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NL DIVISION SERIES: CARDINALS VS BRAVESOctober 4, 2019Mike FoltynewiczAdam DuvallAtlanta, Georgia - postgame 2 Braves - 3, Cardinals - 0 Q. Adam, Snitker called it the "boo-yeah," when Folty was getting pulled out of the game and you were put in that spot. The boos and then the yeas. Just the range of emotions for you in that 60-second span? ADAM DUVALL: The fans let me know they wanted him to stay in, which we all did. I just wanted to have a good at-bat and go up there and try to make it worth it because he was grooving out there. It was impressive to watch and it was fun to watch, fun to be a part of. Q. Folty, after the division clincher, Kranny showed me he's a big-game pitcher. What's it like for you and what does it mean for you moving forward here in the postseason? MIKE FOLTYNEWICZ: Pretty special. Keep talking about it, the kind of year I had, just for the Braves to have trust in me. And I kind of proved what I went down to work on that I'm still the pitcher that I was last year. We had that experience, too, in the postseason, so I kind of knew what to expect if things got a little crazy. I slowed the game down pretty good tonight. These games are pretty big, but at the same time it's just the same game we've been playing all year. I said that the other day and that's kind of how I took it tonight. But really made sure to slow things down, to stay in my mechanics and make sure all my pitches were working like they were tonight. And it was smooth sailing, so it was a lot of fun. Q. Adam, Brian said you had had a home run off of Flaherty before. When was that, do you remember that one? ADAM DUVALL: I didn't know that. (Laughter) I honestly didn't know that. But I was talking to guys in the dugout. They were coming back, and I was trying to get an idea of how he was pitching and what his stuff looked like. Again, I go back, just wanted to put together a good at-bat. I got to see a couple of his pitches early, fastball and slider early. And then I was able to get something up in the zone. I knew Acuña was behind me, so I knew they didn't necessarily want to give me a free pass. So they were aggressive. And, like I said, I was looking for something up in the zone, something I could get the barrel to, and I was able to do that. Q. After you fouled off the slider on the 3-2, did you think he was coming with a fastball after that? ADAM DUVALL: I thought so, but I was ready for anything, because he was commanding his off-speed stuff. It wasn't a hundred percent going to be a fastball in my mind. But I was ready for the heater. I wanted to be on time with the heater and then adjust to off-speed. I was able to get the barrel to it. Q. Adam, can you just talk a little bit about the last couple of years, because seems like you have a whole lot of support in that clubhouse from people pulling for you with what you went through. What's it like for you now to have this moment? Has it made it all worthwhile, what you've been through the last couple of years? ADAM DUVALL: Yeah, games like today, that's what you play for. It was a big win for us and this is what you work for. This is what you dream about. And it was a good result. It was a good game. And we're all just happy going to St. Louis, trying to get two more wins. Q. Mike, you mentioned you were a Cardinal fan the other day. How did you become a Cardinal fan that far north of Illinois? And who were some of your favorite players growing up? MIKE FOLTYNEWICZ: That's a good question. My parents kind of grew up a little south of Chicago. Where they grew up you were either a Cardinals fan or a Cubs fan. No Sox, really. And my parents just kind of drilled the Cardinals into me a little bit. I was a big Pujols, Edmonds, Scott Rolen -- all those guys coming up. I went to Busch Stadium a couple times, saw Greg Maddux pitch. McGwire was a big guy of mine, too. It was something special. I don't know if my dad goes for the good teams. He likes the Steelers and all the good teams. I don't know if he's a bandwagon jumper. I was a Cardinals fan my whole life, so any chance I get to go to pitch there or play against them, you get that little more adrenaline and nerves going just because what's at stake. Q. Were Wainwright and Molina on that list, too? MIKE FOLTYNEWICZ: Of course. Molina, he's the face of the organization for the past 10, 15 years. Every time I go out to bat, I don't know what to really say to him because I'm so nervous. So I just say, what's up, Mr. Molina? Best of luck to you -- when we were playing them in the regular season; I didn't really say it to him today. But just those guys, Carpenter, you still get to see those