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NL DIVISION SERIES: DODGERS VS METS

October 12, 2015

Clayton Kershaw

Flushing, New York - Pregame

THE MODERATOR: First question for Clayton.

Q. This whole starting a playoff game on short rest is nothing new for you. Is there anything that you've sort of learned from having done it now the past two years?
CLAYTON KERSHAW: Not really. I mean I think, you know, the adrenaline takes over. You don't really feel tired or anything like that, you know. You know, it's the playoffs. So it doesn't really -- obviously your routines change a little bit, different things like that, but as far as being prepared, being ready for it, I'll be fine come tomorrow.

Q. Clayton, how did that conversation come to pass? Did Donnie come to you the last 24 hours?
CLAYTON KERSHAW: I don't really want to get into the specifics of it, but it was in the back of my mind, for sure, that I might have a shot to pitch today.

Q. Clayton, when you did it the last two years, the results were split, one win, one loss, but how do you think you pitched? Did you pitch well in those two games?
CLAYTON KERSHAW: I'm trying to remember the first -- I don't even remember. Oh, Atlanta was the first one. Yeah, I think I did fine. I mean I think I did -- I don't really -- I think I did okay. Last year I did okay until the last inning. So you know, try not to do that again I guess.

Q. You seem so routine oriented between starts, so what exactly do you have to cut out?
CLAYTON KERSHAW: I just basically combined the first two days, day 2 and day 3, just kind of combine them. You know, not like all of it. Do half of day 2, half of day 3, basically is what I did yesterday here.

Q. Clayton, both managers spoke about this in sort of obvious terms. Terry was asked who would he prefer, you or Alex Wood? He kind of laughed and said do I have to answer that. And Don talked about the fact that do I really have to explain it. What is it like to be in a situation that it's so obvious that you on three days' rest is the clear option for your team?
CLAYTON KERSHAW: Yeah, I appreciate the confidence that Donnie has, the confidence in me to do it. It's a good feeling to know your manager wants you out there makes you want to prove him right, for sure.

I feel bad, I saw TC (Collins) out on the field a second ago. And I've known TC a long time. And he asked me what the plan was and I told him I didn't know because I didn't know yet and then Donnie walks in like 10 minutes later and tells me I'm pitching. So he probably thinks I was lying to him. So yeah, it was definitely a good feeling, you know, something that you want to prove everybody right.

Q. When you say you don't really feel tired pitching on short rest, does that ever change, 90 pitches, 100 pitches, the same as the first inning?
CLAYTON KERSHAW: I'll never admit that I'm tired, you know. That's what you work for. You know, you never want to -- you want to feel the same pitch 1 as you do pitch 140, and you want to feel the same in April as you do in October. And I feel like I do. I really do. You know, when I've had successes and failures, I don't think it's because of being tired. I just think it's because you're not making the pitches.

Q. Just to follow up on that, you just mentioned it, can you just describe your relationship with Collins and what it's like over the years?
CLAYTON KERSHAW: Well, it's not a lot -- you know, he was our Minor League coordinator when I got drafted, and so I got to know him basically for an instructional league, you know. And just had a ton of respect for the way he went about it. He was tough, tough minded, but at the same time he was very honest, which I thought was pretty cool, you know, just kind of told players where they stood, what they needed to do to get better, what he needed to see out of them to move up, and I've always had a lot of respect for him.

Q. What was your reaction to Chase getting suspended and does that add any more emotion to an already emotional series?
CLAYTON KERSHAW: No, no more emotion. I mean my stance on it is, you know, either change the rule or, you know, let it happen. Just kind of -- I don't think you can be on the fence. I feel like MLB got, you know, maybe a little bit bullied into suspending him. Never happened before. I've seen slides a lot worse. And then you know, the main thing I want to say is we all feel bad for what happened to Ruben. You know, that's a terrible thing. You know, you never want to see that happen. It's devastating. You never want to see a guy get hurt. You know, with that said, there's a lot of people that have a lot of different opinions about it that probably shouldn't because they're not middle infielders and they have no idea what they're talking about. And I'll just kind of leave it at that.

Q. Clayton, the Braves, Cardinals and Mets are all particularly different teams that you've faced over the last couple of years. What do the Mets give you that is a particular problem that the other teams don't, or vice versa?
CLAYTON KERSHAW: I don't know specifically if there's any more problems with one team or the other. I mean the Mets have been swinging the bats really well since the trade deadline. You know, we all know that. Guys in the middle of their lineup can do some damage. They can hit the ball out of the ballpark. But as far as comparatively to the other teams, I don't know that there's one huge glaring strength over another.

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