I feel better. When I get back, I want to play every day, not the way I've been playing.

I had the chance to play with Edgar Martinez , and he reminds me of him. The one thing I can tell you is this guy can hit. He prepares well and has a good workout routine. Not all ballplayers are like that.

Why wouldn't anyone want to represent their country? It's a great honor. There is so much excitement back home about (the tournament). There's a lot of pride because everyone wants us to do well.

How many times in your life do you have a chance to represent your country?

I was trying to help my team. It's a tough situation for me, bases loaded, one out, try to put the ball in play, but I don't want to make excuses. He struck me out.

For example, when I was in Seattle, I feel different. My teammates, I put my mind back there, the clubhouse was different, in the plane, everything was different. We need to find that feeling. When you come here to the clubhouse and get that feeling. We understand we've been losing. When you're not hitting, you're struggling and trying to get out of the slump. Good players, they do it quick. That's the way you're going to get better. That's what we need here.