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NL DIVISION SERIES: DIAMONDBACKS VS DODGERSOctober 6, 2017Yasiel PuigJustin TurnerLos Angeles, California - postgame 1 Dodgers - 9, Diamondbacks - 5 Q. Justin, how do you seemingly turn these postseason games into a no-pressure situation? JUSTIN TURNER: Well, I think CT and Corey did a great job tonight just getting on base and setting the table and putting their pitchers with their back against the wall. When you get in those situations and they've got to make pitches, you just try to -- not try to do too much and make sure you get a good pitch. Luckily tonight I didn't miss it. Q. When you're playing five games instead of seven, how critical is it to win the first one? JUSTIN TURNER: Yeah, the first game's big. Every game's big. You want to try to win them all, but when you've got Kershaw on the mound in Game 1 to get that out of the way, obviously, we're feeling pretty good about it. But we've still got a long way to go, and that's a good team over there that you saw tonight. They're not going to just roll over. They're going to keep fighting and trying to get back in the game. So you've just got to try to find a way to keep the pressure on them. Q. I'll just get this out of the way. Yasiel, did the bat taste as bad as it looked it tasted? YASIEL PUIG: Sometimes, yes. They throw me a lot of fastballs, a lot of sliders, I fight the best I can, and all the time when I hit a foul ball, I thought it was my bat, and the next pitch, hit a double. That's good. I'm going to keep doing that. Q. When you guys played in Arizona, the Diamondbacks jumped on you guys in the first inning all three games. How important was it tonight to get off to that quick start? JUSTIN TURNER: Yeah, it was good to get out early and give Kershaw a chance to settle in. I mean, in a perfect world we're going to try to get out and give our guys some runs early every night. But to give him a chance to settle in and just attack guys and be aggressive, I'm not sure what he said about tonight, but I thought he was outstanding and challenged guys, pitching with the lead, like he should. Yeah, he gave up four solo homers, but who cares. When you have a lead like that, it's about attacking guys, not giving up free bases and pounding the zone. So I thought he was spectacular for us tonight. Q. You've had a lot of success in the postseason coming into this series, and yesterday after BP I know you said a few words on the mound to your teammates. Is there anything that you can or did try to impart about strategy, approach, how to do what you do in the postseason? JUSTIN TURNER: No, I basically just said this is what we've been waiting for all year. In the playoffs your numbers, our numbers individually don't matter. It's about doing whatever it takes to win a ballgame. If you make an out, whatever happens, it doesn't matter. It's about finding a way to pick up the next guy, the next guy, find a way to get it done. Also just to embrace it and be in the moment and enjoy it. Q. How does it feel to be able to play in these games like this, big, meaningful playoff games after what you went through last year, and the type of energy that you brought for the team today? YASIEL PUIG: This season I played the best I can with my teammates. They helped me a lot, my manager, and that's the reason why I played better this year and giving one more chance and opportunity to play in the playoffs. I tried to do the best I can to get to home plate, and that's the result tonight. Q. If you assess Clayton's ability, how important is it to this team to have him active, available, and taking the ball every fifth day for this team? JUSTIN TURNER: Yeah, it's huge. He doesn't have all those awards at his house for nothing. He's one of the best pitchers in the game. On top of that, he's one of the best competitors that I've ever played with. So when he takes the ball and he's on the mound, we all feel really good about our chances that night. I think I did hear him say he's going to go and get ready and prepare for Game 5 and hopefully Game 1 of the next series. That would be great. But anytime he has the ball, we like our chances. Q. Is it sort of stunning that this is his first home postseason victory, all the stuff he's accomplished throughout his career? JUSTIN TURNER: I've never heard that before until you just said it. So consider me stunned. Yeah, I mean, yeah, that's pretty crazy to think about. I'm happy for him. I hope he got a ball (laughing). Q. Can you tell us a little bit about your reaction to the triple when you slid into third? JUSTIN TURNER: I thought there was a bat in front of him. YASIEL PUIG: I don't know. I hit an easy groundball, and that was normally for everybody a double. And I seen the left field no one was right there close to the ball, and I kept going to third base. When I slide, that's my reaction. I go like that (imitating). Because my teammates, I see my teammates so excited on the bench, and I don't know. I don't know why I feel maybe ice cream in front of me or something like that. JT likes it. That's the reason he's laughing right now. How did I do. How did I do. Look at me. JUSTIN TURNER: That's exactly how he did it. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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