He arrived here and said he was ready to throw, and he was not kidding around. The way he is throwing now, I can't see us having him for the whole year.

I really don't know why. I know one thing: My guys go out there and play hard for me. That is such a confidence booster for me.

I knew this guy was a bona fide closer, but to see him go out and throw, he is very very good. A lot of times you don't know about these guys until you see them a couple times, but he is very legitimate. He goes about his work seriously but still has a good time.

It's very hard to repeat because your team gets dismantled every year. The biggest thing for us last year was winning the first-half title, and that will be our goal again.

Sylvester was very good. He threw the ball hard.

The best part of it was we shut their offense down. I knew we had the pitching to do what we've got to do and what we can do.

There's been good pitching, but the hitters' hands are cold and they are just trying to keep them warm.

They threw the ball well. Pitching, for being the first time out, was pretty good on both sides.

You're always happy when you can get a Triple-A or big-league pitcher because most, as a whole, know what they are doing. Finding a way to win a game or go five innings when you don't have your best stuff is what pitching is all about.

That's how you get to learn pitchers, and he is adapting to that very well. Brett is very astute at what he's doing. He's taking it seriously and getting a good read.