Come on Cubs! ... We need some spirit to put a hex on Houston, and it's not doing it yet. It will, though.

Come on Cubs! We need some spirit to put a hex on Houston, and it's not doing it yet. It will, though.

He's money when it comes to the ninth inning. There's no closer out there that's like him. It's really hard to compare a guy like Wagner to anybody else. With him, it's like playing eight innings. It's hard to find any closer like him.

His control was off. His ball was running a lot. He made some pitches that were up in the zone with two strikes.

It's huge. I'd be afraid to drive it. You'd hurt somebody.

You think about that stuff every year, because there are only so many chances that you get in a career. You see guys who play 15 years and never get the chance to go to the playoffs. And you don't want to be one of those guys.

It's going to be nice to have an off-day after a blowout. This couldn't come at a better time.

It's always a special day. It's one of the only days all season that you're really nervous. It's probably a little easier now, because I've been through it so many times, but I still get butterflies.

It's time to play. We can talk all we want about how talented we are and things that. You have to go out and play and prove it.

This is the best I've felt in terms of hitting the ball hard. Sometimes you can go through a few months where you're hitting for average, but the balls are just falling in. I feel I'm hitting it hard. Most of it was just correcting some flaws in my swing.