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NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: CUBS VS METS

October 20, 2015

Terry Collins

Chicago, Illinois - Postgame three

Chicago Cubs - 2 - New York Mets - 5

Q. I know we continue to ask, but have you ever seen the type of display Murphy has had so far in the first two rounds of the playoffs?
TERRY COLLINS: No, I haven't. I've watched a lot of baseball over the years, I don't think I've seen anybody put on this kind of a show on this stage like he has so far. I mean, even the guys in the dugout, they're baseball guys too and they're saying the same thing.

Question is who is this guy? I mean, he's been unbelievable. So hopefully he just keeps it up for certainly a few more games.

Q. Cespedes was able to steal that base. Can you talk about what that meant to this game and how that all played out?
TERRY COLLINS: Well, we came in knowing that we had to be a little aggressive on the bases, something we don't normally do. We're not that kind of a team. But we told the guys, look, if you get on and you think you can go, go. And Yoenis got a great job, and it just shows you there is not a phase of this game that he can't do. And that was a big play for us.

Q. You made the point before the game that one win in this ballpark could help you guys. It seems people are forgetting you're a pretty good offensive team down the stretch?
TERRY COLLINS: And I certainly understand it. I mean, even though we're from New York, we don't play when it's 35Â° either.

So when you came here, our guys came out yesterday, and they came out to hit were raving about how nice it was. Today guys were talking about, wow, this is a great -- what a great baseball day. You know, we've got a pretty good offensive club, especially in hitter's parks. We've shown that all year long. No matter -- in Philly, or Cincinnati, Colorado, places that people hit, we hit. Tonight we got some big hits.

Q. Two questions. Just generally being up 3-0, how do you feel like where you're sitting right now? Secondly, can you compare this to the outing for deGrom in L.A., the fifth game? Is it very similar, high pitch count early, fastball command, and somehow gets through it?
TERRY COLLINS: We'll start with deGrom. In the third inning, I said if we get five out of this guy tonight, we'll be lucky. Then all of a sudden in the fifth inning, fourth and fifth inning, he started making pitches. So it was a very similar outing he had in Los Angeles. He didn't have very good stuff early. His command has been off. I don't know if it's fatigue this time of year. Again, he's pitched more than he ever has in his whole life, so that could be the answer.

But being up 3-0, we're very, very fortunate, because the Cubs have played great. They're playing great, and we've got to -- we can't worry about it. We've got to come out tomorrow and Steven Matz has got to give us a game. Our bullpen is pretty rested and Steven can get us five or six, you know, we've got a lot of answers in the bullpen for any match-ups we need.

Q. Can you relate to your argument when the ball skipped past Soler, and first when you initially went out there and when Ted came over to the dugout?
TERRY COLLINS: I know the rule. We all know what the rule is. My argument was my runner's halfway to third base, if not three-quarters of the way to third base. I just ask him if -- he said, I can't do it. That's just the rule, can't even challenge it. I wanted him to go to the cameras upstairs. But I knew the rule. It's just, it kind of sucks when it happens to you.

Q. What do you do as manager to prevent your players from looking forward to the next series?
TERRY COLLINS: They won't look forward to it. I can tell you that right now. That clubhouse right now that's all they're talking about is tomorrow. They know what they're facing. We've got some experienced guys who have been in playoffs before, and they're not looking forward, tomorrow we've got to get ready to play. As we're waiting for everybody to come off the field, David and everybody was being interviewed on the field, that was the conversation in the clubhouse, we've got to get ready to play tomorrow.

Q. Just a quick follow-up on the ivy. It seemed like you had a long talk before the game about ground rules, and I just wondered if that was standard or if it was maybe a little longer in this ballpark?
TERRY COLLINS: Well, it's always longer in this park because the one thing obviously you can't do is try to make an effort to go get the ball or you've got to go get it.

We hit yesterday and every ball went out on the fly and didn't come back out, so we know there is an issue. The ground rule today was due to some new cameras, well, they were just going over the rules for those. I've been here enough to know that stuff happens in the ivy. It's what makes the ballpark unique and certainly I was not very happy at the moment.

Q. The sixth and seventh innings there, just seeing any little openings for you guys, the infield single or something, you guys took advantage. In a game like this how much do those little plays get magnified?
TERRY COLLINS: Every little play in the series, especially in the postseason, means a lot. I tell you what, my guys are playing hard. I mean, they're running the bases. That was a big play by David tagging up late when Schwarber was kind of backing up on the ball. Those are the things you've got to do right now to take advantage of any little chance you've got to try to score runs.

You know, Jake -- as a matter of fact, I told Dan, I said, boy, Jake has settled down, he's pitching tremendous right now. But I just said right at this particular time, we've got to bring him back in five days. Maybe the rest -- keep the pitch count down a little bit, maybe the rest, if we've got to go to Game 7, he'll be ready for it.

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