NL DIVISION SERIES: BREWERS VS BRAVES

October 12, 2021

Craig Counsell

Truist Park

Milwaukee Brewers

Postgame 4 Press Conference

Braves - 5, Brewers - 4

Q. Did Lauer not being able to get through that last inning he pitched change the path that you were trying to get through with your pitching in that game?

CRAIG COUNSELL: Yeah, I mean, I think we had a couple of innings where certainly just one more out would have changed things a little bit. But they did a nice job extending the innings.

So, Eric, he was in good shape getting through that inning with two outs and man on first, after the lead-off single, getting the next two guys. They did a nice job extending that inning.

And then the same thing with Ash. I thought Aaron pitched well. Not much hard contact. Ball on the ground. It was just in the right spot. And then a couple of free passes with the hit-by-pitch and the walk gave them some runs. He got the first two guys of the next -- or two out of the next three guys, and Freeman hit a really tough pitch to extend the inning to start with.

And then we had to go to Woody. We had two innings from Woody max -- wasn't going to do anything more than that. We had to go to him there.

Q. Can you tell us about the decision to use Brandon today; is that also a case where he came to you or you went to him?

CRAIG COUNSELL: No, he came to us and said he recovered really well. He was in good shape what he did was heroic, frankly, it gave us a shot. Pretty incredible what he did tonight.

Q. How about with Josh, was that a situation where you're going to go multiple innings with him?

CRAIG COUNSELL: Not likely, but it was the inning for Josh. We had to get -- he had to pitch in the game and it was the right part of the lineup for him to pitch to. And it was our best against their best. And then you're never going to -- I don't think you regret having that situation. It's how it works. That's how the game works. That's how it's supposed to work.

Q. You've seen Freddie Freeman for several years now. What have you thought about him as a player and how he's developed over the years as a hitter?

CRAIG COUNSELL: I mean, the number one thing that I admire his hitting ability. The number one I've admired the most is he plays every single day. That's the thing I've always admired about him the most. We know he's dangerous.

And frankly we did a pretty good job with him in this series. That's a great hitter.

Q. You got a runner on in that last inning for the top of the order but failed to score there. What did you make of the struggles of the first couple of guys in your order and in particular with Christian Yelich in the series?

CRAIG COUNSELL: It was a tough series for a couple of guys. We had a couple of guys that just didn't get going. It was going to be a tough series a little bit for some of our left-handed hitters with the way they lined up.

But it's 12 at-bats or 13 at-bats. It's a small sample. That's what these playoff series are about. You don't get many opportunities. And they pitched really well, too.

Gotta give -- I tip my cap to them. They pitched awesome.

Q. Those middle innings, high stress innings, margin is very thin, and Luis makes three inning-ending plays. How huge were those plays in the moment and keeping the game tight and keeping you guys swinging away?

CRAIG COUNSELL: Luis had a really nice night at third base. I thought the one that -- obviously the play that, Swanson was an incredible play. I don't know, the play that following inning, the bad hop, I don't know if you guys saw that ball take a bad hop, but definitely took a bad hop and made an incredible play.

And the play charging -- it was a number of really, really nice plays. It was a special night over there for him.

Q. What was your message to the team after the game? And if I can add, how will you reflect on this season and what it was?

CRAIG COUNSELL: I think, look, in the moment right now, we're all really disappointed. And it's hard to get past the disappointment right now sitting here right now. It just is.

But I think in the end we had big goals. We didn't quite get there. But you win 95 games. It's a special group. And they did accomplish some special things. That's what we talked about a little bit.

Q. Lorenzo told us before the game that his neck was pretty locked up and he had a stinger. Can you give us some ideas as to what the conversation was with him and was he ever close to not playing tonight?

CRAIG COUNSELL: I think he was, frankly, close to not playing. But he went in and hit. And I thought he had to make some changes frankly to how he hit. But I thought he looked pretty good. And frankly, I just relied on an incredibly competitive dude that once the game started, I thought he would use the adrenaline to be who he is.

And he did, absolutely. That's why he's special. He was not feeling good today at all. I don't know if you guys saw him before the game. It was not good. But he played a heck of a game.

Q. You talked about how in the eighth you felt like you had to go on that best-versus-best kind of situation. Specifically with the Josh-versus-Freddie matchup, was there anything that you liked, didn't like or you had any lingering concern over at all?

CRAIG COUNSELL: No. It's two great players going up against each other. That's why we're here.

Q. This group of special pitchers you have this season are all young and you'll have them for a while. What do you think the experience of this season and just the challenge of coming off a short year and what they accomplished this year bodes for the future?

CRAIG COUNSELL: Well, those guys all took big steps forward. And they want that label, I think, of what they've earned this year. And they deserve it. And I think they're not going to stop trying to go to the next place.

Some of them are -- it's kind of consistency, is doing it again, do it again.

But what they did was incredible. And I know they're not going to change one bit walking into spring training next year.