NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: ASTROS v CARDINALS

October 12, 2005

Phil Garner

PHIL GARNER: Perhaps it turned the game around. We had him on the ropes, I think it was the third inning and Berkman hits the ball about as good as you could hit and Mark makes a nice play, a nice double play and got out of a jam. We had them on the ropes in the fourth inning and didn't get anything out of it. That was the ballgame and we didn't get anything after that.

PHIL GARNER: He's hot. He's a good hitter and he's got hot. You make a mistake and he's hitting it. We made a mistake, and he hit it.

PHIL GARNER: It was a pitch that just took off across the plate. He's a dead fastball hitter, we all know that, but if we locate it where we want to, we'll be all right. We just didn't get it where we wanted to.

PHIL GARNER: No, I'm glad Morgan ran. Typically when the ground ball is hit we want to stay out of a double play, so you have a decision to make there. I thought Núñez made a nice play on the ball. Give him credit for reading the play well and going to the plate with it. I don't have a problem with Morgan's play. I would expect him to take off on that ball.

PHIL GARNER: Well, he's having a very good year, there's no question. But he's got a good, live fastball. He locates well. He uses both sides of the plate. He pitches ahead in the count. You do that, you're going to be pretty tough.

PHIL GARNER: Going to probably lose it all. (Laughter.) Why play on? (Laughter.) No, it's a ballgame. It's one ballgame. This is a best-out-of-seven. Last year, we took it to the limit. I don't remember who won the first game last year -- well, they did, because we played here. But clearly, we'll have our work cut out for us. We knew that. But stranger things have happened. This club bounces back. And we'll bounce back.

PHIL GARNER: Well, he wasn't quite as sharp as we've seen him, and I think probably the reason he took a line drive from off the bat during batting practice on his right knee and I think it's all swollen up and puffed up. I think it had a little effect on him. I applaud him for getting through it, but I think it probably had a little effect on him during the game and that's one reason he didn't locate as well as he has been here recently. I think you've got to give them a little bit of credit. They have been playing very well and if you make a mistake on Sanders, he hits it out of the ballpark. We had a couple of chances, made the turn and came back around and have a different ballgame, we didn't do that, but Andy kept us right there for a couple of innings.

PHIL GARNER: He got hit on the inside of the right knee with a line drive during batting practice.

PHIL GARNER: He was running the bases, which is what we do a lot of times, you know, he was just loosening up running around the bases and Roy Oswalt hit him with a line drive.

PHIL GARNER: No. I thought he was going to be able to pitch but it clearly swelled up on him. You know, I think it was probably a little factor in the game in the way he was trying to work with it. But he was trying to pitch through it and I thought he did a good job pitching through it.