That was a rocket, a no-doubter. We have to take it easy on him -- as far as his shoulder. I'll have to get with [A's trainer Larry Davis] about a throwing program. We have to get him ready to go.

I asked him if he was fatigued or anything, ... He said, 'No,' so I said, 'Then let's let 'er rip.'

We didn't have Crosby in April and then (starter Rich) Harden went down. We had our No. 3 hitter out of the lineup, some young guys in the rotation and we played the Yankees and Red Sox 12 straight games. That will give you a slow start.

There was no panic in the dugout (when the Yankees took a 4-0 lead in the third). I said last year that the makeup of this team was tremendous. We have basically the same players with a couple of additions. They bounce back pretty well. Just because we got beat up in one game doesn't mean they're going to fold up.

Most records get broken by small margins. This was a no-doubter.

You look at one game we lost against Baltimore early in the year. We had a missed call at first base, ... We lost the game by one run and there was three runs there. It should have been closed out of the inning, so everything's crucial.