relief help from Tony Watson later in the inning, Volquez turned away the Brewers, sending that 2-2 tie on to the eighth inning.

"That's what all pitchers want to do," Volquez said. "You can't complain about what happened behind you … or in front of you. Just keep making pitches."

As Volquez was walking out to the mound to start that seventh inning, he crossed paths with Jordy Mercer, who had just lined out to left for the final out in the top of the inning.

Volquez shouted at Mercer, waving a clenched fist at him.

"Nice swing! Good rip!" Volquez shouted at his shortstop.

"Can you believe that? How nice was that," Mercer said, "especially coming from him?"