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NL DIVISION SERIES: DODGERS VS NATIONALSOctober 7, 2016Justin TurnerKenley JansenWashington, DC - Postgame one Dodgers 4 Nationals 3 Q. How does it feel to get hit in the wrist, I think it was, by a pitch from Scherzer and then how do you hit like that all night after that? JUSTIN TURNER: Well, it doesn't feel good. Got me in the hand. In these games, there's no way, I don't think any of us are coming out of them. So tape it up and put a pad on my batting glove and get back out there. Q. In the last at-bat against Werth, at what point are you starting to think slider? I know you don't want to get beat by your second-best pitch, but when during that at-bat do you start thinking now? KENLEY JANSEN: Well I feel like it was a perfect timing. I just tried to keep, you know, make them on the swing, kind of swing happy. That's how I feel like on that one. I've just got to at least slow them down. I didn't think about a punch out right there, I think even to just show it, so I can make my next pitch more effective to him if I execute my next pitch. Q. Kenley, you guys have been winning like this all year, but as a bullpen, how much pride do you guys take in being able to pick up your starters the way you have all season long? KENLEY JANSEN: All these guys we have, man, it's a great group of guys we have this year. We are all together and it's one group and that's why we feel like this whole year, you know, when starters go five, we never complain about it. We just go out there and do the job. We know it's going to come down to us to keep this team carried to go farther and farther. I feel like that's what we did again with Kersh, especially picking up Kersh and the offensive guys to do the job. That's great by us. Q. Kenley, at what point did Dave tell you that he might use you for more than three outs and a save, and what were the limits on that? Could you have gone six outs, seven outs? What are we talking about here? KENLEY JANSEN: Right now I'm just prepared for six. Me and Doc, we've been talking about since our first workout in L.A. after that day off, after the season was done, you know, just right now, man, all the organizations in the playoffs right now play for one thing and that's what we're playing for right now. You know, we try to do everything what we have right now, and try to take advantage of the opportunity. So if I have to go six outs right now, you know, it's just we've got to go. If I have to do it every day, we've got to go. Q. Besides just trying to hit homers as often as possible, did you guys have a specific approach for how to get to Scherzer? JUSTIN TURNER: We had our offensive meeting to talk about him today, and that actually didn't come up. And we were out on the line stretching about five minutes before the game and I asked Chase, I go, "Hey, what are you thinking for tonight? Are we going to be aggressive?" He's been our tone setter all year, and he says, "I'm not going to swing at the first pitch if that's what you're asking, but if I get to 1-0, I'm going to be aggressive." And then Corey goes out there, jumps all over the first pitch and hits a homer, and I think that kind of set the tone for us. I went out my next at-bat, got a first-pitch fastball and was aggressive to it. And I think the first time through the lineup as a team, we were pretty aggressive and that kind of affected the way Max pitched to us. The second time through, he went through all the secondary stuff even more than we saw him do on tape. That's what you have to do, you have to make adjustments on the fly and see what other teams are doing and attacking and you have to try to make adjustments with them. Q. When Andre was on deck, what were you doing? Were you like hiding out? I guess what I'm asking is was that a ruse or was that just to keep you off your feet? KENLEY JANSEN: No, actually, I think Doc just tried to play that game there so they can pitch to Puig. But I know I can hit at that point, so I was just trying to put on my batting gloves and do everything I've got and see if I can put the ball in play and score some runs. Q. Were you hiding inside the dugout while you were doing all that? KENLEY JANSEN: You know, to me, right there, it's just I was more focused on pitching than hitting. I really didn't -- I could not care less if I get a hit. If I get a hit, it's even better, but for me, I'm just focusing on the last three outs. That's all I care about. Q. Clayton obviously didn't go as deep as he wanted. What does it mean for you guys to get that win even though maybe he wasn't at his best knowing that, hey, he's going to come down the lineup possibly for you guys? JUSTIN TURNER: You know, Clayton is the ultimate competitor. Every time he takes the ball, he goes out with intentions to win games. You know, he didn't have his best stuff tonight, but what he did have, he went out and competed like he always does and kept us in the game and gave us a chance to win. You know, what we've done all year long is put ourselves in a chance with a position to win and turn it over to the bullpen. The bullpen has been our backbone all season long from the first game of the year. So you know, we've talked about it as a group. It doesn't -- it's not one guy that's going to carry us, and don't try to do it all yourself. Clayton went out there and he emptied the tank for five innings and left the game with a lead, and we turned it over to our guys that have been locking down games for us all season long. Q. What do you know about Tanner Roark who is pitching tomorrow and how different is his stuff compared to Max? JUSTIN TURNER: I know Tanner is a good pitcher and he's got good stuff. Sinks it a little bit more than Scherzer does and throws a pretty good slider. We'll look at some tape, or I'll look at some tape tonight on him and we'll get together tomorrow and talk as a collective unit as an offense and come up with a game plan to try to beat him. Q. You have a career batting average over .500 in the post-season; is there something you like about these games? JUSTIN TURNER: I like playing in them, first of all, having the opportunity. Just trying to get good pitches to hit and staying in the zone. Usually, when you swing at good pitches, you get pretty good results. Did a good job tonight swinging at strikes and got good results. If I start swinging at bad pitches, I won't be getting very many hits. Q. I know you don't swing at first pitches as often as Corey does, but can you maybe off an explanation for why he does it so often and why he has success doing it, other than the fact that he's really good? JUSTIN TURNER: Yeah, ever since Corey has been up there, even last year, he's been a notorious first ball hitter and he's ready to hit it from right out of the gates. That's what's special about him. A lot of guys can be timid on the first pitch and in between, you don't know if they're going to hit or not. And when you get careful, that's when you end up usually making outs on the first pitch, which isn't a good thing. He's committed and he's ready from 0-0 every time, and you know, usually when they throw a ball in the zone, he's not always getting hits but he's putting a really good swing on it. He's actually walked a lot more than I even thought he did this year because he is so aggressive early in the counts, you know, he ends up getting himself into even later in the counts later in the AB by being aggressive early. Q. Who got the belt tonight? JUSTIN TURNER: We both did. First time all year we've had tag-team champs for play of the game. Q. What is the challenge pitching multiple innings and how does that affect whether you would be ready tomorrow or not? KENLEY JANSEN: I mean, to me, I train myself the whole year, running outside and trusting all the work that me and Brandon been doing in the weight room and all that stuff. Just to me, I really don't think about it's affecting me. I just make sure how can I prepare myself the most and be ready for the next game. To me, I don't let stuff like that bother me at all. Q. Do you think that the way that the bullpen is used this year in terms of the strategy is the most effective way to use a bullpen? JUSTIN TURNER: I mean, I think if you've watched the playoffs so far, bullpens are being used a lot differently than they have in the past, as far as when you're going to use guys and when you're going to get your closer in the game for five outs. It happened I think last night in the Cleveland game with Andrew Miller coming in in the fifth. You know, the whole closer-pitches-the-ninth-inning thing, doesn't mean those are always the biggest three outs of the game. Sometimes those three outs come in the eighth or the seventh. When Joe came in, I don't think he's pitched in the sixth inning at all this year, maybe once or twice. You guys might know more than me. But in the playoffs, it comes down to important outs and you want your guys to get those outs regardless of what time of the game it is. I know Kenley loves his saves, but I'm sure he would tell you the same thing. He wants to get the three big outs, if it's in the eighth inning or the ninth inning, it doesn't matter to him. KENLEY JANSEN: Just like J.T. was saying, to me, it doesn't matter. Sometimes it is in the seventh or the eighth, those might be the toughest time in the ninth, when you get a clean inning. Like yesterday, you see the Cleveland game, sometimes that's when it happens sometimes. You've just got to, you know, put your best pitcher. A day like today, you know, normally Joe throws more in the eighth; we put him in the sixth. That's how it goes sometimes. It's just the matchup, and I feel like that's how it should be from now on. Q. Could you have envisioned this when you were, I guess it was not tendered by the Mets, to come over here and be the No. 3 hitter on a team with the biggest payroll and one of the favorites? JUSTIN TURNER: No, absolutely not. I don't know what happened but obviously my career has kind of taken a turn for the better once I put the Dodger uniform on. I couldn't be happier to be here and share the same uniform as this guy and the rest of the guys, and be on a team that from day one is all about winning. And that's what we've done the last three years. We've fell a little short in the post-season, but you know, we're prepared to go deep into the post-season this year. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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