It gives us a lot of confidence. Now the biggest challenge is to go out and prove it.

We started to believe what the coaches were telling us. You can see the confidence we have.

Number one is a tough position to be in. It's tough for coaches to remember, but this is a marathon, not a sprint. When you're competitive ... it's not an easy way to look at things.

You have to give them credit. They hit-and-run well and did what they had to do to keep them in the ball game.

He's hit some peaks and valleys with his arm. Sometimes he feels good where he's gotten over that point, and then sometimes it's gotten to the point where he has a little bit of a setback. But I think overall, he's getting really close to being where he wants to be.

He really looked sharp. He threw strikes like he always does and had a great pace to the game.