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NL DIVISION SERIES: ROCKIES VS BREWERSOctober 4, 2018Mike MoustakasChristian YelichMilwaukee, Wisconsin - postgame 1 Brewers - 3, Rockies - 2 Q. Moose, do you know Nyjer Morgan? He threw out the first pitch, and you did something tonight that he did seven years ago in a playoff game? MIKE MOUSTAKAS: Yeah. Definitely an unbelievable moment. But wouldn't have been able to be there unless this guy didn't do his job and everybody else on that field didn't do their jobs. Played a phenomenal game. They played a great game over there, as well. Just got a good situation and was able to put the ball in play. Q. Christian, can you talk about how you come back from an 0-2 count with the game on the line, pressure-packed game, to get a walk out of that? CHRISTIAN YELICH: Yeah. You're just trying to slow the situation down. Obviously it's loud, the atmosphere in there is crazy. And he's got great stuff. He was one of the best relief pitchers in baseball this year. And you're just trying to find a way, find a way to get on and make something happen, put some pressure on him, and we were able to do that, and Moose was able to come through there at the end with a huge hit. Q. Mike, you were down 0-2, is it just your past postseason experience that you just locked in and said I'm going to get this done or what was it? MIKE MOUSTAKAS: Yeah. Being in the postseason a couple years back, it definitely helps. It was an awesome atmosphere in there, so adrenaline was running high. And like Yelly said, that's one of the best relievers in all of baseball. You're just trying not to do too much, try and put the barrel to the ball, and I was fortunate enough that he threw me another pitch over the plate and got the barrel through at that time and hit some outfield grass. And it feels pretty good to finish the way we did. Q. Christian, can you walk us through what you saw and didn't see on the liner that Braun hit earlier in the game? CHRISTIAN YELICH: Yeah. That was a crazy play right there. Myself and the first base coach, we both thought he caught it. It sounded like he caught it. I saw the ball go in his glove, and then it didn't happen, and he did a great job by holding the tag on me like he did catch it. He was able to deked me. It's one of those freak plays. It's unfortunate, but thankfully it didn't cost us. Q. Christian, kind of a contrast of postseason experience for the two of you guys. Can you talk about what this atmosphere was like for you being a part of something new here? CHRISTIAN YELICH: Yeah. I mean, honestly the last week or so has felt very similar. We've been playing a lot of big games down the stretch, and this place was packed this past weekend for our last home stand of the year. You're just trying to slow it down. Obviously you have the nervous energy before the first pitch in the first inning, and after that, it's back to baseball. You're just trying to slow everything down and not let the moment consume you, and you're just trying to focus on what you have to do. Q. Were you surprised that they pitched to you, and second, how much of a difference is this leaving this game you guys winning as opposed to blowing the lead, coming back if you hadn't won it? MIKE MOUSTAKAS: Yeah. No, not surprised at all that they pitched to me. That's, again, one of the better -- if not one of the best relief pitchers in all of baseball. We got a couple of those guys, too. They believe in his stuff. I was fortunate that he threw me another pitch over the plate, and I was able to get the barrel to the ball that time. I'm sorry, what was the second question? Q. The difference in feeling between you guys winning -- MIKE MOUSTAKAS: Absolutely. Going up 1-0 is huge, especially at home. You definitely want to win at home. To go up 1-0 and to pick J.J. up, he's been phenomenal for us all year. Our bullpen, you guys saw today, they are phenomenal. They did a great job for us today. J.J. has been great for us all year. So to be able to pick him up and come back and win that ballgame was huge, not just for him, but for all of us. It's a big win carrying some momentum into tomorrow. Q. Christian, I was just wondering, this being your first postseason, did you go to anyone for advice on what the atmosphere might be like or how to play under this pressure-packed environment, whether it be teammates or family or anybody? And if you did, can you share any that you received? CHRISTIAN YELICH: No, honestly. Like I said, we've played in so many big games down the stretch to try and win this division. We've played in a playoff game, but not really a playoff game in 163. So this was our first official playoff game, but not really in a sense. But yeah, you've got to realize that it's the same game. Obviously it's higher stakes. There's more eyes watching. The atmosphere is a little bit crazier, but at the end of the day, you're trying to remind yourself and trying to focus on being in the moment, being in the present and not getting consumed with everything around you. Q. You've been on an incredible tear and the ball has to look like a beach ball to you every time it's pitched. Can you reflect on how this month has been for you? CHRISTIAN YELICH: I think the biggest thing is just focusing on the day-to-day, your routine, not getting caught up in the future or the past and just being right there and focusing on what you have to do that day or that night to help your team win and trying to stay even keeled and focused on whatever team, whatever pitcher is throwing against us that day and coming up with a plan to try and execute. Q. Christian, you saw the difficulty that Blackmon's ball left, but did you see it live? CHRISTIAN YELICH: I was running over there because I didn't know if it was going to be fair or foul. And I saw it land, and it looked like it was foul, but you can't really tell, it caught a little bit of chalk, so I couldn't really tell. I was going to play it live, but it ended up popping over the fence, so I thought I might as well go check it out and see what happened, and it was literally this far from the chalk line. And I was trying to tell the guys, hey, go look at it. I got real fortunate right there because if that lands, second and third with nobody out and one run already scored, they always say it's a game of inches, and today it really was. Q. Craig said that it was like being punched in the gut. You guys had a 2-0 lead for so long. Was this win extra sweet just because of what you had to do to come from behind and win this game? CHRISTIAN YELICH: It was a punch in the gut, but at the same time, not really, because I feel like in the dugout, we felt fortunate to still be tied. But we could have very easily been down there. And to get out of that with just a tie game, it didn't work out. Obviously we would have liked to win in that situation, but you regroup as a team. You kind of take a deep breath. All right, now we've just got to find a way to push one across. And we were able to do that and just came up with a huge hit and just kept battling. That's been the theme of our team all year. There's been a little bit of adversity. You're in a tough spot. You just compete and find a way to win. Proud of the guys. They did a great job today. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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