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NL DIVISION SERIES: CUBS VS NATIONALSOctober 6, 2017Anthony RizzoWashington, D.C. - postgame 1 Cubs - 3, Nationals - 0 Q. Anthony, you've played behind Kyle all year. Was there anything different or more of an uptick tonight than what you've seen in the past and considering how good he's been? ANTHONY RIZZO: Yeah, his ball, his movement, he's got that extra velocity from adrenaline. He was putting his ball where he wanted and he was getting ahead. That's big when he gets ahead, gets ahead in the count, and keep that lead-off guy off base. It was fun to play behind him tonight. Q. How tough was Strasburg in this game, especially into the middle innings, and about taking advantage of the Rendon error and coming up with timely two-out hits? ANTHONY RIZZO: He was the best pitcher I've seen probably. Today, you just tip your hats. First two at-bats, made me look silly, the whole lineup looked silly the first couple times through. You just have to tip your hat to him. He's Stephen Strasburg for a reason and he's an ace for a reason. His changeup was on, he was locating his fastball, and you just have to wait those guys out. The timely hitting is huge in the playoffs. KB with that big hit to break up -- get the monkey off the back in the dugout for all of us, and then another hit there and then an insurance -- not really an insurance run, but an extra run there is big for us. Q. When Kyle is pitching as well as he did tonight, what is his demeanor like between innings? ANTHONY RIZZO: He's the same guy all the time, no matter what, and it's impressive. It's not easy to do in this game. You know, he just has his confidence about him; that he doesn't get rattled. He has a lot of experience. We all have a lot of experience but he's just -- he pitches, and he pitches well, and he makes adjustments in game if he needs to, and he sticks to his scouting report. He does a really good job at it. Q. When a pitcher is making you guys look silly, as you say, for 5 or 6 innings, how do you avoid trying to chase, trying to do more, and do you think your experience, having been in the Postseason the past couple years, winning last year, helps you sort of stay calm in those situations? ANTHONY RIZZO: Well, we trust each other. That's the big, big thing for us is that we know someone is going to come through at some point. Last year, Game 1, I said it to Javy, history is going to repeat itself, you might have to go deep for us and win 1-0. We just trust that someone is going to do it; doesn't have to be me or Kris or Addy or J-Hey. No one puts that pressure on them it make sure I have to do it. It's not I; we know that someone is going to do it. Q. Twice you were up in the sixth and the eighth with first base open. Were you surprised that you weren't walked, either once or both times? Did that give you just a little extra boost? ANTHONY RIZZO: I'll be honest, you put guys on in the playoffs, it's just -- I don't know. It's different. You've got to get outs and Wilson is swinging the bat really well. He's a threat every time he comes to the plate. He hits Strasburg really well. He had a good at-bat. He hit a ball hard, and the second time -- you just don't know. You've got to be focused. You've got to be locked in. Those are situations I want to be up in, and thankfully, I hit the ball where they weren't. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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