Only the one run wasn’t going to be good enough, and we gave them two others.

In the first inning we had great at-bats against Roy Oswalt. Command wise he was not sharp.

The language in there, I think, is fairly telling as far as his opinion of what occurred there, and how it occurred, and what action we should or should not have taken,

I don’t know whether my mind will be made up later in the evening [tonight] or [tomorrow]. I can’t tell you what time my mind will be made up.

Their guy throws less than 100 pitches and completes the game. [Jeff] gives up two runs on five hits and gets beat. It’s unfortunate.

Our guys don’t have to be ashamed about the way they are performing because they are staying after it. In each game, we’ve been in a position in the latter part of the game with...

I was glad to see him standing and no facial swelling.

I do feel that way. And that’s because I’ve seen some of the guys in this rotation be very good, even though I was looking at that from afar. What’s more, I know that they...

I’ve seen him take some very darn good at-bats against left-handed pitching.

We got the three runs in that inning and we didn’t do anything else. That’s our offensive game tonight.

I’m certainly not the least bit shy or afraid of having young people out there competing,

It wasn’t a ploy, it was heartfelt and something I felt that from a continuity standpoint, I have strong ideas on what is necessary. Familiarity and continuity are certainly two intangibles that are absolute musts...

His makeup is off the charts. He gives 100% effort on every single pitch. He’s one of the real up-and-comers in our game. There’s nothing not to like about him.

I felt like we had a very good meeting. I think that the foundation is there from an understanding of what it is that we’re trying to accomplish. If you were in there and you...

We’re just going to gradually walk into this situation. We’re not going to race into it. We’re very well aware of what has taken place as far as his medical history over the last year....

We were where you want to be.

We did everything we could do to get ourselves back in it. Once again, we were a base hit from tying it and a ball in the gap from going ahead.

It helps convince (him) that he belongs playing in the major leagues. He’s a winning player. He understands situational baseball, he can steal, he knows how to read pitchers.

Because I want to see how versatile a player he is.

He threw a lot of strikes and worked very few deep counts. I didn’t see impatient swings on our part. He just pounded the strike zone all night long.

The main thing that I wanted to get across to both of them is to not feel compelled to force things, because the important thing for both of them to realize is that we have...

Once again, Elmer Dessens was great. He has been terrific. We stretched him pretty much to the limit today, and he got us to Duaner Sanchez.

Derek Lowe was obvious the show today. One chopped, two-strike swing from a no-hitter. That’s basically what it boiled down to today.

Tonight was, in my opinion, dramatically better than what we saw in Florida. In Florida, he battled, but his fastball command was erratic. Tonight, it was crisp, it was good to both sides of the...

The important thing is that the starting pitcher [goes out] there and keeps us in the game, and [doesn’t] force us to climb out of a big hole like we tried to do last night....

His numbers didn’t look good but I liked how he threw strikes and attacked hitters. Those are things we want to see.

It’s frustrating from the standpoint that we have a very competent offense that has proven if you keep this group hanging around, some good things will happen. A loss like this is unfortunate, considering the...

Will we get to that in the last two weeks of the season? We’ll get to it.

He’s a real good player. He’s a real good player. Can he make the club? The answer’s yes. He has a chance to make the club.

We’re playing real well. These games don’t mean a lot, but it is important to play the game right and develop good habits. I told our guys to remember how it feels to play the...

He’s part of that organizational depth chart and you like to see a younger guy like that go out and perform well against major-league competition. His outing was very encouraging and it was obvious he...

His stuff is Major League caliber. Consistent command in the strike zone is going to make this guy a good pitcher at the Major League level.

I told him that the worst case-scenario, if he goes the other way with the ball, was for him to get one run in and advance the other runner. He understood me perfectly. I’ll take...

There is strength in numbers, and we’ve got those. And you’re not going to hear me say that, just because we’re young, we can’t go out and pitch well or play the game at the...

I wanted the challenge,

I think it will help the whole Middle Tennessee area.

This says so much about the City of Pittsburgh and their support of their sports teams. You have a group of people who absolutely love this team.

I loved those kids. I loved Andrew . . . I loved him. Smartest player I had in that program. He lived for it. Absolutely lived for basketball at St. Martha’s.

All Scott Strickland has done is throw strikes.

You don’t succeed very often when you’re behind in the count.

Obviously, it’s kind of special.

He’s a clubhouse leader, great for young players to be around, knows how to play the game, accepts his role willingly and does it as well as any of the other top flight guys that...

I know him very well. From that standpoint, when you have a sense of awareness about a guy, you have a better understanding of him than a guy you’re seeing for the first time.

He’s made great progress as far as him starting fresh in the big leagues. If it continues, this is a guy who becomes a weapon that I’m not shy about using in significant situations.

About mid-thigh, right down the middle. They’re going to hit pitches like that — Cody or anybody else.

Sounds like the season for him.

He deserved a much better fate.

The number of one-run games since 2001, and the won-lost record in those games is pretty impressive. Mr. [Eric] Gagne obviously has a little something to do with that, too. Because I feel like that...

That’s the plan right now. But until we see how the leg responds in game-type situations, there is nothing that is completely certain. But there has to be a plan. And for the time being,...

He looked a lot like the Zach Duke we saw last year, and that’s a very good sign. You saw a guy who is spearheading himself in the direction he wants to go in.