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MLB WORLD SERIES: CUBS VS INDIANS

October 30, 2016

Jon Lester

Chicago, Illinois - Postgame 5

Chicago Cubs - 3, Cleveland Indians - 2

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Jon Lester.

Q. Jon, knowing your competitive nature, how did you feel about coming out at the time that you did come out? And talk about the way the game finished with Aroldis?
JON LESTER: Well, I mean, actually I told Boz (Bosio) after that 6th I had been kind of grinding for the last couple innings. So just from pitch one, knowing kind of the circumstances and what was going on, I had to be perfect from pitch one. I had to execute. Couldn't make mistakes. You know, really the homer I gave up was a really good pitch that the guy put a really good swing on.

So it had been a grind the two previous innings leading up to the 6th, and I told them, and they were like, hey, you're going to go batter to batter. Just, for me, my whole thought process behind that is, why not just give our guys a clean inning? Why let me go out and face a guy. If I give up a hit or a walk or whatever, you're going to pull me anyway, and now you put him in a situation.

So I left it up to Joe, and Joe made a decision, and that was the decision. I'm happy it worked out for us.

Q. Kind of following up on that, is that sort of a testament to stressful pitches being more important than maybe overall pitch count in the postseason?
JON LESTER: 100%. I mean, that's one thing Joe's been pretty good at this year with us is watching the game, paying attention, especially this time of year. Every pitch, you're up 3-1, it's different. You're down 3-1, you've got to -- it's a grind. 0-2 pitches that I'm trying to throw right on the black, and first pitch you're trying to throw down the middle. All that stuff. You're just grinding from pitch one. You're trying to make the perfect pitch every time, and at the same time still be aggressive.

So, yeah, it's a grind. I mean, that's what postseason -- that's what makes it fun at the same time. Because I know, hey, I've got to be locked in in order to get through this lineup a couple times. So I'm just fortunate enough to get through that a couple times with just a couple runs and still keep our team in the lead there.

Q. It seemed like there were a couple pitches you really wanted for strike three. Guyer in the fifth, Kipnis in the sixth, and then you proceeded to strike those guys out anyway. How hard is it to stay locked in after that short-term disappointment there?
JON LESTER: Well, I just go back to what I'm saying, you're trying to execute every single pitch on the black and make sure you don't make any mistakes. I thought Tony did a great job behind home plate tonight. I thought it was a really good zone for both hitters and pitchers. He was very consistent. He called the high strike consistently through the game, and that's all both sides really ask. As a hitter, you want to know the zone. As a pitcher you want to know the zone. You know where you can go. We ended up coming back to those guys and making good pitches and ended up getting them out. So that always makes things better when you're able to come back and get them out.

Q. How would you feel about coming out of the bullpen Game 6 or 7?
JON LESTER: Hey, whatever we've got to do. I mean, this time of year there's no barriers, there's no nothing. It's all hands on deck. I love our bullpen. I love what these guys have done, but if there's a match-up in there that Joe likes, I'll be ready. We've got guys like Chappy and Strop and Ronnie and Woody and the list goes on. They've done it all year for us. So I have no doubt that they'll continue to do that for us.

Hopefully Jake can give us another great start like he did in Cleveland, and we'll see where we're at and keep going.

Q. With your season on the line there, I was wondering what the last three innings were like for you and what was it like to watch what Chapman was able to accomplish?
JON LESTER: Well, like I said, from the fourth on, there's three innings there, it's a grind. You're just trying not to allow base runners. You're trying not to allow the big swing. You're staying on the edges and sometimes that can get you in trouble, but we were able to keep throwing strikes and kind of put them on the defense a little bit.

Then Chappy coming in and doing what he's been doing for us since he came over here and even before that is pretty unbelievable to see. This guy's used to just getting three outs, and he goes what, 2 2/3? So that's a huge, huge uplift for our team. You know, he was fired up. We were all fired up to get through that against a good team, a good fastball-hitting team, regardless how hard he throws.

So that was huge for us. That was unbelievable for us to see him do that, bite the bullet and do it. Hopefully the off-day will help him, and he'll be ready to go in Game 6.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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