Ken Macha Quotations

When we were trying to pick a fifth starter back in camp, it was between Saarloos and Etherton, and we weren't quite sure which way we were leaning. So we went to Kendall, and he was adamant about Saarloos. That's what clinched it.

I can't say enough about him. This guy wants to be a key part of winning games.

If anybody had to lose anything in May, it was me. But I knew these guys were doing the best they could and that's all there was to it. That's all a manager can ask for.

He's certainly a rising star in this league.

He had a lot of life in his arm. That's one of his better outings. He had everything going.

He's been on top a lot more. He's got something extra when he needs it.

He'd be a nice guy to stick in there, too.

Halsey, that was a great effort by him. And the bullpen came through again.

I thought Barry had command from the first pitch on all of his stuff.

I think it's very important to have a veteran bat in the lineup. He meant so much to us on our hot streak.

I wasn't going to bring him into a 1-0 game the first time back. There was a lot of drama in that game. It wasn't for the faint of heart.

We have to make an adjustment. The pitching remained constant for both teams.

We got a couple of our runs on hustle. That's always nice to see.

Both of us had a desire to manage back then. Guys who have trained themselves properly, gone to the minor leagues and managed and paid their dues coaching for a considerable amount of time and have a great understanding of the game in all aspects. Getting interviewed as much as both of us had been, you always get that feeling that this is never going to happen. I applaud the Devil Rays for giving him an opportunity to go out there and do it. His background is comparable to anybody's. He had the interim job with the Angels a few times and did a fine job.

Everything would have to go perfect. And I know that everyone's heard that before, and it hasn't gone perfect.

Things are gonna work out for him. Maybe he'll get a change of scenery where he can get some more playing time.

Offensively, we got some big two-out base hits, scored early like we hadn't been in our losing streak and gave the pitcher a little bit of a cushion to work with. At the end of the game we hit some home runs a little bit like we had been when we were in our winning streak.

This game definitely wasn't for the faint of heart. All our games against these guys are really close and exciting. There was a lot of drama in this game tonight.

A lot of drama. Not for the faint of heart.

It's a little bit of a mix-and-match thing today.

It's nice to have the bats come around. And we had some great defensive plays, too.

That's a major concern for injury. I went out there trying to get everyone off the pile as best I could. It's not something I condone.

I don't know how you get Comeback Player of the Year, but Mark didn't play at all last year and now he's hitting .300.

Great effort tonight by Halsey. He pitched his game and we had some big hits.

Whenever we play the Twins, Torii Hunter has a major impact on defense. He tells the left fielder and the right fielder to take the day off and he covers the whole outfield.

The reality is it's still in our hands. We have to play four real good games against the Angels. If we take three of four we're still two back and then we'd need help. We'd still be breathing, but we'd need help. We'll shoot all our bullets to try and win that game (Monday) and worry about the next day when we get there.