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WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: 1ST ROUND POOL DMarch 11, 2017Omar VizquelMartin PradoZapopan, Jalisco, México Venezuela - 11, Italy - 10. Q. Omar, obviously you guys won tonight, but a lot of attention is being paid to what happened with Francisco Rodriguez and Salvador Perez. Can you give us an update on their condition and walk us through that play, tell us what you saw from the dugout? OMAR VIZQUEL: Well, the update on Salvador Perez is he got a loose knee, and he got to go to the clinic and have some X-rays done to see if everything is going to be fine with him. So he's a question mark right now. Francisco Rodriguez has a pulled groin. He says it is a cramp. We don't know if it is a cramp or a pull at this moment. He said that everything is going to be okay. But I don't think it's a pull. The doctor checked him out, and it's supposed to be a cramp. He's supposed to be okay for tomorrow. But we've got to double check that, make sure the doctor gives the report and see what is the update. But according to him, he's fine. The play, how did I see it? Wow. Well, first of all, Francisco was in the wrong spot. He's supposed to be behind the catcher backing him up. We didn't really have a cutoff man there, and the ball just happened to fall into his hands. He bobbled it a little bit. He threw home with everything he can push himself to do it and put a good throw on the catcher that I think Salvador wasn't even expecting. That's why he got caught a little bit of surprise and his feet were crossed over, and I think that's why he got that injury. Q. Did you talk to Salvador and what did he say? OMAR VIZQUEL: Man, I went to back to Salvador and I went back to Francisco and then back to Salvador. It was the weirdest thing. Two guys down at the same time. One guy said he's okay, the other one said I can't walk. There were a lot of emotions going on on that play. The most important thing is that hopefully Francisco is going to be okay and Salvador also is going to be okay. Q. Can you talk about the significance of this win in such a dramatic game where you were down 5-0 and it was an up-and-down sort of game? OMAR VIZQUEL: Well, the significance is that there's no tomorrow. We had to win this game some way, and I have had a lot of ballgames in my career, playoffs and World Series, and I've been involved in a lot of games, and this is probably -- this is the top three that I have been involved in. Italy was a tremendous opponent. They never went down, even though we came back and we tied it 5-5, they kept scoring. We went ahead twice, they came and they tied the game, and no doubt about it, it was a very interesting game where there was everything, all kinds of things, a lot of strategy from both teams, and I didn't know Italy could play baseball like this. I have to take my hat off. They were a tremendous team to compete with. Q. Martin, tell us about that foul and the scare to your organization in the Big Leagues? MARTIN PRADO: It's a very difficult thing because we don't know the dimensions of the park, and in this case you have to run the ball. It was a left -- I was trying to get as close to the railing, and well, I could get the ball with my glove, and then I was already on the other side of the railing. Q. Omar, can you tell us in Spanish that report? OMAR VIZQUEL: We don't know too much about it. We have to wait a little bit more to see what the X-ray reports on Salvador and let's see how Francisco feels tomorrow and see if he can go tomorrow. We're not sure yet. Q. Martin, the play on the fence, it looked like you were really having fun by the end of the game. Can you talk about your approach today? MARTIN PRADO: Well, the way I say it, this is a difficult tournament. It's short, and we're not even in in-season form, so you've got to find a way to be locked in and just get your mindset. In this kind of game that you get six, seven at-bats, you've got to make sure that you're consistently trying to get good at-bats and get my team -- because I've got Miguel behind me, all those guys, heavy hitters, so I'm not trying to do too much, I'm just trying to have good at-bats and find a good pitch to hit. Q. Your opinion about tomorrow's opponent México, and what will be Venezuela's approach? OMAR VIZQUEL: Same way we played tomorrow. We have to have intensity and not get careless with all of their hitters. They are used to this park, so we cannot get careless with any of them. And the same way, to be very strong against them. They know they had a difficult game yesterday against Italy, and I know that they are going to be ready to come strong like we did today. Q. Omar, how can you balance when somebody on the field and their big league organization, how can you balance that so that this tournament will keep going? OMAR VIZQUEL: It's been difficult because you warm somebody up and then bring in one of the biggest questions for us. We want to try to make sure that every time that guy warms up, we bring him in. But if the game changes, we cannot really go with that strategy and try another. I had a bit of a problem today because I had all my pitchers ready to go. But the same game situation had to change -- made me change a couple of pitchers in that situation, so we tried to stay within those limitations, but it's difficult. Q. (Indiscernible)? OMAR VIZQUEL: That's part of the preparation. We have had this opportunity before where the guys come in 60 or 70 percent thinking they're going to be able to play ball like that. Your body has to be at least 80 percent and then try to play ball like you're categorized. All players have been -- we have told them that preparation is the most important for this event. We don't want one of your games -- to get hurt because he's trying to elevate the level at this point where he's not ready, and I think preparation is important. Q. Martin, how difficult is it to play 11 innings in a row -- how big is the pressure? And then five hits in five at-bats, how does the park or the dimensions, is the ball coming out faster? MARTIN PRADO: Well, mainly I think the intensity and the preparation, like Omar was saying, sometimes you take it like the condition of the stadium is not good for hitters, but in the same way, you have to have a plan and a way of working when you are on deck, what you are going to do and how you're going to do it. If you are going to go for home runs, sometimes you can get under the ball, and that will damage the approach and the adjustment that you are trying to get. In my case, I didn't try to change my plan. I tried to be the same hitter that I have always been, which is to make contact and try to look for good pitches to swing at them. Q. Omar, tell me about the guts that Castillo showed and what the options are in relief. OMAR VIZQUEL: Well, Castillo surprised me a lot because he was really calm. Normally young guys are accelerated like Alvarado. We saw it with Suarez and sometimes that same acceleration, you're trying to throw harder and you commit errors. Castillo was really calm today. He was key for us, no question about it. He hit the strike zone, which is what I wanted to see. He showed me that calmness, and he saved the game. Tomorrow Yusmeiro Petit is going to open, but I don't know about relief, because I haven't looked. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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