NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: ASTROS v CARDINALS

October 16, 2004

Jason Marquis

JASON MARQUIS: I was definitely excited. Definitely exciting time to get my first start in the postseason. You're always going to be nervous and excited going into a start like that. But you try to just treat it like any other game, you know, really when you're warming up before the game and warming up in the bullpen before you get into the game, that's when you really have to slow things down and really concentrate on the task at hand, and that's throwing strikes with good quality pitches down in the zone.

JASON MARQUIS: You know, obviously, your initial reaction, any time it's considered somewhat of a demotion, you're going to be disappointed because your competitive nature wants you to go out there as much as possible to help the team win. They make the decisions. Anything to help this ballclub win, I'm all for. No, it was just an initial reaction, nothing more than that. I'm very excited to get the ball in Game 4 and hopefully Sup (Jeff Suppan) can go out there today, pitch a great game and give me a chance to close it out. My main goal is to get to the World Series any which way, if that's getting the ball two times, three times, five times, I'm willing to do it.

JASON MARQUIS: No, not at all. I was actually in the bullpen for Game 5 in LA. I was up and ready to go. As long as physically I'm able to do it, I'm definitely willing to do it. There's no reason why my body has shown it can't. If we're not able to close it out in four or five games, it's needed to be me in the bullpen for Game 6 or Game 7, I'm willing to do it.

JASON MARQUIS: I don't think getting bumped means I have anything to prove. Obviously, I want to build on what went wrong in my last outing. I wasn't too pleased with only going three and a third innings. You want to go out there and give the best chance to win. By doing that, you got to go deep into games, give your bullpen a rest. I went back to the drawing board, the bullpen, worked on a few mechanics, keeping the ball down. I'm just excited to get out there tomorrow and just obviously show that I'm able to perform at this level.

JASON MARQUIS: Not in the matter that they would with the Braves. Obviously, everybody knows that we have a great team. We, you know, are at a point where we could possibly get to the World Series and possibly play the Yankees. It's been a long-time dream. As a kid growing up in New York, you always want to play with them. To get a chance to play against them in their city, home fans, it's going to be great. Hopefully we can get there. People at home are very excited. Tickets are hard to come by. People are asking. You never know. Obviously, we've still got two more games to win in this series and we can't look past that right now.

JASON MARQUIS: I don't think the time really plays a factor. Last game I think it was more pitch selection why I got hurt. Obviously, my cutter, which is probably not my second or third best pitch, I got into trouble falling behind in counts that I shouldn't have been in. I worked on a few things in the bullpen. I feel comfortable. My arm feels great. My body feels great. I'm going to try to go out in the bullpen, slow things down and make sure I do what I'm supposed to do, and that's pound the strike zone and throw good quality pitches down in the strike zone.

JASON MARQUIS: It's like pitching in any other ballpark. You really can't let the, I guess, the atmosphere of the place where you're going change your game plan. You're the pitcher you are. I don't think any pitcher dictates his game plan according to the ballpark. More so you dictate it more to the hitters. I think if you execute your pitches, stick to your game plan, you're going to have success in any ballpark. That's what we preach over here. I think that's why we've had so much success this year.