guys in the other dugout. It's star struck sometimes and I actually got to pitch against Carpenter a couple times. Like I said, Molina is right there, you're facing him. He's been kind of owning me a little bit. But just went out there and kind of just made it a regular game and go get outs. And that's what we did today. Q. I think you only had one at-bat where you went to three balls. So you were able to get ahead of pretty much everybody. Was that a product of your game plan, really trying to be aggressive, or was it something that you could -- it just unfolded that you had such good command that you were able to get ahead? MIKE FOLTYNEWICZ: A little bit of both. In my last outing in New York I was just trying -- I think I was nibbling too much. And I wasn't being aggressive, I wasn't attacking. Today I was. I wasn't going to walk anybody because just giving up free bases bad things happen. I was just going to have them earn it whatever it was. And just being aggressive early. I was throwing my slider early. And once you see guys taking big hacks at it on the first pitch, that was going to be the model for the whole team. They were aggressive just taking big hacks on the slider, swings and misses. To be able to throw my slider -- I didn't throw my fastball too much, but when I did it would get early outs, just because I threw my curveball and changeup just enough to keep them off balance. So, it was a great mix today. But my slider was on point. I was just going to be aggressive and make them put it in play instead of giving people free bases. Q. When you finished up in the seventh there, 81 pitches, are you told immediately, your spot comes up we're going somebody else or do you have to keep yourself, like, if it's three up, three down, I'm going back out there? What's that like for you? MIKE FOLTYNEWICZ: That was exactly the scenario: Three up, three down, I'm going back out if my spot comes up or we're going to hit. But you have to stay ready, because if you mentally checked out -- it's a tough game out there. But it was only 80 pitches. I was still loose down there. I was staying up and down. Mac got that hit, but you never know; if Dansby gets a double play we've got to be right back out there. When Duvy comes up or my spot comes up and you kind of just relax a little bit. But you're ready to go. I mean, you've been kind of in those spots in the minor leagues even during the season. Snitker comes down, he asks me, are you good, are you good? We're going to be all right for the eighth inning if we go 1-2? I said absolutely, let's go. Things unfold the way they did. It's baseball. We wanted to get a real at-bat up there instead of my poor stuff. But everything worked out beautifully today. But today I was actually ready just in case you never know what happens in baseball. Q. When you came back up, you said while you were down there with Gwinnett that there were conversations you had with other guys about, hey, pick each other up, we're going to get there. Do either of you remember having a conversation or picking each other up while you were together with Gwinnett? MIKE FOLTYNEWICZ: Not really. We've been up here. We know what to do. We know what to expect and know what to get ourselves ready to get to the big leagues. I mean, Duvy could have started on 29 other teams on opening day. We just have a deep lineup, deep organization. These things happen. And he didn't pout. He didn't quit. We didn't really have a conversation, but we know. We've been in the league for a little bit. We knew what to expect, but at the same time, like I said, I went down. I needed to focus on things. Duvy, these things happen. He was the fifth outfielder. And he put his head down and he went and hit 30-plus home runs down there. It's really impressive. You kind of just stay away from him, let him do his thing. But at the same time, you let him know with support, you know we've got each other's back. It's not just Duvy down there. You've got all these starting pitchers. We've got Ortega, Jackson, all these guys down there, we're all fighting for one thing. We all knew we were going to be up in September fighting for the playoffs. And it's just a really fun group to be around. In years past, it's kind of whatever, coming to the field. But I got two kids and a wife that I love dearly, and I kind of want to get to the field sometimes just because the chemistry here, it's awesome. You come in knowing you're going to win. And for Duvy to do that tonight, especially the season he went through, off the bench for eight innings, it's pretty special. Like he said, it's what we live for. And he stepped up huge today. But we kind of just know what to