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NL WILDCARD GAME: ROCKIES VS CUBS

October 2, 2018

Bud Black

Chicago, Illinois - postgame

Colorado - 2

Chicago - 1

Q. First of all, 13 innings, 11 years after the Rockies' last 13 inning elimination game, does this feel much better?
BUD BLACK: Well this is a great one. I think this is a classic. I think this will go down as a Major League Baseball classic. We feel good about how we played. That's what I think is the most important thing here is how we played as a team and how the contributions came from so many guys. And it's awesome that a number of these fellas will always remember this game. So I mean such good stuff for our players.

Q. A lot of levers pulled in that game. I think there were 42 players that appeared in there. Was this -- and of course you've got a good friend in the other dugout. Was this just a fun game to manage?
BUD BLACK: Well, I don't know about fun, but it was a game to manage, I know that. I think there was so many twists and turns. And in a low scoring game where pitching is so precious and every out is so important as the game unfolds. You try to put your guys in the best position to succeed and do their thing and also think about what is the right thing to do strategically. I know Joe over there on that side was doing the same thing. And when I went out I think to take Rusin out I caught Joe and he saw it was sort of dim, but we had a little bit of contact there about what a game I think we both sensed that. That this was a memorable game.

Q. I was in the clubhouse and I found out what this win means to all the guys in there and all the emotions. So what does it mean for you?
BUD BLACK: Well for me personally I'm so happy for those players and the organization. What a win. For those guys to feel so good about it and feel good about the team and what this, what they accomplished. I think that -- and I've said this before, there's nothing that beats being a player, going through a playoff and in postseason, in big games, that feeling as a player, those guys in the fire that do it, I'm so happy for them that they're able to experience this.

As a coach or manager I've been fortunate to be in those shoes and I'm so happy for them, I really am. And all the people behind the scenes that contribute to a win who are here, who are here in Chicago, some Rockies personnel, I'm happy for them and so happy. It's awesome.

Q. You had three games in three days in three different cities and then on top of all that this one goes 13 innings. How do these guys push through everything that they have done in the last three days?
BUD BLACK: Well, knowing these guys like I do, it doesn't surprise me the effort and the preparation those guys put in today. All the work that each guy does individually on their own, whether video, early work in the cage, some stuff in the weight room, the trainers that work on players. They do it. They stay on point and focused about what they do. There's a competitiveness and a pride in all big league players or they wouldn't become big league players. These guys, to a man, that group in there, they do it, which is great. And that's what makes professional athletes, professional athletes because of moments like this, where Denver to L.A. to Chicago in three days and hard fought games. That's what they do, that's what makes guys special.

Q. I watched Freeland and can't help think of him as a 14-year-old kid watching in October. But I also think that how many times it's been said that you can't be a really good pitcher in Colorado. So when you watch him with this performance, what's your thoughts on that?
BUD BLACK: Well I think that we have, "we" meaning the coaches, the players, have a great deal of confidence in Kyle, just because -- and I've said this a lot -- it's how he's built. He loves to compete, he loves to play, he plays with tremendous amount of passion and energy. You see that all the time when he runs the bases, when he swings the bat, when he fields ground balls. He loves it. He loves to play. So I knew going in that he was not going to scare off and back down from this challenge and pitching on short rest was not going to bother him in this game. There was a limit, and I know that the adrenaline in these games catches up with you. From the time that he woke up this morning he was excited, and you could tell that he was excited the first inning based on how he was throwing. It was a little bit somewhat of last-year type throwing. He was throwing a little bit I thought early in the game and then he started pitching. I thought in the third inning he started pitching because he missed some spots early in the game that got some hard contact, they got some base hits, and then he reeled it in, inning three, four, five, six, I thought he really threw the ball great. Then before the 7th we talked in the dugout and he said that keep an eye on me basically, which we did. And I knew exactly what he meant. Even though he was right around the 80-pitch mark.

