He hit his spots, had a good split and worked his fastball on both sides of the plate. We're not on top of our game offensively and he didn't make it any easier on us.

He got off to a good run, but his command has become a little more inconsistent of late. He's got a history of issues with command. If his command doesn't get to be above average, he will fall in the line of a lot of pitchers who will show you a good game once in a while, and then you wonder why they don't have more success.

We took a chance, but it's not like we were drawing plays up in the dirt. We talked before the game that he wasn't going to get a chance to beat us.

His voice was stronger. He got a big kick out of the game last night. He sent text messages to the players after.

He didn't have his best stuff tonight. His command wasn't nearly what it has been in the past. He had a four-run cushion, wasn't really able to capitalize on it. But he still left the game with a lead, so it wasn't a lost effort by any means. He battled.

I talked to Todd (on Sunday) night after the game and left another message for him (Monday) morning. He told me he might not make it on this road trip and laughed.

Winning a season series is something we didn't talk about much after the first half. You look at the numbers and see where you are and think maybe we can steal a game or two from them. . . . Obviously, we've been able to do a little more than that.

We had a lot of guys just running hot, and we were running hot to start the game again tonight. That's a nice come-from-behind victory on the road for us. I've seen a lot of road games.

Whether it's an old team or a young team, ... there's a certain way the game has to be played.

We tried to create some game situations, and he moved around pretty well.

Everybody thought it was a stab and something unique. Sunny showed us a little something today, and in a game we needed some length, BK gave it to us.

There's nothing to read into that. It's the first opportunity to get him in a game and try to split the innings up and give them both opportunity to pitch.

This guy has a very workable package and a passion to play the game. I was open-ended with him today because of his competitiveness and he made a statement to finish it off and throw a complete game with 118 pitches.

A big game for Sullivan, and a big game for us. Everybody contributed. We played really hard and got a lot of things done.

I told him the beauty to this game is when you do well you don't go up. You stay around until you do lousy and then figure out how to do well again.

That's probably a pitch you'd like to have back. But we made a lot of mistakes in the game that put us in that situation.

That's as good a game you will see here as long as the place stays. That was top-shelf.

His breaking ball was on the plate today. The game against San Diego, he kept missing with it. His command was much better today.

His demeanor, his rhythm, the pace of game -- all of that is what you expect and what you need from your No. 1 starter. That's something he can bring every night, whether his best stuff's with him or not.

His counts got cleaner. He started with an inconsistent command, behind in counts. He got better as the game went on. There's better there, but that's winning without your best stuff early and then tightening up as you go along.

I don't think there was any big talk or meeting. It was the culmination of holding on to a perception. When you get to a point where you pitch, play defense and play smart baseball regularly, when the game gets clean, you win on the road.

He showed us what we needed to see to have confidence in his ability to put him in the game at any time, at any place in the outfield or as part of the lineup.

He made nice strides this spring. He just needs to keep making the strides that he made. There was a point in time last season where we were having trouble throwing the ball around the infield. Now he threw the ball accurately, his release times were quick and efficient. I think he swung the bat efficiently. He's using his off-gap again from both sides. He had a good spring.

We're going to give him a little more time to work his way out of it. He's an important part of the lineup without Todd. . . . He's not trying to pull everything. He's conscious of going to the right side. When he gets hot, he can do major damage.

We have a youthful lineup. They have gone through a stretch where they have collectively come up short driving runs in. Each time it doesn't happen there seems to be more importance or a heightened awareness the next time, an added weight to be fit into place. That's just part of the experience process they have to get through. They have to realize that no matter what happens, we're going to play another game.

Numbers speaking, he made one error the whole time he was at shortstop, which speaks volumes. He handled himself remarkably well. He showed major-league poise.

Nobody's under a magnifying glass. You put somebody under a magnifying glass long enough, you burn them. The guys that didn't pitch well, they know who they are. Through honest self-evaluation, they'll see their location and the adjustments they need to make the next time out. That'll be the critical area to watch.