expect when we're down there with each other. Q. I'm just curious, I'm sure you heard the boos also when Adam came up. I was curious what your reaction was to that? MIKE FOLTYNEWICZ: I thought they were like Doov, Doov. ADAM DUVALL: That's what I was saying. MIKE FOLTYNEWICZ: That's what I was kind of getting into. You have 50,000 people out there. That's gotta be in somebody's head out there, Doov. No, they weren't. They weren't booing. But I was on the top step kind of in the dugout out there for it. But I mean it was just fun. In that situation, the eighth inning, it needed to be happening. And obviously it worked out for our favor. Q. Everybody knows about your journey this year but how much, if at all, were you driven by the playoffs last year? MIKE FOLTYNEWICZ: Yeah, you still have that bitter taste in your mouth a year later. You want to prove people what you still have, especially after my year that I had; it's just proving a lot of people wrong the whole year. So just going into this game, you have that bitter taste in your mouth, but at the same time, like I said before, you kind of knew what to expect. The game gets a little bit faster in the playoffs. I think I did a good job of just slowing things down today and just really focused on every pitch at hand and not to make a mistake. So defense picked me up when the ball was hit on the ground. So it's just overall a good day. Q. When you're having the kind of game you're having, how much or how difficult is it to balance wanting to go back out there for the eighth, and even though you said it needed to happen? MIKE FOLTYNEWICZ: Like I said, you've kind of been put in these situations a lot during the season. Snit comes down to you right away and asks how you feel. I say, I feel great. We've only got 80 pitches. But like he said, if we get to your spot, we're going to hit for you, period. So when you're cruising like that, as I said, anything can happen. It was a 1-0 lead at the time. I didn't want to go out there and have things bad happen, but I was on a good roll. So I know they stick with the hot hand. The question earlier, we mentally had to stay in. If they went one, two, three, go back out there for the eighth and get the job done. But things worked out the way they did tonight. But I felt good after 80 pitches there. Q. Snit said he put on that squeeze play and also the double steal knowing you were not going to get that run home in, was he correct? MIKE FOLTYNEWICZ: What inning was that? The fifth or the sixth? Q. Yeah. MIKE FOLTYNEWICZ: I think he might have told me that just to go strike out up there if things -- if I got up, let Ronald hit. Q. (Indiscernible)? MIKE FOLTYNEWICZ: Exactly. It's just funny things like that that just keep you smiling during the game. He kind of -- I think he looked at me after my second at-bat and he was like, "You all right?" I was like, "Yeah. What do you need from me?" He was like, "Go hit a home run." He laughed before I laughed. So it's just those things -- Snit kind of keeps you smiling and keep you at ease when big situations happen like that. So it was funny. Q. What this win does for the confidence of the team as we move to St. Louis and the best-of-5 is now to a best-of-3. ADAM DUVALL: Postseason, every game is important. Every game is a must-win game. And yesterday didn't go how we planned. But we came back today. We're going to St. Louis and looking to get two wins there and just keep playing good baseball, keep pitching like he pitched tonight. Get some timely hits. Play good defense and everything will take care of itself. MIKE FOLTYNEWICZ: Just like Duvy said, we've got this one under our belt going into St. Louis. That's just a big confidence booster. We've got Mike Soroka. He's been one of the best pitchers all year in the Big Leagues. We've got all the confidence in the world. Like Duvy said, the first game was a little bit of a heartbreaker. We could've rolled over 7-3 in the ninth inning but these boys kept fighting back. It's just awesome to watch these guys, this fight and play every single day, even when I'm not pitching, it's awesome. You saw the fight in them last night. And you knew they were going to be ready for this game. And I mean you're facing a great pitcher in Flaherty, too, but they got the run across early when they needed to. Got my confidence up when I got that run across. Now we're going to St. Louis, like I say, with Mike and the team, good energy, especially coming off this win. So it's like they say, happy flight, and go have a little practice tomorrow and get ready for the next one. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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