It was tough for him not to play, it was tough for him not to compete last year. Now, it's time for him to put all that hard work to use and I think he's ready to do that.

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.

That was a big hit because it broke the ice and tied the ballgame up, and then we loosened up a little bit and played some pretty good offense after that.