It was his first time, and he's been so critical for us. That was a really memorable moment right there. He made a little speech, and that's a keeper. It's an extra-special day.

We have been really concerned the whole second half that a stretch of bad play was right in front of us. That concern has kept us pushing, and we've been able to avoid it. So I don't want to lose that concern, even though we're starting to get healthy.

The Cubs have played us so tough all year, ... We had (Greg) Maddux going against us so we knew it would be a hellacious ballgame and it was.

We understand we're officially in October baseball. It just doesn't seem right to celebrate when your magic number is one.

The best way to keep yourself competitive is not to change anything. Right now we're trying to grind out wins and win the division.

That would be unique. You play the schedule, however it works. They've played us very well, so I'm not going to go in there and expect anything but another tough series.