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WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: 2ND ROUND POOL EMarch 12, 2017Jason MarquisZach BorensteinRyan LavarnwayTokyo, Japan ISRAEL 4, Cuba 1 Q. Jason, you dominated the game for five and two thirds innings and you gave up only one run. How do you evaluate your outing for today? JASON MARQUIS: I actually felt better as the game went on. I got in a little better rhythm. Myself and Ryan got on the same page. We tried to execute the game plan as good as we can. A guy like me uses my defense a lot and they did a great job for me today making the plays and keeping guys off base. But all in all, I felt pretty good. I still had a lot left in the tank, but we had a pretty good bullpen, pretty good depth down there, and I guess it was the right time to take me out. It was a good team win all the way around, we're playing good baseball, and hopefully we can keep it rolling tomorrow. Q. You faced against Cuba's lineup, and their hitters are very powerful and when you pitch against Cuba's lineup, what was the most point you mentioned? JASON MARQUIS: Well, obviously we know any opponent we face, we don't take lightly. So I attacked every start like it's my last start and I'm pitching like it's the greatest lineup in baseball. My job is to execute pitches. My game is pitch the ball down in the zone, make them chase out of the zone when I get ahead. This team a big mistake-hitting team, and obviously you could tell by Despaigne; I left the ball up and he was able to get the barrel to it. It's just about making pitches. Our scouts, like I said all along, our scouts have done a good job all along on providing us information on how to attack these hitters. And it's our job, myself, Ryan, our catchers to have this game plan execute it. I think across the board, Thornton, Goldberg, Zeid, I think they did a great job and held the game where it was and allowed the offense to put some runs on the board and get this W. Q. There was one run behind, when you hit the game-tieing base bit double. What was in your mind when you had the at-bat? RYAN LAVARNWAY: Every time I go up there, I'm trying to basically just get a hit. Their starter did a great job mixing his pitches and keeping the ball out of the heart of the zone today, and I was just looking for anything that I could get the barrel on and I think -- and I don't even remember what pitch it was; I blacked out, but I was trying to hit the ball hard. Q. You are the ace catcher, and also your defense, you worked very nice. I feel that the communication between the pitcher and catcher is important. How do you feel about your Team Israel? RYAN LAVARNWAY: There's no question that the pitching staff of our team is the strength of this team. They keep us in ballgames. I think we have the ability to score a lot of run, but it doesn't always happen and it doesn't always happen early. So the pitching staff plays a huge part in keeping us close and giving us a chance to win. At the end of the day, the pitchers have to throw the ball. They have the responsibility and the burden of being on the mound, and I just want them all to know that I have their back and I trust them, and hopefully that I can earn their trust in return and we can work together. Q. What's in your mind for tomorrow's game against Netherlands? If you can get the win for tomorrow, that's going to be a very big jump to qualify for the second round. RYAN LAVARNWAY: Yeah, we had the chance to play them in Korea, and I think that they are going to be even more prepared and I think they will come out with more motivation and just more ready. The last time we played them, it was after they had just had a big emotional win the night before. So I think our team had some confidence going against them but we also aren't going to take them lightly just because we've beat them before, because they are a very, very talented baseball team, and I expect them to be even better than the last time we played them. Q. The sixth inning, what was in your mind when you had the go-ahead RBI single? ZACH BORENSTEIN: Right there in that situation, facing a lefty, just trying to be aggressive early in the count, try not to let them get ahead. You know he's trying to throw strikes with runners on base there, and try not to be too picky. You know, just with the turf as fast as it is, a ground ball, it can get through the infield pretty quickly. So I was just trying to be aggressive on anything in the zone. Q. You guys have an undefeated 4-0 record. What's the reason why you've had very good success, Team Israel had good numbers, do you think? ZACH BORENSTEIN: I think it's a number of reasons. We're a close group of guys. A lot of us had a chance to play together in Brooklyn and kind of build on some team chemistry since then. We've been looking forward to this the whole off-season. We're really playing with something to prove. You know, our goal is to win the last game of the tournament, and we're playing good baseball right now. Our defense has been phenomenal. Our pitching speaks for itself. Today we didn't light up the scoreboard but we were able to get the big hits, the timely hits, when we needed them. Things are clicking for us right now. Q. Yesterday Jason said that none of you guys are surprised how you played this tournament, but can you feel the excitement of the fans who have been following you around and the excitement back in America where you guys have become the toast of the tournament and the people following the WBC? Are you aware of that and do you feel that, and is that feeding this run as you guys go on? JASON MARQUIS: Well, obviously we expect a lot out of ourselves more than other people. We do have quality baseball players on this team; guys who have big league experience, and a lot of young prospects who have bright futures, and a real good mix of veterans who can help these guys through these tournament games where they have a little inexperience around big crowds against quality teams we've been playing. It's exciting to see people following us and for people to be aware of what we're doing and how we're playing the game. But like I said, we do have a lot of talent on this team, and we knew all along -- obviously being 4-0, for us it's a surprise; this is a tough type of setting to keep winning every game. But I think if you pitch and catch the ball, and like Ryan alluded to earlier, our strength is pitching and defense. As long as we keep our team in the game, it gives our offense a chance to put timely hitting on the board, and when we get that big offensive explosion, it makes the game ail lit bit easy for us. We're not surprised by anything but I think it's a great story for people back home who follow the game and who are in our shoes and being of Jewish heritage to look up to players like us who may not have otherwise had that opportunity. Q. You mentioned timely hitting, and probably with the exception of the game against Korea where you didn't come up with the big hit until the end, that's been the key to the offense of -- often teams take a long time to have a philosophy. But your guys' approach has been so solid top to bottom. Could you talk a little bit about how you guys communicate and how it seems that all of you are willing to work counts, draw walks and things of that nature and that let's you come up in situations where you can come up with the timely hit? ZACH BORENSTEIN: I think more so than anything, it's just we understand it doesn't take home runs -- no one is trying to be the hero, whether it's a sacrifice bunt, taking an extra base on ball in the dirt. We are just trying to score runs any way we can, knowing that these games are so crucial in tournament play. And our approach has been going along with not trying to be the hero knowing that it doesn't take much. Q. Cuba during the first round, showed a lot of late game offense, and as dangerous as they were, how is your bullpen able to keep them shut down, and how much of an advantage did it give you guys to have Goldberg get back with the team when you guys had him in Brooklyn and now back with you now? RYAN LAVARNWAY: Well, everyone in the bullpen that we throw out there, we trust in any situation. The coaching staff has done a great job of putting guys in situations to succeed. And then I think the biggest thing was we decided that Despaigne was not going to be the guy to beat us. So we walked in there, it wasn't an intentional walk, but we decided that we weren't going to let him be the guy. And then we just really went after them and then these guys that are coming in the back end of the bullpen really had great stuff. We trust them and they trust their stuff against the hitters. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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