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NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: NATIONALS VS CARDINALS

October 14, 2019

Stephen Strasburg

Washington D.C. - postgame 3

Nationals - 8, Cardinals - 1.

Q. Can you just walk us through the conversation with Davey on the mound there in the seventh, and just how much did you kind of want to finish that inning?
STEPHEN STRASBURG: Yeah, I mean, it was -- he just had to come out there and check on me, and I told him I'm good.

Q. Stephen, can you put into perspective what yourself and Max and Aníbal have been able to do the first three games of this series and pitch the way you guys have?
STEPHEN STRASBURG: I mean, it's -- you take it one game at a time. You're at this point in the season where it's just leave it all out there on the field and take whatever happens.

Q. You really flew through that first inning. I think it was less than five minutes. What were you thinking heading out of that for the rest of the game?
STEPHEN STRASBURG: Not much. You just try and take it one pitch at a time and go as long as you can. So really it just comes down to making pitches.

Q. Stephen, I know getting this far takes everybody, but was there an understanding in your mind going into the postseason that, if you guys are going to keep moving on here, that the starting rotation is really going to have to carry a load and you guys were going to have to put together outings like the ones you guys have this month?
STEPHEN STRASBURG: I mean, back in May, we kind of knew that was going to be the case. Again, it's the nature of the game, and we're a team. I think guys that have stuck around in the bullpen through the course of the year have only gotten better. You look at what Tanner Rainey, having Rodney here now, those guys have given us big innings, especially down the stretch.

My job is to go out there and go as long as I can and keep it close. Guys scored some runs tonight, and we came out on top.

Q. Stephen, how fun was that hug from Parra in the dugout, and how much love has he given you the past few months? He says he's all about it.
STEPHEN STRASBURG: Oh, yeah. I'm not much of a hugger, but they kind of just surround me. So I just have to take it.

Q. When you're getting toward the end of a start like the seventh tonight, what is it that you depend on or dial back to to try to get you through those innings when the mechanics may be a little screwy?
STEPHEN STRASBURG: I just kind of stick to my approach, really focus on that tendency when you kind of feel like you're close to the finish line is that everything speeds up. Typically, when I let that happen, it ends up being a pretty long inning like it was there. You just have to make the adjustment when that happens.

Q. Stephen, what's the key to executing the change-up exactly how you want to?
STEPHEN STRASBURG: I think everything is off of your fastball. Mechanically, if you execute your fastball, it's really just a grip change. You're doing the same exact thing.

Q. Could you kind of describe -- Davey's talked about you have two different change-ups. Could you kind of describe the difference between those two change-ups?
STEPHEN STRASBURG: What do you mean exactly? I don't have two different change-ups. I just throw one.

Q. I guess maybe Kurt and Davey have said you throw it two different ways maybe?
STEPHEN STRASBURG: Sometimes I throw a good one, and sometimes I don't. I don't know. That's two different ones. I just kind of let it do its thing, just throw it like a fastball.

Q. Stephen, this team's mantra all year long has been one game at a time, go 1-0, that kind of thing, from Davey. But can you allow yourself to think about one game away from the World Series?
STEPHEN STRASBURG: You guys can, but right now, I think it's been just such an amazing year, and I think it's really been great just because of where we've had to come from. We've got such a great group of guys, and it's fun. It's fun being around the guys and going out there and competing together. I think you ask anybody in there, we just want to stay together and keep playing.

Q. Stras, against the Dodgers, maybe the curveball wasn't getting the strike calls that you liked early on. It seemed like you were getting those strike calls early on in this game. How important is it for you to get the curveball in for a strike in a game like this tonight?
STEPHEN STRASBURG: It's just funny how baseball works. I just remember how in L.A. I was really locked in in the bullpen. Curveball fell really good, and I went out there and it kind of lost me for a little bit. Whereas today, curveball wasn't very good in the bullpen, but that's happened enough times that it kind of doesn't matter. It just showed itself pretty early in the game and was right where I wanted it to be.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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