AL DIVISION SERIES: RED SOX v ANGELS

October 4, 2004

Jarrod Washburn

JARROD WASHBURN: I don't know. Oakland is always a tough team. We had battled them right down to the wire, and they got a great team. Maybe it's because we had to play them so many times that I think they are the toughest, but Yankees and Boston are both great teams. The Twins are great, but Oakland sticks out in my mind.

JARROD WASHBURN: I was hoping we would win that game Saturday so I would start the first game and not have to start Sunday, but no different thought process. You know, it's just another game. I started the first game in '02, so hopefully me starting the first game is a good sign for us.

JARROD WASHBURN: They are pretty good. No, they are very patient hitters, they know the strike zone very well and they got those two big guys in the middle of the lineup that can hurt you if you make a mistakes, so I think the key is to make good pitches, go ahead in the count and try to limit mistakes against them and try to make sure to keep guys off base and in front of Ortiz and Ramirez.

JARROD WASHBURN: None. It doesn't make any difference at all. People talk about having experience and that being valuable and stuff, but in '02 we didn't have any experience at all and we won, so I guess that's not real important to us. I think -- I think everybody is happy that we won in '02 and we can take -- learn from some of the experience we had in that season, but '02 right now doesn't mean anything. This is 2004 and nothing we did then is going to give any points towards winning. We have to play good ball, and maybe we will have the same outcome as '02.

JARROD WASHBURN: A little bit. You know, the fact that there is some big offensive weapons in the middle of both of the lineups. You know, we got Boston, Anderson and Vladdy that can hurt you. You make mistakes, they are going to make you pay, and they got some huge offense in the middle of their lineup. I think they are quite a bit more patient than we are, and, you know, offensively I think we run a lot more than they do. So there are some similarities, but there is also quite a few differences, so it's going to be fun.

JARROD WASHBURN: Yeah, it did. You know, every game was huge, and it came right down to the wire, especially those last three games in Oakland. It definitely felt like the playoffs. It, basically, was, an extra round of the playoffs for us. Yeah, it had a great feeling, and I think it got everybody ready for what we need to do starting tomorrow.

JARROD WASHBURN: No, my job doesn't change. You know, I go into every game trying to throw a shutout. I have achieved my goal once, but it's something that, you know, going in against Curt, you know you are going to have a very small margin for error there, but, you know, like you said, I am not the one bat, so I don't concern myself with that. My job is to go out and limit their lineup to a few runs and, hopefully, zero runs and give us a chance to win. And, you know, it doesn't matter who I am pitching against, my job is the same.