	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

NL DIVISION SERIES: NATIONALS VS DODGERS

October 4, 2019

Dave Martinez

Los Angeles, California - postgame 1

Nationals- 4, Dodgers - 2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You still Scherzer in the next game or will you be changing plans on that?
DAVE MARTINEZ: No, we'll see. I talked to him now. I'm going to see how he feels tomorrow. We'll -- I want to make sure he gets a night. He's working out right now and we'll see how he feels tomorrow.

Q. What's the alternative?
DAVE MARTINEZ: If not him, it will probably be Sanchez.

Q. And was there any thought of pitching him in the 9th?
DAVE MARTINEZ: No. I didn't want to pitch him in the 9th. That 9th inning is a beast. If you don't do it, it's tough and Hudson has been our guy.

Q. It looks clear that Strasburg lines up for 5. Is there a possibility that you could go with Sanchez and Corbin out of the bullpen in 3 and then Max in 4 and Strasburg in 5?
DAVE MARTINEZ: Yeah, it's a good possibility. I mean I'm going to sit back tonight and think about a bunch of different things and wake up tomorrow and get on a plane and think about a bunch of different things and then we'll be ready to go.

Q. How much of how the way the last three innings went was preplanned, how much was it gut as the game went on?
DAVE MARTINEZ: Yeah, I talked to Max before the game. Today was his bullpen day. We held him back. He said he was good to go. I told him that and I specifically told him that I will not use him in the 9th, but I would have to probably use him in the bridge, the 6th, 7th inning. So and that worked out good. Doo came in and did a great job. He came in and was lights out and then Hudson came in and finished the game.

Q. Though you had that preplanned how close were you to scrapping that after he strikes out the side in the 8th?
DAVE MARTINEZ: Oh, trust me, I was biting my lip, scratching my head. But like I said, Hudson's been our guy, especially in big moments for us in the 9th. I just, I liked him right there. I didn't anticipate him walking Smith to get to Seager, but he pitched really well. I mean he got the outs we needed.

Q. Credit for good pitch calling there? You've been pitching Seager away, away, away all night and you got him twice by coming back in with breaking balls late in the count. Who gets credit for that calling from the bench?
DAVE MARTINEZ: No, that's Zuk. He pays attention to detail and he has a game plan. Great job he did also with Strasburg the whole game and also with the rest of those guys coming in. I mean I really liked what we did today.

Q. Is this what you came here for, a split?
DAVE MARTINEZ: I like that we split, yeah, after losing the first game. Yeah, it's nice. It will be a good flight home. We'll have a day off tomorrow and then come back and do it again at home.

Q. The intentional walk in the 9th inning, can you take me through the thought process there and did you think about --
DAVE MARTINEZ: There's really not much to think about. Muncy threw -- Muncy hit a ball 400 feet against Doo. We just didn't want that to happen. He's a fastball hitter. We know that. Hudson throws fastballs. So I liked the other matchup.

Q. How much have you and Riz talked about sort of extreme use of starting pitchers, because he saw Arizona win a World Series with Schilling and Johnson doing unusual things.
DAVE MARTINEZ: You know, before the series started, before we even got to the playoffs, our game plan was to try to utilize these guys the best way possible without disrupting their starts. And we talked to all of them and they have all been on board. So it's just part of it. When you get to these games, I've said this before, you're playing to win one game. Every day's crucial. We had a chance to win today. And I told Max, if the game's close then we'll use you. And we did that.

Q. Did you consider Strasburg for the 7th or was there something in the 6th that you saw?
DAVE MARTINEZ: Yeah, yeah, he started -- he started getting the ball up a little bit and I could tell he's taking a little bit more time in between pitches. And that was, I thought that was it, he had enough. He just pitched three innings two days ago, so he did a great job for us.

Q. How is Victor? What happened to Victor?
DAVE MARTINEZ: Yeah, he has got a little hamstring issue. They didn't diagnose it yet. But we're going to see how he feels in the morning. But I think that we'll have to play it day-to-day right now.

Q. What are we -- that was a complex game, what are we not thinking to ask you that stood out to you as being important in this game?
DAVE MARTINEZ: The fact that we won. That was really nice. The guys just played well. Hey, nobody talks about the ball that Rendon caught there at the end. That's a tough play. The bunt that Adam Eaton put down to give us first and second that inning. That's, those little things become huge in these kind of games.

Q. So if I'm listening to you correctly, because if you had more confidence in the parts of your bullpen, you wouldn't have to be resorting to using your top starters in these spots. That's A, right?
DAVE MARTINEZ: Well, don't get me wrong because, and I said this earlier today, it takes 25 guys to win every day, right? We wouldn't be here -- you take those nine or ten guys that were in the bullpen, guess what? We ain't winning any, we ain't winning very many games. Those guys are a big part of why we are here. I've said this before, they have had their struggles, but they understand it's one game, we play for one game. Our biggest emphasis all year was to go 1-0, and now it's that time. I mean, we're going 1-0 every day.

Q. What do you think the cumulative affect of this will be if you go on deep into the playoffs?
DAVE MARTINEZ: Well, I mean, like I said, we have to see where we're at, we have to see how much rest these guys have. But those guys in the bullpen they understand, they got to pitch as well. And they get it.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297