Nobody here has taken him and put him in a chair and tried to get him wound up so tight that he can't perform by breaking down his mechanics, ... We've kept things as simple as possible for a young left-handed pitcher to go out there and perform. I really believe that, at this point and time in the season, this is one of the more challenging things that's happened to him in his career. This'll be a good barometer of who and what he is.

He has made progress every time he has gone out and played, ... We need to see if he fits with us going into 2006. We're pretty set with (right fielder Brad) Hawpe and (left fielder) Holliday.

He has said the same thing for three outings. I'd like to see him make an adjustment. . . . We have people in Colorado who have seen it, but it's been awhile. If he knows what's wrong, God bless him. Fix it. It's been a long time since Zach Day has pitched well.

When he plants his front foot and really stays behind his swing, he's got a little gap power. How it plays out, time will tell, but he has the ability to hit a ball out of the ballpark.

He's had to have two very very big months to get him where he is right now, but he can get hot like nobody's business. He's probably learned some very valuable lessons through this year. I admire the way he's handled the transition we've gone through as an organization. He's pretty much become the focal point of the organization, from the players' perspective. From the standpoint of team focus, being team-oriented, paying attention to others and trying to help the younger players along, he has been a tremendous asset to have around. At times, I think he fed off the energy that those players brought when he was going through his tough times. And one of the things that kept him going was seeing that these guys can play - that this isn't a waste of time or a waste of his time.

I think by far and away he was way ahead of the pack at the time he went down. But the numbers he has now, they still spell out pretty good in the big scheme of things if you want to dissect numbers and break them down. Everybody else had an opportunity of three months to really put some distance between themselves and him and elevate themselves, but it didn't happen.

Matt has had his ups and downs the last few games. He delivered the big hit for us so this couldn't have come at a better time for him.

I was trying to shake some things up. I knew we'd lost six games in a row. I was going to jingle any time I had a chance to jingle today.

I thought he took a very positive first step. He didn't get outside of himself. In the first inning he was mid-20s in pitches, but he battled. He didn't give up a big inning after that. Any time there was traffic, he held runners well. He made pitches when he had to. He mixed his pitches. He held the left-handers very effectively. A big outing for him and a big win for us.

We had to revisit that from time to time. But by the end of the season, that added more volume to what he did accomplish.

We had our chances, but didn't come through. Now it's time to focus on the Reds.

Every year at this time of the season you tip your hat to them. If you ever get people saying that about your organization you are in good shape.

This will be a very exciting day for him. He's put in as much hard work into becoming a starting opening-day player as anybody that we've ever had. He's had 11 years in the minor leagues and to get this nod at this time in his career has to be very gratifying.

Every year you show up here, you at least have a fraction of hope. This year there's a lot more substance to go with that hope. They know (the division) is open. It's time to make a statement on the field.

It's a big pick-me-up. Some guys showed up big time tonight.

That's a big hit in this ballpark. He's capable of a lot of things and he's finding his own way to contribute. We have one big hit tonight. He had it and it's a four-run swing. He picked us up big time with the bat.

The bond is special between a father, especially relative to his father's age and the time (in his life),

It's Jason's time to take the next step, and sometimes when players can't get to certain places, it's up to a coach to take them there. I want him to know going in that I've got the confidence in him to do that. By giving him the ball Opening Day, I can't make a bigger statement than that.

I'm not sure how much we're going to let him swing the bat. He can be somebody else's laboratory experiment. I've had my time with it. ... I'm working on the premise that he can still hit.

I'm going to give him some time to work out of it.

His hip wasn't a factor. His command was an issue. He basically pitched out of the stretch the entire time he was out there.

He's welcomed the opportunity. There comes a point and time in your career where you do what you are asked to do.

If he stays the course with it, obviously he'd be thrown into the mix. But again, time will tell. Let him play. Let him finish the season the way he's been the last two weeks. Then we'll have a topic of discussion.