Towers and McClung pitched great, … (Towers) has been on a roll and (McClung) can overpower you with his fastball and when he gets his curveball over he’s tough. He has a great arm.

He got the number of pitches he needed. He didn’t look bad. That one inning, he was scattering a little bit. Other than that, he pitched okay.

He’s going to be a heck of a pitcher some day,

I’m sure there’s been some guys who have been using it for a number of years. Like anything else, some do, some don’t. I guess we have see when there’s day games after night games.

His location has been off,

I think he may be a little tired, to be honest with you. He’s in his first year doing it. I think what’s affecting him right now is his location — and you usually don’t...

Nobody expected him to be here when he came up, but I think it’s done wonders for him. [But] I don’t think he’s got enough innings under his belt in the Minor Leagues.

I thought he had another one. Nixon made a nice play over his shoulder. Couple more feet, he at least clears the bases with a double.

I can’t put a finger on it, but he’s been struggling — there’s no question about it. He’s feeling it right now, but we know what he can do. He’s a big part of this...

Ryan’s up-and-coming, pretty new to the job himself, but already he’s one of the top closers in the game. Anytime you’ve got a shot at a guy like that, you’ve got to make that move.

Any time he goes out there, you can count on him. At times he’s been the odd man out but he’s as good a competitor as there is.

I knew it was going to be a tough day when they scored those four in the first. When you come in this place, you know you’re going to slug it out with them.

He’s guaranteed a job. It’s got to [boost his confidence]. When you’re always fighting for a spot, it makes it that much tougher. Now, he can just relax and get ready to go.

He’s experienced. That’s why we brought him here.

We’re on a tough little stretch right now, no question. But we always seem to bounce back, that’s the character of the ball club. In this business you take your lumps sometimes, it’s just how...

We wanted to make sure he was all right. He proved that he was today.

The walk to Gomez hurts.

He’s off to a good start, but he’s getting caught up in good starts by all of them. Good starts are contagious. But he’s a good hitter — he’s proven that.

It’s still nagging, still bothering him. It’s not 100 percent. If he’s got to go out there, he can go out there.

He’s a big part of our team. We win together, we lose together. Yes, he’s still the closer.

I expect his command to be a little bit better. I talked to a couple pitching coaches that I ran into last week and they said, ‘Hey, you’ll find out that when he’s on, you...

It’s a big day for him. I saw him yesterday and wished him luck and told him to have fun out there. You only get that debut one time. He’ll be nervous. He’ll be scared....

We hit some balls hard right at guys today. That’s baseball, we also benefit from that, too.

He’s a threat when he just stands in the box. That’s what we brought him over here for to drive the ball and be a presence in the middle of the lineup.

He looked strong. He’s got over-powering stuff.

He wants to pitch, but you know it’s not worth it. You’ve got to look at the big picture. If this was September and we’re in the thing . . .

I don’t really want to juggle [the order] unless I’m forced to like we did last year. It doesn’t have to be right, left, right, left, right now, though.

He’s a money player,

[We’ll] keep in touch with the doctors. [If] he starts feeling good and goes out there and pushes it, he might make it worse. Then where are we? That tournament is a nice thing, but...

Every time you run them out there, you have a chance to win. That’s all you can ask for.

If that happens to Lilly, we’re kind of in a jam. You’ve got some young kids down there in Triple-A, but, ideally, you don’t want to have to go to that, because they aren’t that...

It was his first start of the year, and there is a lot of focus on him. Once he gets the innings that he needs, he will be all right for us.

He’s doing everything everyone wanted him to do. He’s been doing a great job.

We had some good at-bats and some clutch hitting there in the ninth. That’s the first time we ever did anything with Baez this year.

He’s using the whole field. Last year he was primarily pull — when he did things he was pulling the ball. He made a conscious effort to go back to using the whole field like...

There was no reason at all to toss me. Everyone thought the ball hit the dirt. I guess he thought I was arguing balls and strikes.

I guess he thought I was arguing balls and strikes.

He can do some things, but the big thing he got drafted for was his bat. Everybody says he can hit. When you draft college players, it’s easier to move them faster. Usually you start...

Talk’s cheap. They’re still the teams to beat. But I think we’ve closed [the gap] a little bit.

It’s a sprain, no fracture, it’s a sprain, … I’m no doctor, but there’s no break.

He’s got to pitch ahead to be effective. He was throwing some pitches and he wasn’t missing by much if he was missing. When he had to bring it over the plate, they hit him....

If someone really gets hot and we’re trying to win some games, it could come to that.

[The MRI] had nothing to do with [the injury]. He didn’t come here and it was bothering him and the next day we scheduled the exam. Anybody who gets a big contract — those big...

In the past, if he gave up a few runs early, sometimes the game would get away from him. But he’s been a new guy now for the last few months. He’s just getting better...

I think that’s common knowledge. Maybe not, but it’s going to be soon. Great experience — they love to work and everybody gets along. You’ll run into some staffs where everybody doesn’t see eye-to-eye and...

I’ve been around some good baseball people, but he’s so good in all phases of the game. You’re not going to find a better worker, you’re not going to find a guy who cares as...

We got good news. The X-rays came back good, it’s probably just a little scar tissue. It’s big, big news.

We needed that. He did his job.

When he’s on, he keeps you off-balance. He picked the plate apart.

He has been struggling and he needs to get his confidence back. This is just a short-term thing and it’s circumstances more than anything right now. But he needs to get back in a groove.