Pretty exciting night for us. Nice win for us in the first game of a homestand. Now we've got two more big ones.

There's nothing to address. We're going to play the game the way we've been playing.

Even if he would have lost or had a so-so game yesterday, he's still going to bring something to the table every time,

Every situation is totally different for me. Every team that faces Barry Bonds has the same dilemma. You just pick your spots in the course of the game and you try to make the right decision and hope that it's executed. It's no different than any other team. Obviously, he's still a presence and obviously he's still one of the best hitters in the game and you have to be very conscious of him.

Today, obviously it's pretty much bad game management. Anytime you give up 0-2 home runs, that's not what you want to do. We had that quick 1-2-3 pitcher and then all hell broke loose in that one inning where he should have gotten out of that real easy. He just made bad pitches at the wrong time.

Winning the first game of the series doesn't mean anything if we don't win the next two, or one of the next two.

That's very important. I like my pitchers to stay focused and execute pitches and not get wrapped up in the score, but that's not very easy to do. Jae got a little tired at the end. We had some long innings, but he did keep us in the game as far as getting throught the first five pretty easily.

(Matsui) has to get back into game shape. The kid's doing really well defensively and we're winning a few games, so there's no rush, that's for sure.

Our game is speed and obviously you can't use your speed if you don't put the ball in play. I think he's eventually going to be a decent leadoff hitter. Last year everybody wanted him to be Rickey Henderson, and he couldn't do that.

He did a great job of playing a little Houdini act there. He had more or less a C-plus game - a C-minus game, maybe - and was able to make big pitches.

Getting thrown out of the game is no big deal for me. Just protecting your players. I thought the ball was low. You say your little piece and the umpire doesn't want to hear it and he throws you out of the game.

Getting thrown out of the game is protecting my players. I just voiced my opinion and I was thrown out.

It was a good game for us to get back on the winning ways. Hopefully we're going to turn the corner here, and get into a nice little run.

It's always nice to get the guys out there moving around. You sit back and watch guys throw on the side, but the only way you can get a good feel is to get into game action.

We walked the tightrope a little bit, but it was a good game for the fans to watch.

I said last night I would see how he felt. He had a pretty good game for us but I still didn't even ask him if he wanted to play because he got hit.

Obviously bringing in Wagner, a legitimate closer who makes you feel real good at the end of the game when you give him the ball, all of that stuff is really comforting for most managers.

He started out not very sharp and he had 37 pitches in the first inning. That's almost three innings worth and we were debating whether or not to send him out in the seventh or not but he wanted to pitch and he ended the game strong.

I've got a game plan. Some of it depends on how healthy Todd feels, how his legs feel. He's still recuperating from last year at the end of the year. With the hard ground down here, it puts pressure on your legs.

It's the same with pitching. You talk to Greg Maddux and I'm sure he has a game plan, but he also sometimes can feel when a guy is looking inside or if a guy is looking for something else or it depends on which pitch he takes and how he takes it. Some guys get it early, some guys get it late, some guys never get it.

It's a big game. It's a very important game for us.

They're still going to follow us here. We just kind of messed that game up tonight.

It was a perfect scenario, too -- day game after night game.

There are going to be some times when all of them will have to come off the bench. To me, that will keep all of them ready to come in the game at any minute.