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NL DIVISION SERIES: GIANTS VS CUBS

October 10, 2016

Joe Panik

San Francisco, California - Postgame three

THE MODERATOR: First question, please?

Q. Two things: Did that ball seem like it hung up in the air for quite a long time and just in your career baseball moments, not for team-wise, personal-wise, where does that rank?
JOE PANIK: Yeah, I think that ball hung up a little longer than I wanted it to. I knew I hit it well and I knew it was going to at least get off the wall, but it felt like forever for that thing to get off the wall. But, yeah, it's definitely up there. Obviously, like you said, team, team-wise it's a little different, but for personal, to win a game like that in the 13th inning for your team when you're back's against the wall like that, I know it's definitely up there and just the thrill of doing it is pretty special.

Q. A lot of people talk about, in the media, from other teams, I've been told that they say you guys have really ground out games better than anybody. Why do you think that is?
JOE PANIK: I think it's just the personalities of the guys in the lineup and the bullpen, starting-wise, I think it's just from Brian Sabean, Bobby Evans, the type of character guys in this clubhouse, just because we're down doesn't mean we're out. If we're breathing, we're still fighting. In that 8th inning, all it took is Belt to get on base and then everything started to go for us. And I think it's just about the character of the guys that, you know, if we're breathing, we're not out of it.

Q. You guys are obviously use to the Madison locking down in October. What is the feeling when he gives up that home run, it's happened so fast, and how does it change the emotion on the, in the dugout? Does it change the emotion on the field at all?
JOE PANIK: Yeah, I think that, with it being early in the game, I think it was the second inning, no, we still had the feeling of, okay, we still have plenty of time to come back. If it was maybe the 8th or 9th inning and that happened it would be a different story. But with it being early, we knew we had some time to kind of scratch some runs across. Madison's been so good for us, all year, every postseason he's been in, so it was about time we kind of picked him up.

Q. I know you always are confident that you can come back, but just the way they had suppressed your offense for two complete games and then up until the 3rd or 4th inning today, I mean was there just a little bit of doubt that crept in?
JOE PANIK: I really don't doubt. I believe in this bunch, I think everybody believes in each other and I think that's why we're able to come back. Yeah, they got a heck of a pitching staff, you look at all their starters and their bullpen guys and all their ERA's and we know that they're good, but I just think that when it came down to it, with them going up on us, we have to fight back. And there's no giving up with this bunch. Doesn't mean we're going to win every game, no, but we're not going to go down without a fight.

Q. Baseball I'm told is always one of these games, no matter how long it takes, when you win, it doesn't seem like it's all that bad. Do you feel like you guys got a little bit of energy lift from this for tomorrow?
JOE PANIK: For sure. When you play these long games like that -- I don't know the exact time, but whether it's a long one, to come out on top, it's definitely a nice little boost. I remember back in 2014 when Belt hit the home run in the 18th inning in Washington and we had to fly cross country, it definitely kind of helped give us a little boost there.

Q. When you see Gillaspie going up against Chapman he's throwing a hundred 100, 101, 102, are you thinking this might be a good matchup for Gillaspie, did you guys sense that?
JOE PANIK: I tell you what, Conor, I'm so happy for him. He works as hard as anybody that I've seen and he's always so well prepared. I think that's why, at Citi Field with Familia, who is a top closer, and then with Chapman, I think there's no, for us, there's no surprise because he is so well prepared and he works as hard as he does. And he can hit a fastball, he's a very good hitter. He's proven that time and time again and now he's come up big for us all year.

THE MODERATOR: All right. Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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