Before the out, I was looking at first base. It's great for a young player to have that kind of confidence in himself to make that play. |
But we had a tough battle. And we'll get them tomorrow. |
Every season's big. I don't want to say it's my biggest year. But ... personally I want others to respect me as a proven pitcher in this league. |
He looks mean, like he's going to knock the ball out of the park. Maybe we caught him at a cold time. |
I feel like I'm ready. My arm feels good and I'm excited. So it's going to be a lot of fun, not just for me. But I think for all of baseball. |
I haven't seen it in any clubhouse that I've been in. Never. Never ever. |
I just had good stuff and I went out there and battled. |
I kept trying to make my pitches, but I kept elevating the ball. That's his sweet spot. |
I know what I can do. I know what type of pitcher I can be, and if I take care of my business and prove things to myself, right there that helps this team, because as a pitcher, you're the one with the ball. You have the control of the situations you're in. |
I know what type of pitcher I can be. |
I told myself I wanted to finish the game (once the lead grew to 8-1). The defense behind me was very good, and that kept my pitch count down and enabled me to stay in the game. |
I wanted to put the ball in play and he put good wood on it. It was a sinker. ... He hit it to the right part of the ballpark and the wind was blowing that way. |
I was getting by, but I was running a lot of long counts — 3-0, 3-1. Then in that one inning, the fifth, they got a lot of balls, like grounders, through on me and they just kept doing it. |
I was playing catch-up all year. But I'm not making excuses, because even if you're throwing 85 or 86 mph, you can still get guys out. You just have to learn from your experiences and improve. |
I was throwing strikes and getting ahead. All of a sudden, I threw like eight (nine) balls in a row and I was like, 'What's going on?' I felt fine. I don't know what happened. |