Q. Kind of a two-part question. First, your bullpen came in, I mean just an incredible performance by a number of people. Really just one pitch from Ottavino that was miss-located, and the way that you guys were able to in the 13th inning offensively scratch out some hits against a team that pitched you very well?
BUD BLACK: Yeah, they pitched great. This was a great game. They pitched outstanding. After Lester gave up the lead off walk and then DJ on the full count pitch got a pitch to hit and drove it into the gap, Lester was very, very good. Their bullpen pitched outstanding. We didn't -- there's a couple balls we hit hard but we didn't hit a lot of balls hard. Neither did they. They didn't score a ton, but I mean what a well pitched game. But to your point, Otto came in and a couple balls went astray, but man when he needed to buckle down, he did. And the one pitch that I'm sure he wanted back was the 0-2 pitch to Baez that sort of hung there in the middle of the plate. But he did his job and then Wade was stressed a bit and Seung-Hwan did a great job. They all did a great job.

Q. The guys kind of light up when I mention Tony being the guy to win this. The hard work he puts in behind the scenes they said and he's sometimes the butt of their jokes. What does it mean for Tony to be the guy?
BUD BLACK: It's great. Tony -- and I mentioned this earlier to a couple guys -- Tony's like everybody's little brother. He's the guy that -- the guy that everybody looks out for and sort of just keeps their eye on because Tony can sort of run astray a little bit. But they love him. They love Tony because Tony I mean truly cares about each and everyone of those guys and those guys feel that. He's a great teammate, he's unselfish, he just cares about the Rockies. Which is awesome. And those guys feel his genuine feeling about this team and about each and every game trying to win the game and it's great when those types of players respond and do something like this. I mean it's the little brother, man, doing something great and they love it.

Q. So many levers being pulled in this game, but one I want to ask you about, the double switch involving Charlie coming out of the game. Was he gassed?
BUD BLACK: No, that was just guarding ourself from having to take out a pitcher I wanted to leave in the game. All those double switches were about keeping the pitcher that I brought in to be able to go an extra inning. Almost all of them was that theory. Charlie's fine. It's hard to take Charlie out of a game but I just felt we had to do it to protect ourself from maybe having to go to another reliever that we didn't want to at that moment.

Q. Sports in general engenders this type of thing, this kind of brotherhood and all for one and one for all --
BUD BLACK: For sure.

Q. But in baseball, over the course of an eight-month grind, 162 games, it kind of sets itself apart from other sports, at least in my estimation. The ups and the downs of a season make it so unique, to be able to overcome that, any baseball team, but this team in particular. Can you just talk about that quality and what it means?
BUD BLACK: Yeah, you're right. I think that baseball is different because it is every day, where the competition is -- the competition going into a game, I think creates a bond every day, because you're competing against another team. And even though spring training, our like exhibition games, I mean you're competing, I mean you really are. So there's 30, plus 162 and it's every day. And there are ups and downs and there's truly something to this esprit de corps that's developed amongst teams. And our team, we didn't make a lot of changes, right? We didn't make a lot of changes from Scottsdale. We added Seung-Hwan, brought in Drew Butera, but besides that, I mean everybody who was on our team was like in Scottsdale at Salt River. So there's a bond that's created and when you have a great year and you, things go your way, it creates special memories and that these guys won't forget. And that's, I think that's one of the lasting beauties of team sports that I like, the process, the journey that you hear that all the time, but it's real, man.

Q. You go to Milwaukee to play the Brewers, taking a very veteran-type team, guys that are tested in these. How does that series look to you and does Antonio Senzatela start the opener?
BUD BLACK: It more than likely looks like Antonio will start. We'll work through that, maybe as early as this on the bus ride up, right? But they're a good team. We obviously, we train in Arizona, we see their players, the two series against them up close and looking at their players, they're a good group, man. They go about it the right way, they play with energy, they got a lot of bases covered on being a good team. You look through their lineup and some of the things that they can do as far as left, right, there's no doubt you focus in on that tremendous bullpen, some veteran arms in their rotation, it's a good team. They didn't end up where they are without being solid. And what they did at the end too, the last couple weeks, the last month, to get in this position, they're a good team and it's going to be a challenge. But, again, I think that they're going to look at us and say we're a good team too and so it's going to be great.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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