He has handled the situation very professionally and he's made a big fan out of me because of that. It's great to have a player like him on the bench that you can put into the lineup and the other team knows he's a significant factor to contend with.

He got out of his game. He got out of what helped to get him off to a great start. I saw a much longer swing in Houston. I saw a very short wall in left field and I saw somebody that was trying to reach it way too often.

He makes everyone around him better. It's not going to take him months to resurrect that great hand-eye coordination. It's safe to say he's a weapon depending on where he's at with his rehab situation.

We took great at-bats tonight. We hit four home runs. And the beautiful part of it was the run that we scored to go ahead was something that we worked at very hard in Spring Training.

He's a great athlete and a heck of a baseball player. You've got to like his future.

He's done a great job and he's really shown me he has a chance to be a very special player. He's a tremendous talent.

He's a clubhouse leader, great for young players to be around, knows how to play the game, accepts his role willingly and does it as well as any of the other top flight guys that come off benches and play, that you can think of. What's there not to like about this guy?

I thought they both did a great job (Saturday). They did exactly what you wanted to see and what they would have wanted to do.

I thought they both did a great job. I thought they both did exactly what you wanted to see. ... Both guys passed today.

I think everyone knows Ryan has a great arm. I think we owe it to ourselves to find out if he can help us a starting pitcher.

I think he has a chance be a terrific offensive player. But part of becoming a great offensive player is having a full understanding of the strike zone and understand what pitchers try to do to him in certain situations. The only way you get to that point is you keep carrying the bat to the plate.

We need some starts where we get seven or eight innings, and it would be great if we could even get one at some point in which the guys in the bullpen wouldn't even have to pick up their gloves one day.

Webb made great pitches. He was throwing curveballs and changeups for strikes.

This whole weekend shows how great a sports town Pittsburgh is. The people here really care about these teams.

To summarize for you, both guys passed (Saturday). It doesn't make any decision over the next few days any easier. But that's what you hope for. When you're in a position where you have to make choices like this, they're not easy. It's a great problem to have.

There's no closer in baseball that's perfect, though we lost one (Gagne) who's as close to being one as there is. Brazoban has done a great job.

Offensively, we did some great things. To get back in the game in the manner in which we did took some great at-bats.

No question in my mind. You are talking about people who have great baseball minds and are tireless workers.

As a two-hole hitter, this guy has the capability for doing great things for us offensively.

It's great to get him back in camp with us. I saw a guy on TV who really liked the arena that he was in.

It was a great workout. We got a lot done today and we accomplished a lot of things.

It was a great game. We did everything we could to win the game to avoid being swept.

I'm not saying things would have necessarily been different if Sean was in the lineup but I think it would have helped to have a hitter who combined to strike out less 100 times over the last two seasons up in the situation. You need to make contact with a man on second and none out, and I think Sean would have given us a great chance of doing that.

The great thing about Roberto Hernandez is he understands the concept of what we're trying to implement here. Stay within the framework of what's being drawn up to create that continuity.

Back in May, when the Padres went something like 22-6, they had a chance to slam the door, throw the lock around the handle and close it off for everybody else. And it didn't happen. So it's not a matter of anybody putting on any type of serious charge thus far, it's a matter of teams just winning some games here and there.

It remains to be seen how this will affect us. Based on last night, not at all. But that's one game. We have 37 more games to be played. And it's not just the results, but how we go about it. Do we play with enthusiasm, with intensity, with passion?

This is a guy that as we go along you're going to find him pitching a lot of very meaningful games, games of major significance. That's who he is. That's who he's going to become. That's going to be a very easy thing for him to do because he's a person who's not the least bit shy about wanting that type of responsibility.

I don't want Jason Bay to do anything other than be the player he's been here for the last two years.

He has handled the situation very professionally and he's made a big fan out of me because of that. It's great to have a player like him on the bench that you can put into the lineup and the other team knows he's a significant factor to contend with.

He's been terrific. He looks to me like a very good baseball player and a very good number two hitter.

He's going to get the ball in the ninth inning. We'll see how it goes. We've got a guy who is a complete novice in that environment. But what I see is a player that an opportunity has been created for him and he's seizing the opportunity.

I think he has a chance be a terrific offensive player. But part of becoming a great offensive player is having a full understanding of the strike zone and understand what pitchers try to do to him in certain situations. The only way you get to that point is you keep carrying the bat to the plate.

You better believe he's having a terrific spring. He has a chance to be a real player at the major-league level.

Duffy is an important piece at the top of our lineup. That's an ideal spot for him. When he gets on first base, he can be a very disruptive player as fast as he is.

First of all, I happen to think he was a pretty good player before he was selected to play for his country. I don't need to see him go play for Mexico to see that. But, absolutely, it can be a confidence-building experience.

Colby has worked with him a lot. Oliver is being given information that can help him succeed as a major-league pitcher. Sometimes, the player has to take the information and make certain adjustments in order to be successful.

The best way to approach a player with his type of ability and talent is to feel like you've developed a type of environment to allow his development to continue on its natural course. With what we have done this winter, we have put this young man in a position to where his natural progression as a Major League Baseball player has a genuine opportunity to take place without heaping any unexpected expectations on him.

I loved those kids. I loved Andrew . . . I loved him. Smartest player I had in that program. He lived for it. Absolutely lived for basketball at St. Martha's.

I haven't convinced myself that he's played his last bit for 2005, but I do know today he should sit back and relax, ... He's quite a professional player and a professional person. I believe we've pushed him about as far as he can be pushed, and he's responded in every single case.

If you have them, great. If not, there are people in every clubhouse in baseball that every player in the room identifies with. I don't think that he necessarily needs a 'C' on his shoulder or anything like that.

Because I want to see how versatile a player he is.

He can go get a ball and make it look easy and effortless. I want to see how versatile a player he is, but he will have a home at third base for some time.

We're looking for 35 or 38 or 39, and this is an opportunity to find out who are those guys beyond the 25.

His record wasn't all that impressive, but I've seen this guy do very well at times. And I think the opportunity to acquire somebody in the Rule 5 draft ... it's not all that often you get somebody whose resume from the previous year shows 141 innings.

He's going to get the ball in the ninth inning. We'll see how it goes. We've got a guy who is a complete novice in that environment. But what I see is a player that an opportunity has been created for him and he's seizing the opportunity.

Our golden opportunity was in the seventh inning. We had the bases loaded, we had one out, we had a 3-1 count and we just didn't get it done.

I won't say where they are going to start. But he is the type of guy we are looking for to hopefully place in between two left-handers that have somewhat similar stuff and not give opposing clubs an opportunity to see the same type of stuff on consecutive days.

That was his game to determine. It was his baseball game at that point. You have to give him the opportunity to finish it.

When you face a pitcher the caliber of Chris Carpenter, you only get one opportunity like that.

We had something going on in the fifth, it looked like we had a chance to get back in the game, but they cut the inning off. We took some good at-bats off him, we created some opportunity for ourselves ... but from watching him, he's got a crisp fastball and his breaking ball also is very sharp.