NL DIVISION SERIES: GIANTS VS DODGERS

October 12, 2021

Gavin Lux

Will Smith

Dodger Stadium

Los Angeles Dodgers

Postgame 4 Press Conference

Los Angeles Dodgers - 7, San Francisco Giants - 2

Q. Gavin, tonight just you made it on base with every time you made it you were up at the plate. What was working so well for you offensively and how have you remained so locked in since become recalled?

GAVIN LUX: Just basically trying to get on base. That's the whole key for me at the bottom is get on base for guys and just try to be a pest and work counts and take your hits when you get them and that's really been the whole game plan for me.

Q. Will, just with Walker Buehler pitching on short rest, what stood out to you about his performance today?

WILL SMITH: He was throwing really hard. The velo was up, coming off short rest. He was making pitches. He had his off-speed working. He was locating his fastball and it was just kind of overpowering them.

Q. Gavin, last year it was obviously a difficult year and you were left off the postseason roster for most of the series. To be back starting now, reaching base all four times up, just, I don't know, what's it like for you looking back on where you were last year to where things stand today?

GAVIN LUX: Yeah, last year was definitely a grind, mentally, physically. It sucked, to be honest. So after I got optioned, my whole mindset was just try to get back here and help the team win and try to make the postseason roster and that's really been the whole mindset.

As soon as I got optioned to get back here, just be on base and take good at-bats and just try to make the roster, honestly. So that was the whole mindset.

Q. You you've been playing the outfield a lot recently. Center field tonight. How has that transition been and how quickly have you grown comfortable there?

GAVIN LUX: Center field is, definitely a little more comfortable being middle of the field. Playing second and short, center, I feel like reads off the bat are a little bit better compared to the corners.

But it's been a pretty big adjustment. I've never really played out there before, so a lot of early work and I got a lot of early work in OKC too. So it's been a little bit of a grind but it's been fun. Kind of look at it as like a process almost, so it's been a lot of fun.

Q. Will, with Walker, is his feel for his changeup just so consistent that you can plan in advance that he's going to use that pitch like he did tonight as often as he did or did you kind of ad-lib that based on his feel for the pitch going into this game?

WILL SMITH: Yeah, over the whole course of the year it's just developed and gotten better and better. He can throw it for a strike when he needs to. He can keep it below, get some chase on it. And, yeah, he had a good feel for it tonight so we leaned on it a little more and he was executing with it.

Q. Gavin, you're trying to establish a career here, but do you try to set that aside in the playoffs? I mean, it is about the team, it is about advancing. How do you balance those things, because obviously you want to establish yourself too.

GAVIN LUX: Yeah, in my mind, if you do what's best for the team and that comes first, the other individual statistics or any of that will take care of itself. So it's team first and everything else will kind of fall into place and take care of itself, but it's all team first right now. There's no individual thoughts at all.

Q. A follow-up. Dave was in here earlier and he talked about the at-bats you're giving. Can you look ahead and say, man, I hope I get that start on Thursday night?

GAVIN LUX: Yeah, I mean, whatever the role is I'll be ready for it and help the team win in any way.

Q. Will, how can you, how would you explain the offense in this series? Shutout twice and then 16 runs in the other two games.

WILL SMITH: Yeah, I mean, two shutouts happened. We moved on from them. I feel like overall we're taking really good at-bats. We're moving the ball. We're not striking out a ton, a lot of hard contact, not all of them are falling, but overall I feel like we've taken really good at-bats.

Q. Thursday's going to be the 24th game between you and the Giants. Both teams have won 110 games this year now. What's it going to take to separate the two?

WILL SMITH: For us, it's just going to be going out and playing our game. I think whoever's starting, I think it's Julio or whatever, but he's going to come out and go right at them. As an offense, we got to come ready to go and just put together good at-bats, score some runs, and jump on him early.

They know us. We know them really well. And it's just going to come down to who wants it a little more and who is ready to go that day.

Q. Guys, to both of you, congratulations on the win. Gabe Kapler announced that it will be Logan Webb again in Game 5. So I think just missed him, Gavin, in that pinch hit at-bat in Game 1. So if you both do face him again, he kept you off balance that with slider and changeup, how do you guys get him this time in order to win that game?

WILL SMITH: Yeah, I think we're going to go back, talk as a group, come up with a better game plan than we had last time, make some adjustments, and go from there.

GAVIN LUX: Yeah, same thing. I mean, they're good at making adjustments too, so go back to the drawing board and see what we got, like Will said, as a collective unit, and see how we can come up for a game plan to beat him.

He's good so, but we like Julio as well. Julio's a big-game pitcher so we like that guy too.

Q. Will, you know Julio very well. How is Julio's preparation like under this type of games under pressure?

WILL SMITH: Yeah. No, he stays calm. He knows what he needs to do. He attacks the zone. He knows how to get guys out, and he's going to go right at them and, but, yeah, that's what he's done all year, so there's no reason to change that now.

Q. Gavin, a lot of the guys who have been here for a couple of seasons have talked about the composure they have learned in elimination situations. This is now your second game from Wild Card, and then you're going to have another one in Game 5. What have you seen in terms of the way the team prepares and maybe shifts its composure in do or die?

GAVIN LUX: Yeah, honestly, just being around, it's similar preparation. No one takes a different approach to the day. It's just another day. And everyone knows obviously the stakes are a little higher being on an elimination, but everyone still goes through their same routine, same process, and you don't really see guys change from that, and that works over the course of 162 games, plus the postseason. You know, that works.