It’s different facing the West teams now and when I was with the Rangers. It’s different when you face a team 19 times because they figure you out, then you figure them out and it goes back and forth. It seems like they keep a steady rotation and you’re facing guys over and over again and you pick up on things as a hitter. It’s the same thing with the Angels and Mariners. It’s a division that keeps getting better and better. The AL East is the beast, they’ll always be No. 1. The Central with the Twins and Tigers will be tough. I believe a champion will come out of the West very soon. It looks like the Rangers are doing a good job and they’re not far behind the A’s with the young leadership over there. There’s guys like Mark Ellis, and I call Kurt Suzuki a veteran — it seems like he’s been around for 10 years. They’re just a tough team and it’s shown in the games we’ve played against them.

It’s different facing the West now since I’ve been facing National League pitching. In my mind, sometimes I have to get back to that American League style. For example, Gio Gonzalez has a great fastball but on 2-0, he threw me a changeup. I’ve been getting fastballs on 2-0. It’s a little different and you have to change your mindset. I’ll be happy when we finish these games and I get back to National League style.

— Marlon