AL DIVISION SERIES: RED SOX v ANGELS

October 7, 2004

Mike Scioscia

MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, it's definitely a challenge, there is no doubt about it, but it's one that is realistic. The only way to slay this dragon now is really to go one pitch at a time, one inning at a time, and start to building positive tomorrow afternoon. It's the first time we are in a must-win situation. Our guys think they know the course of action to take. You can do that one pitch, one inning at a time and get into our game. We are going to have -- we are going to have the opportunity to bring our game to the field. We are not looking past tomorrow's game, obviously, but when you are down 0-2 and you have got to win three in a row against a club like this is a real challenge. We feel ready for it. And the only way to get there is going to be one pitch at a time, one inning at a time, starting to lay the foundation of good baseball, and start to do the things that got us here, and if we do, we can get on a roll to turn the series around.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, I think there were some positives the first couple games, not many of them, certainly not enough, but one thing we can take is the -- I think none of our guys, really, I think, were intimidated or tightened up. I think they played their game. We made some mistakes. If we get back into our game and we get a little production from some guys that struggled the first couple games, we are going to be -- we can turn the momentum of the series around very well. So the mood in the club is great. They are up for it. They are ready to go. Not too much happened our way that we can really point to the first couple games. The one lead that, obviously, we had, we couldn't hold. It appears, it's not really characteristic of us. If we get another one, these guys are going to hold it, I know them.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, our philosophy is really not looking where we are playing or who we are playing or how we are playing. That continues to be the direction we look. You have to look inside. So when we are playing our style of baseball, we can win whether it's home, road or anywhere, and when we are not, we are going to struggle. I think that was -- I think that's indicative of the whole year, how we have won, with our road record, get out there and do the things that got us into the playoffs. Like I said.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, I could sit here and tell you we are going to go with Lackey, but Lackey might have to help us win tomorrow's game, so as of right now what we are looking at, we are going to get through tomorrow. Obviously, there is no need to save anybody. We are in a situation where we know what we need to do tomorrow and we move on from there. So -- but we are going to -- we are not going to hold anything back.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: We are seeing a lot of the same things that we saw the last series in here when they just took it to us, they were hitting everything, we didn't pitch well. And they are doing some things that are aggressive. Right now they are a team firing on most of their cylinders and they are playing very well. We also know that we have the talent in our club, particularly on the pitching end of it, to do the things we need to do again against a line-up like the Red Sox. We haven't done enough of it on a consistent basis. That can change, and hopefully that can change for us. Red Sox are a tough club.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: Starting pitchers. By the same token, we (Inaudible) the way we are looking at it. We are not so caught up in what the Red Sox are doing or what their strengths are. We got to get our engine going. Right now that's been our focus.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, if they were coming back with Schilling or Pedro, that's the whole story, I guess. All their guys are tough, they all feed off each other. One thing that I think we did do against Curt and Pedro was put the ball hard in play. That's not going to differ in the way we have to approach it. It's a challenge every night you are out there, where the ball is up a little better and maybe not miss some of the pitches we are going to hit. Offensively we are going to get the runs we need.