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NL DIVISION SERIES: ROCKIES VS BREWERS

October 7, 2018

Erik Kratz

Denver, Colorado - postgame 3

Brewers 6, Rockies - 0

Q. Can you just talk about, I guess, 11 wins in a row, the sense of momentum the team is feeling right now?
ERIK KRATZ: You know, I think momentum is something for postgame. I think it's something that you notice. As a team, we've really done a good job of understanding each moment of the game. We get behind -- I mean, we didn't get behind this series, but they came back on us one time, tied it up. That could have been a momentum shift.

But we've done a good job of being in the moment as far as throwing each pitch that that moment takes and having good at-bats through that whole time. It's something that has given us this 11-game streak, I guess, but it's not something that you really think about during the game. You just think about being the guy in the moment and not really the momentum of, well, we'll just kind of let it happen. We try to take it to them.

Q. Talk about your pitching staff, especially the bullpen there, two straight games with shutouts. Just talk about that.
ERIK KRATZ: They don't get enough credit. I mean, they -- it's something that these guys have had great years, all of them in different moments. It's something that they've really done a good job of just throwing to their strengths and executing game plans.

It's something that at the beginning of the series, if you said for us to win three games, we'd have to have 27 or 28 scoreless innings, you know, that's insurmountable -- you can't go into it thinking, okay, this is what we're going to do. We have to shut these guys out. No, they came into it.

It started with Woody, Game 1, and it ended with Hader in Game 3 there. It's something that you'd have to ask each of those guys what they did in each moment because all I see out there is guys that are not afraid of the moment, not afraid of their stuff matching up against guys and attacking them. And that's a credit to these guys that don't get enough credit, and hopefully they do. They should all be up here on the podium for sure.

Q. What was working today for Burnes, retiring six in a row and getting you guys to the ninth inning?
ERIK KRATZ: His fastball -- you know, his fastball was in the zone, but it wasn't just a get-me-over fastball. He was able to really attack hitters. And then his off-speed, he was pounding the areas of the strike zone that we wanted the off-speed to be in, and that's something that's incredible to see a rookie throw like that.

He gave us two huge innings that were -- I think you saw the emotion after his last out. That guy is incredibly mature, incredibly talented, obviously, he's in the Big Leagues, but he's incredibly mature to be able to step into that situation and do what he did. It's so much fun to be a part of.

Q. Just talk about your offensive approach, hitting over .600, three for three today. What was working well for you this series?
ERIK KRATZ: Just trying to get the ball out over the plate and barreling pitches up. The first one of the series, I kind of laid it into the outfield. I had a different broken bat hit the other night. And my first at-bat tonight, I had a ground ball up the middle.

So sometimes the ball needs to find some green. Then I was able to barrel the ball up my last three times up tonight, so it's something that you put together a game plan, and I think you can be successful if you don't let the moment get too big for you.

You know, success isn't always dictated on how many hits you get or anything like that. It's what kind of at-bat you had, and my last at-bat I got out, but I felt like it was a good at-bat, and it was something that I was able to barrel the ball up anyway.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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