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NL DIVISION SERIES: ROCKIES VS BREWERS

October 6, 2018

Bud Black

Denver, Colorado - Workout Day

Q. Tomorrow obviously a potential for an elimination situation; how is it that you approach this game in terms of strategy and approach and contrast it, if you would, again Game 1 or any other game?
BUD BLACK: Well, it's going to be different for sure. We won't know how to approach it until the game unfolds. I think our goals will dictate how you see it, right, but we know we have to win. But to tell you a certain strategy, we won't know until tomorrow. We know this is an elimination game for us.

Q. Can you tell me how the conversation with German went when you told him, hey, you're getting the ball game 3? Obviously you didn't have to say our backs are against the wall or anything like that, but tell me how that went with him. He's a cool customer.
BUD BLACK: Yeah, he is. He's a cool customer for sure. He was probably that way just moments ago, right? No, we told him going into the series that he was going to pitch the third game. So he was excited to pitch in the postseason. He's ready for this. It wasn't anything profound about what we said. We'll talk tomorrow, too, pregame, but do your thing. You've had a great season. You're in great position physically and mentally to go out tomorrow and throw well.

Q. You guys score lots of runs here. You're comfortable here, been winning here. Do you see that as a series reset?
BUD BLACK: Well, we hope so. I think the second half has been much better than the first half here. That's for sure. I think our -- as it was documented early, we weren't playing great at home, but our second half record, much better.

And I think offensively we got a little bit more on track as the season went on. Today is a good off-day for us for sure, to regroup a little bit, get the guys off their feet. It's been a hard couple weeks going through the last 10 days of the season, having to play the Dodgers, then the Cubs, then the two games in Milwaukee.

But our guys will be ready to play tomorrow, and hopefully at home, in front of our crowd, a different vibe tomorrow, will jump start our offense.

Q. How do you combat that while they did pitch great, you guys did chase a few pitches, and how do you fight through that?
BUD BLACK: Well, I think you have some conversations with some guys that look to be a little bit out of sorts, and we'll have those. Hopefully they can settle down because some of the at-bats that you are seeing are not indicative of our guys.

We'll talk about it, and we'll try to do it through conversation. But ultimately it's up to the player to really have that feeling of comfort and confidence at the same time.

Q. To follow up a little bit, there's more to this tomorrow in terms of your offense than simply coming back home, correct? You have to take a hard look at where some of these guys are? In other words, it's not going to magically get better because you're hitting at Coors, right?
BUD BLACK: No, for sure. This is about having good at-bats. It isn't about where you're playing. We've seen our offense go into sporadic little downturns over the course of the year, which all teams go through this. We talked about that during the course of the season. We had a little downturn there in September, then we bounced back. Now we're in a little bit of a downturn this last week.

It doesn't matter where you play. You still have to have good quality at-bats, no matter who the team is, where you are. And there's something to facing good pitching. There's something to that. But in general, the quality of our bats have not been great.

Q. Milwaukee won their first two at home. You're now back at home. What kind of factor does playing in your home park happen to be in the playoffs?
BUD BLACK: Well, it helps. And statistically, there's a home-field advantage, right, if you look at the history of the game. There is comfort in being back home, being in your own environment, but still, you've got to play a good game. It doesn't ensure anything.

But we'd like to think that because we're back home, we have an off-day, things can shift. And if we win tomorrow, things shift a little bit more. So that's what we're hoping for.

Q. You guys had an arduous regular season. You guys had dramatic wins, dramatic losses. I imagine that the guys in there have a short memory for these types of things. Has that translated over to the postseason do you think given Game 163, and then winning that Wild Card game, and now in this situation, has that steeled your guys in a sense having gone through that?
BUD BLACK: Well, I think so. I think our guys have been that way. I think our guys for the most part are built that way. Like I said before, they have a great baseball IQ. They have a great perspective on what this game is all about as far as emotional wins, emotional losses. This is an everyday game. And our guys have done that the last couple years.

