Bergesen on Bergesen

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. - Brad Bergesen spoke to reporters in the visiting clubhouse after allowing two runs and eight hits, with one walk, over five innings. "I was much more pleased with how I worked my fastball," he said. "More down in the zone. When I was missing, I was missing down rather than up, right over the plate. That was positive. The slider wasn't there for me. Need to work on it. I talked to Goose (Mark Connor) afterward and there are a couple adjustments we want to make with that, but as far as overall feeling, I felt better with the previous adjustments I made. My mechanics felt a little more natural today." Bergesen started today, but he felt relieved (see what I did there?) "Absolutely," he said. "Early on, I think some of you guys stressed a little bit (with the results), but it really is getting our work in early on. Not worried about the results, not panicking, but as we do get closer to the season, like we are, for me it's nice to have the results there and to try to keep going now into the season and carry that through." Manny Ramirez flied out to leave the bases loaded in the fifth. "That's a test I would always like to pass there," Bergesen said. "The guy is a future Hall of Famer. Again, it's only spring training, you are not too excited or, if things don't go right, you're not too down. But to get in that situation and do damage control early, like I did, and getting in a situation like that and being able to get out of it, could help confidence at this point." Asked if he's satisfied with his progress with one spring start remaining, Bergesen said, "Yeah, but the main thing right now is being able to get up and down five times and get our pitches in and make sure we get healthy."