News:vs. Minnesota Twins-May 18, 2002

Ted recieved his first win of the season.

"I think it was important, even though we keep telling him how much he's helped us, giving us a chance to win in almost every game he's pitched," said manager Joe Torre. "I think he's been relaxed, but you hate to see him keep coming away empty."

Lilly retired the Twins in order in the seventh, handing the game over to Steve Karsay with a 6-2 lead after seven.

"It's been bad luck that he hasn't gotten much run support, but that happens," Karsay said. "He battled today, kept himself in the game and gave himself the chance to win when Soriano hit that three-run bomb."

"It definitely feels good, but it's not going to help me to think about my individual statistics," Lilly said. "When the year is over, then maybe I'll take a look at them, but for now, I go out there and do everything I can to make sure that we win the game."

"I did want to go out and stretch it out, get into the seventh and not overwork the bullpen too much," Lilly said. "It's hard to stretch it like that, and to do that I have to be effective and efficient with the pitches that I throw."

"Ted pitched a great game, got us deep and saved our bullpen," Karsay said. "He did a great job, he deserves to get a win. It's nice for him to get this one."

"He gave us what we needed, especially after 14 innings last night," Torre said. "We needed someone to take us deep into the game, but to pitch that effectively was a great bonus. It's getting to the point where we're not surprised."

Lilly struck out nine batters over seven innings, giving him 37 for the year in 38 innings. He has struck out more batters than he has allowed hits and walks combined, something that impresses Torre more than anything else.

"He's deceptive," Torre said. "The number of strikeouts, you don't realize it's happening until the game is over. He has really been something."

"When you look at the numbers, I'm throwing a lot of strikes and not walking as many guys," Lilly said. "There are certain situations when I get two strikes on a guy, or when I need a strikeout, that I put more emphasis on striking someone out. But in general, it's important to me to try to get the hitter out as quickly as possible."

"He's a good pitcher," said Twins right fielder Dustan Mohr, who had two of Minnesota's five hits against Lilly. "We hit some balls pretty hard that were right at people early. I think after that, he settled down, obviously. He went seven innings. He started spotting his pitches a little bit better."

"Whatever [my role] is, when I get the ball I know that it's important for me to go out there and be productive," Lilly said. "That's what I'm thinking about. Thinking about tomorrow isn't going to do me any good."

"Success for Ted Lilly right now is for us to have confidence in him, and we do," Torre said. "This experience he's having now is priceless."

"I wasn't really sure, but I thought that he went around," Lilly said "It was a close play, but it was great for us to get out of that jam."

"It's a bonus when [the win] goes in my individual column, but that's not the motive of why I take the mound" said Lilly.

Lilly (1-3) had gotten an average of just 2.8 runs of support in his first four outings.

"I don't feel I have to prove myself or anything like that," Lilly said. "Whatever it is, when I get the ball, it's important for me to be productive."

"He hit his spots," Minnesota's Torii Hunter said. "He had a sneaky fastball. When he needed to, he really threw it."