This last couple weeks, this stretch of baseball, has been in front of us, having to prove our resiliency. Our last road trip of the season, we rebounded from that. That last week of the season, we played there. And then the ups and downs of LA, Chicago, Milwaukee. We've rebounded. Now we've got to rebound again. We know we have to rebound again.

Q. Yesterday Craig Counsell was saying that the story of the series is how they have pitched. It seems to me if you had gotten a couple runs here and there, it would be how you had pitched. Can you characterize these three games, first your starters, Freeland and Anderson --
BUD BLACK: Well, Freeland pitched in --

Q. Yeah, counting that game, and Senzatela, and the bullpen. Just in separate innings looks like those guys have gotten out of some tough situations.
BUD BLACK: Yeah, Craig was right. It was well pitched in Milwaukee, well pitched in Chicago, actually well pitched in LA. It was a 5-2 game. Buehler did a nice job. German gave up a couple homers. Kyle pitched great. Lester pitched well. Gave up 13 innings in a 2-1 game, so that's well pitched.

The game in Milwaukee was, what, 2-0 going into the ninth. Yelich hit a two-run homer. So in that ballpark where it's pretty offensive for me, it was a good place to hit. It was a low scoring game both games.

I agree with what Craig said, that it was well pitched by both sides. There was a couple breakthroughs. Even yesterday, their first run was a couple hard hit doubles, then after that, there was some well-placed base hits, Kratz got the broken bat hit off of Russ. That's baseball. But I thought both sides pitched well.

And we'll see tomorrow if that can continue. In playoff games, you're going to see good pitching. There's going to be those games that sometimes are not indicative of a playoff game.

Last year's Wild Card game with Arizona, I think the Dodgers and the Astros had a big number in the World Series game. That happens. But usually playoff teams are teams that have good pitching. I suspect that'll continue.

Q. So much has been made about the Brewers' bullpen through the regular season and into the postseason. Given the bevy of arms that they have out there, is it challenging to scout and prepare for just that many --
BUD BLACK: Well, I mean, the challenge is in the batter's box. They've done this in a pretty consistent way all season long with a group of guys that are very talented. Two of them were All-Stars this year, right, in Jeffress and Hader, Knebel was an All-Star last year. He's got a good arm. Soria is a veteran pitcher who knows what he's doing. I mean, those guys are solid. They really are.

Some of the guys that they have out in their bullpen who are starters are good pitchers, too, who potentially could be in these games.

But the challenge is you know they're coming, and you've got to be ready for them, and hopefully break through. I mean, they're not invincible, but they're good. We've got to be ready for them because they're coming.

Q. I'll ask the same question I asked German. The reports looks like there could be some inclement weather tomorrow. He admitted that it got to him a little bit. He thinks he's past that, but for your team in general, can it be an advantage for you guys playing a team that plays in a controlled environment, a little more chaotic here?
BUD BLACK: I'm going to say no, but I'm happy that German was honest about that opening day and happy that he said he learned from it, which is part of experience, part of a second-year player. As far as the conditions, I don't think it's an advantage to us or a disadvantage for them.

Q. Specifically with Trevor Story and also Nolan Arenado, guys that have gotten a lot of attention, and the numbers haven't been what they would like in these two games --
BUD BLACK: These two games.

Q. Yes. Do you address it with them about maybe not trying to take too much on their shoulders --
BUD BLACK: Yes.

Q. And how do you do that?
BUD BLACK: By talking to them. I'm not going to tell you what I'm going to say, but yes.

Q. And I guess as a manager, do you have to be conscious of that for guys like -- for some of the guys where there's a big media attention on them, there's fan attention on them. Going into a series, are you thinking, hey, this could be an obstacle or a subject going in?
BUD BLACK: Yeah, but you've got to wait and see how it plays out. Then once it plays out, you address it. So yes.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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