Every time I walk through those doors it feels like I'm home again. It's going to be a pretty exciting moment for me. |
First and foremost, what we wanted to make sure about C.C. was that he was healthy and he was able to finish his outing. |
From the first pitch on, he was in total command and it sets the tone all the way around. The key for him is strike one. Every time you look up at the scoreboard, [the count] is 0-1 or 1-1. He's just fearless with his fastball and has pinpoint command. |
He gave us what he could. Unfortunately, he didn't have his best stuff today and we'll challenge him to improve next time. We are addressing that process (of jumping levels) and just challenging Jake to stay with a routine and pound the strike zone. He's got tremendous stuff and we still feel he can come out on the front end this time. |
He made a couple comments to me at spring training that he no longer worries about going to first base and playing every day. He's more in a relaxed state. When you're a relaxed player, you'll do bigger and better things. |
He made some big pitches when he had to and that's what we expect out of Jeremy. Over the past three weeks he's been outstanding. He's been a leader. |
He's a young pitcher who might have some confidence issues. A couple things might not have gone his way early and it's part of a growth process for him. |
I hate really making excuses for what happened, but he didn't catch many breaks. Jeremy didn't have things go his way. He's a pinpoint control pitcher and just fell behind a couple of hitters and didn't execute a perfect game plan. |
I think first and foremost we wanted to see out of C.C. was that he's healthy and that he could finish his outing. That was the most impressive thing about him. He attacked his hitters and he was in mid-season form. |
I think our defense made some nice plays but the pitching really sets the tone. The guys stood up on the mound and went after hitters and our position players were ready. We had some timely hitting. Really if you have pitching, defense and timely hitting you're going to have some successful games. |
I was excited by the idea of doing it [getting his first win] in Buffalo, but obviously we started on the road. The first win at any level has a very special meaning to me. |
I'll never second guess anything we do out there. We battled hard. We played hard. But we'll learn from this. |
I'm really proud of these guys to win the last three games [of this series] and finish 6-2. I know they really enjoy coming here and playing on this field in front of this crowd. |
I've opened up in this stadium and it's been a tough go. We're excited to be going South and we're going as far South as we possibly can. |
It was exciting to watch. I think this is what we've been looking for all year long. I knew these guys would challenge themselves. . . . Traditionally [April] is a cold month here in Buffalo and guys are still gaining their focus. Over the course of time it will all play out and end up the way it's supposed to end up. |