THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.
Q. Kirk, when you guys got down 3-0, what was your mindset, "I've got to shut them down right now?" Or did you approach it like you normally would?
KIRK RUETER: It got down 3-0, I just told myself, "I have to keep it right here, give my guys a chance." They're an explosive team. They've proven that over this series. They can score in a hurry. When it was 3-0, I just tried to settle down and keep it right there and give my guys a chance. They've been great all year at coming back and getting a big hit at the end. They did it again tonight.
Q. David, could you talk about the pitch that you hit in the eighth inning? Francisco Rodriguez, are you getting more used to seeing what he does? Is it getting easier to hit him?
DAVID BELL: It was a fastball. I was just trying to get a pitch I could handle and hit it hard. I don't know, he's had a lot of success so far. He's done a great job for these guys. So, to get a win tonight was big. I think to get a run off him is important, too.
Q. Kirk, you got down the line really well twice tonight. Do you consider yourself a fast runner?
KIRK RUETER: I don't know. Dusty puts me in to pinch run over the course of the year, I'll usually get in three or four times to pinch run. So, I think they think that I'm fast, but I don't know. Any ball I hit, I just try and leg it out. I think I surprised the first time. I didn't think I was going to get that close to beating it out. The second time, they said the ball took a funny spin and kind of went back so I was able to get down to first.
Q. Kirk, how do you feel about pitching Game 7 Sunday if you get the call, if there is a Game 7?
KIRK RUETER: I mean, that's going to be up to Dusty and Rags and whatever they decide. I think everybody is going to be ready to go if there is a Game 7. We have to go through Game 5 and Game 6 first, then we'll worry about Game 7. But I think that everybody would be ready to pitch except probably Russ, who's pitching Game 6 so...
THE MODERATOR: Any questions for Rich?
RICH AURILIA: I don't want to answer now (laughter).
Q. It's a question for you, Rich, but I want you to talk about the guy next to you. How does a guy that comes in in the first year have enough respect to win the Willie Mac Award right away?
RICH AURILIA: Answer is simple for that. David comes into spring training, you see what kind of work ethic he has, he works hard. He goes down, gives everything he has every day. He's a great player. I think he's a player who nobody really knows about in the National League, but he's one of our MVPs this year. He's come up with clutch hits like he did tonight, all season. If you follow our team all year, what he's done, won't really surprise anyone.
Q. You're down 2-1 in the series, then 3-0 in the third. It looked bad then. It's looking pretty good now. What would you say was the key to the turnaround tonight?
RICH AURILIA: I would say just getting on the board, I think, and keeping them off the board on a consistent basis. I said last night after the game that we needed Kirk to keep them off the board and keep them off balance, and they jumped to a 3-0 lead, but Glaus hit a ball out of the park. Sacrifice fly. But we have confidence in our offense. We knew we could come back and score. Actually, think a lot of us seeing Lackey the other day, kind of helped us out a little bit. We knew they weren't going to pitch to Barry, no matter -- if there's a situation he could hurt them, they're not going to pitch to him. We know the rest of us have to come here.
Q. Three for four tonight at the plate. How locked in are you right now, Rich? How good does it feel, given your struggles with injuries earlier in the year, to come into the playoffs and do so well?
RICH AURILIA: I feel pretty good at the plate. I'm seeing the ball well. I think the first game of the series, that four-day layoff hurt all of us a little bit as far as our timing was concerned. But, of course, it feels nice to be able to contribute at this time of year. I didn't really contribute the way I wanted to during the season. Not all related to injury. But I'm just glad I can come through and get some hits for this team and help us win. I mean, I said this the whole postseason, it's not about individual numbers here in the postseason, it's about winning ball games. Any way you can help us win, that's what we're looking for.
Q. David, what did you see on your single that made you try to take second on that one play? What did you think as you slid into second?
DAVID BELL: Oh, I think I was probably a little bit overaggressive there. I've never hit a ball like that, that wasn't a double though, so Garret Anderson did a great job of getting over there and making a play. I wish I would have stopped at first, but I'm glad that we won the game and it didn't cost us.
Q. David, did you take anything from your at-bat against Rodriguez in Game 2 that helped you tonight?
DAVID BELL: Yeah, it's always nice to see a pitcher one time if you've never seen him. I didn't see too many pitches either at-bat. But, yeah, I think that helped, to be able to face him one time before tonight.
Q. Rich and David, either one of you, was there any sense of discouragement when you had the couple of -- looked like could be big innings that ended with double plays early in the game?
DAVID BELL: Well, I think the key to our game today was the job that Woody did. They were able to get to him early a little bit. He's tough. He just kept going right after them. Gave us a chance to win the game, and then our bullpen came in and did a great job. Really gave us a couple extra chances and a lot of guys came through. Rich had a great game, Benito had a big hit. But I think the pitching was very important tonight.
Q. Rich, you said that the Pac Bell fans, the tenth man were really kind of silent last night in the first game of the series. Did the tenth man help your momentum go your way tonight?
RICH AURILIA: I think it helped a little bit. They got a little bit louder tonight. I made a comment earlier today, I said I was surprised that it's the first World Series game here in a long time, the whole city was into it, and it seemed kind of quiet last night. This is a World Series, it doesn't happen a lot. Fans don't get to a lot of World Series, so I was glad to see tonight that they came out and were a little bit louder. Hopefully, tomorrow they can be even louder.
Q. This is for both Rich and David. Could you both talk about the swing game tomorrow night, pivotal Game 3, and going against Washburn the second time.
RICH AURILIA: Well, I think it will help us, now that we've seen him. I don't think anybody on our team had seen him, except for maybe David playing with Seattle the past few years. But now we know what he throws. We know what to expect and we have our number one guy on the mound. Hopefully, we come out with a win tomorrow night, and hopefully we can score some runs and get some hits like we did tonight.
THE MODERATOR: David, do you want to answer the same question?
DAVID BELL: That's good (smiling).
Q. How important is it for a pitcher to have the kind of bullpen performance you've had in Games 1 and 4?
KIRK RUETER: They've been outstanding all year and really have come through in the postseason too. It's great to be a starter on this team and know if you can get through six, seven innings, that Felix and Timmy and Robby are going to come in and slam the door and you're pretty much going to get a victory for the team if you can get through those six or seven with a lead. I think if you ask any of the starters, a lot of our success is based on what our bullpen's done all year and in the postseason.
Q. David, did you give your dad good-natured ribbing about how he never played in the World Series? How many family members were in the park tonight?
DAVID BELL: Well, there's about -- I guess there's eight: My dad, my two brothers, one of their wives and sons, and my sister and my mom and dad. I don't, because we talk about everything, but it's not something we really talk about. I mean, he was a great player. It's just no reflection on anything he did. It just shows how important being on a good team is, and a team with a legitimate chance to win. But that's about the only thing we don't talk about.
End of FastScripts...
