We felt we needed pitchers who could throw strikes. The two players we sent out were not throwing strikes. Carter admitted he's never had a stretch like this where he couldn't throw strikes.

Nobody in that room believed that Chuck Tiffany and Edwin Jackson won't be big-league pitchers. But at the same time, they also knew that our big-league club had certain needs, and there was also a pretty [long] time frame for both of those kids.

We've acquired some players because it was an area we felt like we needed to improve and whether or not it's finished there, it's probably too early to say. Some of these guys we've been able to sign we're getting a good look at now and some have more experience than others.

I always tell the pitchers to throw strikes and let the defense do the work. This was a team effort and the defense knows they were a part of this, too.

I'm proud of the way we swung the bats. Their pitchers struggled throwing strikes tonight. … I don't think the score is indicative of the type of team they have.

To give our offense a shot we needed to throw the ball and we feel he is better at throwing.