27 Quotes by Bruce Chen

I left a couple of fastballs up and I didn't make good pitches in the right situations. ... I'm glad it happened now, rather than late in the spring or in the (regular) season.

I made a lot of stops, but I always think positive. That's what kept me going. It just feels great that I can come here and help. It was hard for me before, but I always thought I was going to be find a place and help that team win.

If Mariano were here there's no doubt that we would have had a much better chance to win. But Mariano made a decision and he isn't here, and we were ready to do our best with the players we have.

If Mariano River would have been pitching, I think we would have been able to win. Mariano Rivera, obviously in a situation where we scored, we would have been able to shut them out for a couple of innings.

I know he's a little frustrated, but I can't imagine starting the season without Miguel Tejada. He's going to be very hard to replace. He's a team leader, a good player. I'm pretty sure he's going to be back. Once spring training starts, I'm sure he'll be OK.

It helps that I know him. He doesn't want you to go out there and strike everybody out. He wants you to go deep in the game, pitch down and away and change speeds. That's basically my game. I'm not going to strike everybody out, but I can go seven, eight innings.

Hopefully, it won't be that much of an impact, but for the team chemistry, it could hurt a little bit, especially early in the season.

He's young, he's going to get better, and hopefully he's going to have the opportunity. I was very impressed with him.

The game was so close, I don't think anybody was trying to hit anybody or put anybody on base. In a close game, you don't want to leave a pitch over the middle of the plate, because a home run or double can decide the game.