The first two weeks, we've had (seven) day games. Then we have the sponsor lunch and we have to get up early that day before a night game. Everybody's not dragging but we could certainly use the sleep.

These guys have been in the playoffs. They have been playing in October for a couple of years, and they know what they are doing. As players, we're just trying to follow them.

He showed us he can be the anchor in our rotation again.

I really hate that word, 'competition.' I don't see it that way. Me and Ryan, we can push each other. We can both get better. We're not hating each other or anything like that. Bottom line is we both want to get the best out of our pitching staff and help this team win more games. If we keep going like that all year, it's going to be good for everyone.

I really have confidence it will come back. I've been very encouraged by how he came along this spring once he got some innings.

I knew it right away. I just didn't tell anyone other than my catcher, ... Just so he knows why my pitches are acting differently.

I kind of expected he was going to be a little bit behind. He only pitched one other inning in the tournament, against Canada. But the thing that really encouraged me the most was that he made the quality pitches when he needed to. He made quality pitches and got three quality innings.

The last couple of years we've been getting beat by our division rivals. If we want to get a winning season, we at least have to split the season series with these guys.

It looks like we've got a great staff. Nothing against the old one, but these are some experienced guys, a manager and coaches that have been there in October. That makes a difference. You can see guys out there listening to every word they say.

This feels really good, because we didn't want to break that record,