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AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: RED SOX v YANKEES

October 16, 2004

Terry Francona

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: Game Three

Q. Just given the situation tonight, what can you tell your team, and how are you feeling and how do you just suck it up to get ready for tomorrow?

TERRY FRANCONA: Well, I think we have to try to keep it simple. We show up tomorrow and our only objective, our only goal is to win tomorrow. You start looking ahead -- and it's in anything. I felt the same way in July. It starts looking a little daunting if you start looking at too big of a picture, you show up tomorrow and do everything in our power to win tomorrow and keep it simple and then we'll go from there.

Q. Given the fact Tim Wakefield pitched tonight how does that alter your starting rotation the rest of the series?

TERRY FRANCONA: Well, Derek will pitch tomorrow and we're not quite ready to go from there. We'll obviously aim to win, but we'll have that in order. Again, tomorrow is what we're looking at, and Derek will start tomorrow.

Q. Can you talk about the decision-making process, bringing Wake in in relief tonight?

TERRY FRANCONA: Well, we got ourselves into a bind. I mean, you saw what was going on. We needed to try to -- when we were in the third inning already we're three our four pitches in, it was getting ugly. Because Wake did what he did, we were able to stay away from Timlin and Foulke. They can throw multiple innings tomorrow and give us a chance to win. We got into a position we didn't want to get in. Wake really, really picked us up. And he would have stayed out there and pitched more. He's a professional and he -- when we win tomorrow, we'll have Wake to thank for that.

Q. This has been a team where if the pitching has not done it, the bats have come in. This seems like one of the very few times where both the offense and the defense kind of collapsed or have had bad nights. Is there anything that you will specifically be looking at to spark that, or is there at this point, there's nothing really specifically to do?

TERRY FRANCONA: Well, I mean, the first couple of nights I agree, I thought we swung the bats very well tonight, very well. Just not quite like they did. You know, we had a night tonight where none of our pitchers located. I mean, none of them. We walked guys, we hit some guys, we got men on base, we gave up a lot of extra-base hits. That's a bad combination. You saw what they did to us.

Q. Given the way that the game was going, was there something that you saw with Mendoza that you thought forced your hand there, just given the fact the game was looking like it was going to turn into kind of a slugfest?

TERRY FRANCONA: I'm sorry, repeat? I didn't quite get all of that.

Q. Mendoza, after he hit the batter there.

TERRY FRANCONA: Yes.

Q. Like I said, given the fact you were going to extend it to the bullpen, what was the thinking there in terms of bringing Leskanic in right there?

TERRY FRANCONA: Winning the game. You can't let it get to a point where, you know, we're just trying to win the game. Already Lesky, he had had a lot of success against the guys he was facing, not necessarily tonight, but we were still trying to hold on tonight and win that game. Lesky was going to get us out that have inning and Wake was going to start the next inning. The way we were swinging the bats, that's what we --

Q. So you thought that inning was pivotal?

TERRY FRANCONA: Oh, every inning was. We needed to try to stuff it out somehow.

Q. Can you recall any time in your Major League career when you've been as disappointed as you are right now?

TERRY FRANCONA: You know what, it doesn't matter. Tomorrow is going to come real quick, and we've got to try to win tomorrow. I mean, I sat in that dugout for a lot of wins this year and took the smiles and the laughs and everything. You have to sit through a night like tonight, I can't wait -- I won't bail on those guys. We'll show up tomorrow and play. It was disappointing for everybody, but we're not done. I fully expect we'll come out tomorrow and play our asses off.

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