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NL WILDCARD GAME: GIANTS VS METS

October 5, 2016

Terry Collins

New York City, New York: Game Day

Giants - 3, Mets - 0

Q. Obviously, you've done so much to get to this point, but to lose it the way you did, I mean, how much are those guys hurting right now?
TERRY COLLINS: Well, they're hurting, but there's no reason to be. I mean, they were written off so many times this summer and yet they kept fighting back, and they said the other day you've got to have special people and special character to play in this town and in this environment, and that's in that room.

So they're down, which they should be. I mean, it's human nature. They're baseball players. They were here to win, they wanted to win. Tremendous fan support tonight, absolutely unbelievable.

So exciting to start the game and to hear that noise, and they're down. But they shouldn't be because there's only a few teams that could have come back under the circumstances we came back on, and I'm really proud of them.

Q. Before the game you mentioned that Cespedes could flip the switch on and he's shown that ability in the past. But the way Bumgarner has pitched tonight and what he was up against, were you surprised he really had such a struggle?
TERRY COLLINS: I was, not to take anything away from Madison. He's one of the game's great big-game pitchers. But this guy's a great talent. I just thought we needed him tonight. We needed him bad, and that he was ready for it. He was all fired up, and, as you know, the old adage, good pitching beats good hitting, and tonight he was better.

Q. Given everything that happened this year and all the injuries, can part of you say that getting this far this year was equal or bigger accomplishment than winning the league last year?
TERRY COLLINS: I think it is. I think it was, certainly. You know, talked to a couple of you guys before the game started, and they mentioned about the lack of some of the guys that were on the field that weren't here last year. I looked out there today and I said here's our catcher who catches Noah. Didn't have a job in April. You know, we had two guys, I think Ces -- or three guys, Ces, Grandy, and Noah who were in the World Series with us last year.

So, yeah, we overcame a lot of things. So to get here it took a lot of character. Boy, I tell you, and we're disappointed. But we'll be able to get healthy and we'll be back.

Q. With regards to Noah, where would you rank his performance and what's he shown the last two years in the playoff appearances?
TERRY COLLINS: I've got to rank this one tonight as good as any under the circumstances. Great command. I mean, focused like he always is. I tell you, he stepped up when we needed him. He stepped up last year when we needed him. He's grown so much, even though he's still very, very young, he's grown so much and matured so much as a pitcher. He's going to be really, really good.

Q. The other day I talked to Clint Hurdle, and he said in his loss, the Wild Card loss, his team simply ran into a bull, a widow maker. Sometimes you draw a bad bull. Is that the case, too, with this guy?
TERRY COLLINS: Yeah, there aren't a lot of teams that have had really good success against him, but we came in tonight under the circumstances. I really thought, hey, look if we can get to him early. One of the things he did early, as you saw, we looked in the third inning, and he has 20 pitches. You know, we probably need to do a little better job of working the count, but it just shows you.

As I said before the game, make no mistake about it, this guy has no fear and he's going to come after you, he's going to challenge you. And he did that and he showed that. You know, we went up there swinging and we didn't get anything really good to hit because he's that good. Tonight he was outstanding and it was one of those games.

Q. What did you see from Familia, he looked like he was having trouble getting the ball down. Overthrowing maybe?
TERRY COLLINS: You know, from night to night, you never know. He's always throwing 98, you hope to see the sink. When he spikes the ball like he does, he's getting out a little fast. But that's why Dan went out to settle him down.

The big thing was he walked him, the panic. Because we got a chance to put Gillaspie on and let them decide what they wanted to do with Bumgarner. So that's, you know, the base hits and the base-on balls even with Noah early in the second inning or the third inning those base-on balls got his pitch count up there.

But I told Jerry just a little bit ago, you're going to tell me you're going to be on the mound in any playoff game, I'll take it. He's got 51 saves and over 90 saves in two years? I'll take that. He's really down, but we wouldn't be here without him.

Q. You said, Terry, that you ranked tonight Noah as good as any under the circumstances. Is under the circumstances against Bumgarner where, if you give up one, you probably lose?
TERRY COLLINS: That has part to do with it, yes. It's the first game he's ever pitched where, like the 7th game of the World Series, you lose, you're out, you're done. That's a lot to ask of a kid that's 23 years old to go out there and have to pitch in that and against Bumgarner.

He rose to the occasion. That's why I think he's going to be very special, because you can't be a lot better when you're challenged in these situations, and he did a great job.

Q. It will get overlooked in a 3-0 loss, but that catch by Granderson, what did you think of that?
TERRY COLLINS: He played centerfield, and I asked him to go out there as good as you can ask. He made a lot of big plays out in centerfield, and tonight, that at the time was a game-saving play, no question.

Q. You mentioned he's got over 90 saves these last two years. Are you worried, two years in a row now, in your postseason he's had a couple of these bad outings?
TERRY COLLINS: You know, I think that's something we certainly need to be careful of, address. He's a tremendous guy, as you know. In any circumstances like that, your first thought is you let your teammates down when all you did all year long was picked them up. But in the postseason when you give up and you lose games, it really can be hard on you.

So I addressed it just now, not to get down about it. He was the guy I wanted out there in the ninth inning, and we'll try to do a better job to make sure he's a little more rested going into the postseason.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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