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NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: GIANTS v CARDINALSOctober 15, 2014Bruce BochySAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: Game Four St. Louis – 4 THE MODERATOR: Questions for Bruce. Q. Some of your guys have said, even if you're going to score runs without hits, you still have to have great at‑bats to get on base and put pressure on. Is that what you guys keep doing? BRUCE BOCHY: Right, you have to. It has to start somewhere, and the one inning started with Perez. He goes up there and finds a way to get a walk and, of course, Crawford had a big day today. And Duffy lays down a great bunt, and then you're hoping to put the ball in play and good things happen. We had speed on third base. We were going on contact there, and Perez got a great jump. Great base running by Crawford on the other ground ball there that Panik hit. If you're not hitting the long ball, you have to find ways to manufacture runs, and the guys did a great job. That's quite a comeback, and it all starts with Petit. Vogey was a little bit off, and you need your long guy to go out there and hopefully give you some innings, a couple of things there. You know, he gives you a chance to come back, which we did, and also allows you to still have your guys that you want to use late in the ballgame. So Petit saved us tonight with his effort. Q. Following up on that, you did score three runs without a hit. You've had ten runs without a hit in the last five games. Is this the residue of playing baseball properly? Is it a product of strategic aggression or is it just brilliant managing? BRUCE BOCHY: You know, base running has a lot to do with it, like I said, not striking out, putting the ball in play. You try to put pressure on the other club, and that's how it happens, by your base running and guys doing some little things to get those runs in. Granted, we didn't hit the ball hard, but we had some speed out there to find a way to get a run across the board. And these guys, they are a gritty bunch. And you know, we are not hitting the long ball, and if you're not doing that, you'd better find some other ways to get some runs across the board and grind out the at‑bats. Hopefully move runners and do those little things. And right now, they are doing a great job of it. Q. Following up on that, back in April and May when the team was bombing balls out of the park every night, did you foresee the team winning games like this? BRUCE BOCHY: I'll be honest, not quite like this. But at the same time, you have to remember, when you're in the postseason, you're seeing some really good pitching, and we are. It's a little tougher to get three or four hits in a row. So you have to do those little things. That's what has to happen for us, I believe. We've got to find, you know, some different ways to get runs across the board. Granted, you know, we've gotten a couple breaks, but at the same time, we've done some good things. Like I mentioned, the base running and just putting the ball in play or getting a bunt down, that's so critical when you're playing so many close games. You know, little things. I mean, Arias, here he pinch‑hits and he gets a base hit and we find a way to get him across home plate. Now you're getting a little bit closer and the hope starts to build up and momentum starts to change and that's what happened. Q. Can you give us an outlook for tomorrow, you're 3‑1 up, have the game at home, top starter Bumgarner going. BRUCE BOCHY: You know, we've won three, but that's a number. It's a number you have to get to before the next one. And like I said yesterday, great win for these guys. Great comeback, but we have some work to do. They will enjoy this moment, but you've got to come out here tomorrow and get ready to go. And we'll be facing another good pitcher, great pitcher and tough club. So you come out and keep fighting. Q. From what you could see, what was Vogelsong not able to do tonight that he did in his last start? BRUCE BOCHY: He was a little up. He's missing his spots more than his last start. You know, it's kind of a rough start for him. The first ball hit, looked like it hit the lip and ends up getting a double on that ball. Gregor just missed getting to the other ball. I said this earlier, that Vogey, he's probably had some tough luck, and that added to some missed spots that he had tonight. But you know, hey, these guys aren't always going to be on, and what's important is we pick them up. The bullpen picked them up. The bats picked them up and the guys did a great job not getting down. Q. You talk a lot about the little things you guys do, but tonight Posey seemed to have one of his more impactful postseason games. BRUCE BOCHY: I agree. Big day, three RBIs. Had some huge hits, two‑out hits, and getting that insurance run, that second run, to give us a two‑run lead. That's always huge. He threw out some good at‑bats. He's been playing great and catching great, but he had a good night. When you get down like we were, you need somebody to come through for you, and he did tonight. Q. Back to Vogelsong.  It worked out well, obviously in the end, but looking back, maybe you left him in too long or are you pretty comfortable with the way that went? BRUCE BOCHY: Well, you know, he's in the third inning, it's 2‑1. I don't take the starter out normally when it's 2‑1, and next two pitches they had hits. So we had Petit ready, he gets a double play and it's 3‑1 and nobody on base. So, no, I don't think I left him out there too long. I'm sure he made a mistake to Wong, but his spot was coming up and I thought he could get that last out and then we were going to hit for him. Just made a mistake like I said to Wong, but he got that last out and allowed us to use a pinch‑hitter there versus bringing in Petit. I really didn't want to double‑switch at that point. But that doesn't keep you from getting your pitcher if you think he's done. I just had confidence that he could get that third out. Q. Are you surprised by the number of runs you're scoring with two outs? BRUCE BOCHY: You know, we did a great job earlier in the season. We were doing that very nicely. But you know, those things help win ballgames. There's no getting around it, those two‑out hits, they are clutch hits. We had a big one yesterday from Ishikawa. I've always said this, to win a game, you need pitching and you need timely hits, and tonight we got them. Q. Do you also need fundamentals? Some of these things that you guys are doing to win games are things you work on in early February, right, just making things happen? And we've seen the Cardinals blow some of those chances. BRUCE BOCHY: Yeah, well, every team works on them. I mean, we lost a game in Washington with fundamentals. So, you know, hey, both teams are very good fundamentally. Sometimes you don't execute and it can come back to haunt you. Hopefully you do, especially in tight ballgames. We did tonight, and overall, we've done a good job here recently. I think, really, our fundamentals have gotten better, including our base running. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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