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AL DIVISION SERIES: RED SOX VS INDIANS

October 10, 2016

Rick Porcello

Boston, Massachusetts - Pregame three

Q. In order for you to pitch tomorrow what must the Red Sox do today to win?
RICK PORCELLO: Score more runs than them.

Q. How much have you been chomping at the bit to get back there and how pleased are you that you get to pitch at home again, hopefully?
RICK PORCELLO: Yeah, definitely excited to get back out there. I don't think for me the first game, and for ourselves as a team, the first two games don't represent who we are as a ballclub and how good we are. For me, I can't wait to get back out there and throw the ball the way I know I'm capable of. Obviously we have to take care of business tonight, but I'm excited to get another start here at Fenway.

Q. As you look back on Game 1, was there anything that you saw looking at it, mechanical, or was it just poor execution on a few pitches, anything that you think you have to adjust?
RICK PORCELLO: You know, I think a lot of times mechanical stuff and poor execution kind of go hand in hand for me. So I think there's a couple of scenarios where I was trying to do a little too much with some pitches and left them up and got hurt by them with home runs. But that's -- those are little things that I can correct easily that I was actually able to correct in the game.

But by that time we had our backs against the wall and that was the situation we were in. So just trying to be sound mechanically and that will allow me to execute the pitches I want to execute.

Q. You won 11 straight and the last week you dropped five out of six. Do you think there was a letdown after securing that playoff spot the last week or so?
RICK PORCELLO: It may have looked like that because of the results of the games. But I think from our standpoint mentally those games, we want to win those game in New York, we wanted to win the game in Toronto. It didn't happen for us. We can't control what happened in the past. It is what it is now. We're in the situation that we're in now and we have to take this thing head-on. Obviously we've got a lot of work to do. But I don't think anybody is really reflecting on what happened the last six games and that's the reason we're in the position we're in. We've just got to play good baseball and that's it.

Q. You're pretty meticulous with your preparation. Have you had to alter it at all to prepare for Tuesday rather than Wednesday?
RICK PORCELLO: No. I mean, Tuesday in a normal five-day scenario would be my normal start day. So my preparation has remained the same. Whether it was going to be Tuesday or Wednesday, at this point in the year it's not a whole lot different; just make sure I do the things physically I need to do, mentally to prepare for their lineup and go. So nothing's changed.

Q. I apologize for this silly question, but you were well-known for wearing the same hat all year long. Do you have a different one for the postseason?
RICK PORCELLO: No, that was my hat. Actually, I think Tommy said the guy flew in just to press it and put the ALDS patch on there. It's the same hat and I'll continue to wear the same hat until the season is over.

Q. So you just put the patches on it?
RICK PORCELLO: Yeah.

Q. Any difference in David Ortiz the last 48 hours with him potentially staring retirement in the face with one more game here?
RICK PORCELLO: I haven't seen any difference. He's always the same guy. Talking to him and watching him walk around the clubhouse with a big smile on his face, you'd think we're two games up. So I don't think he's changed anything or altered his approach or mentally thinking about that sort of stuff. He's a professional. So we're not expecting to end our season tonight for sure, and I don't think he is, either.

Q. With what Cleveland did in the first one, what they did to David, does your game plan and how you're going to pitch these guys change at all?
RICK PORCELLO: No. Obviously that's something that I addressed in thinking if there was a different way that I needed to attack these guys. But I think the biggest thing is getting ahead in the count. I didn't do that in a bunch of scenarios, and I didn't establish that very well from the get-go. The first inning I was able to get out of it just basically by throwing my best fastballs. But it wasn't necessarily how I was setting things up. That's kind of just how it played out.

So I think it's more how I kind of establish my game plan and go out there and execute my pitches. That's really going to be the difference. I'm not going to let a couple of swings of the bat dictate or alter the things that I do well. So I've just got to get back to doing that. That's really it. I think you give up three solo home runs in one inning, it hasn't happened to me very often. I think if you look at those it's just a case-by-case basis on a not very well-executed pitch, and getting in some counts that I don't want to get into with certain guys. I don't think you go back and completely revamp the game plan, you just be cleaner with your approach.

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