Joe Blanton Quotations

When I came up last year, we were battling them for a playoff spot just like we are now. Any time we play each other it's a big series and every game is right down to the last pitch, for the most part.

The (pitch to Rivera) was a fastball in and that's something I need to work on.

He trusts my stuff. He taught me a lot. He calls the pitch that you expect to throw.

He looks like he's getting locked in. The whole team benefits from him being in the lineup. He looks like he's ready to go.

To come in here and win the first game at a place like this is big, ... Hopefully it gets our confidence going and we can carry it over for the rest of the month.

I was trying to get the ball in, and he was reminding me of that. In games, I have been missing over the plate. It was helpful to have him out there for a quick fix right in the middle of things.

That's the way it goes sometimes. Maybe in the Seattle series the ball was going right to the infielders. Maybe in the next series they'll hit line drives right at people. That's the way baseball works.

We were 15 games under .500, and Barry always remained positive. We started bad, and he never gave up. He kept pushing us. He's 27 now, with six years in the big leagues and a Cy Young Award. We didn't want to lose a great teammate.

We had a lot of close games that could have went either way (during April and May). It was one of those where instead of the ball going an inch foul, it went an inch fair.

Three inches here or there and a lot of those balls are caught. Sometimes you catch a break, sometimes you don't. Sometimes the (artificial) turf speeds balls up. I thought I made some pretty good pitches they did a good job of getting the bat on.

Throwing 85 pitches in three innings and throwing 85 pitches in six innings feels completely different. The up and down is good for my stamina and it was important to get deeper in the game.

We're going out and giving it all we have. It's just a matter of a couple breaks here and there.

I've definitely watched him over the years. It's neat anytime you get to pitch against somebody who has been around for so long and had such great success.

I want a win anytime. It's just big getting the first game in a place like this. Hopefully, it will get our confidence going.

(Street) has been tremendous. He looks so calm out there. He must have nerves of steel. I guess that's why we're confident he's going to get the job done every time.

You never want to get into a jam but it was nice because it's something I'll need to face once the season rolls around.

It's a tough place to pitch - especially tonight, the wind was blowing out to right-center. They have some big lefties in their lineup. It's almost like you know you will give up home runs here. You want to make them solo, not let a three-run homer beat you.

It's one of those where the other pitcher is getting a lot of attention, but I'm not facing him. I'm pitching against their lineup. He doesn't have anything to do with the way I approach the game.

It's a loose atmosphere here. I think that's good for a lot of the young guys here, we mix in pretty well and do our thing. It keeps us relaxed and confident.

It was laid-back, but you don't want to give up a run, and you don't want anyone to get a hit off you. You still want to have that bit of intensity, but not quite as much as a regular game.

Oh ... it's just another game. We still have another (16 games) left. That's when the real important games will be, those last seven of the year. That's when you really need a quality start for your team.

It's tough. But you just have to slow everything down when you are out there. You take a little more time between pitches. You just try to slow the game down in your head and don't make it too quick. Make it as simple as possible.

I try not to worry about it. Keeping us in the game is my job. I faced a young guy with great stuff, but there's nothing I can do about it.

It was huge in a bunch of ways. That could've been a huge momentum-turner if he gets that out.

It's real nice, especially coming this late in the spring. You always want to have that one good outing right before you leave Spring Training, and this is my last start down here, so it was a good time for it.

I'm definitely a big step closer to being ready.

I'm sure everyone in the clubhouse was rooting for Barry to be back. We had some young guys last year, and a few of us looked to Barry to help us along the way.

I'm just getting more comfortable all the time. I'm trying to find the strike zone more with my offspeed pitches and my fastballs.

I just left some balls up. I gave up 10 hits, but I didn't feel like I got hit around a lot. Balls are just finding holes right now.

I just gave up a couple of singles in a row mixed with a walk or two. I threw a lot of close pitches that could have been called either way.