THE MODERATOR: First question for Mike.
Q. John Lackey come through? He's still going to make his scheduled start on Game 4?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: Yeah, John felt great today, so he'll be ready to go Game 4.
Q. Can you extract any knowledge from the three-game series you played here last year? Can you apply anything you learned from that series?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, it will be a little familiarity with the ballpark maybe you wouldn't have if you were going to a place cold turkey. But they played us tough up here last year. In fact, they swept us. It will be a battle. We're going to have to really concentrate on playing our game. There's some elements to deal with in this ballpark that maybe we haven't experienced in some places, but I think these guys, our club, has been very, very good at filtering out distractions and playing our game. That's what we're going to have to do up here.
Q. Being an old National Leaguer, the double switch should come easy to you. You never had to use it much, on the same end, except for interleague play. What are your thoughts on that and how will that affect your bullpen use?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: It will definitely have -- you're going to have to work harder to get some matchups because in American League, you can put a pitcher in, not have to give much thought after that, as on the defensive side. Obviously, there's always an offensive side of the line-up you're dealing with in the National League, so you're going to just have to balance -- or just really factor in some offensive side of some moves you're going to make. That won't affect matchups. You're going to still obviously try to get the matchups on the defensive side to be a priority. I don't think there's anything mystical about double switches. I think it's just common sense. We've done them obviously when we played National League games, we do them in spring training when we play against National League clubs. It will affect bullpen use to a certain extent of, as we talked about it if you're really trying to maybe get a guy to come and finish out an inning, if the double switch isn't available to you, you might have to bring a guy in to finish an inning as opposed to bringing in a guy that you think is maybe just as good of a match or better match for that situation in the game. There are some things, sure, that you're going to have to balance when you're trying to match up a pitcher out there.
Q. Have you found yourself managing your bullpen any differently this season, in terms of hunches or anything like that?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: I don't think it's hunches. I think in the playoffs, you do do some things differently, particularly on the pitching end. You're not going to just live or die with your starter out there like you might have to in May, which if you are going to go to your bullpen earlier, obviously, you're going to have to expand some roles or make sure you have the roles that you're looking for. But I think we're trying to get matchups that make sense. I don't think that's really hunches, I think if you know your team and you know what your guys can handle, then you really know the parameters you're working for, where you can bring them into the game and in what situation. I think it's just a matter of not only any manager but a pitching coach, which we're very fortunate to have an outstanding pitching coach in Bud Black, to sit down and as we establish roles with our guys, maybe you adjust them to play-off situations, which we've done. You will do some things differently, sure.
Q. Barry Bonds is kind of like in that zone he was in last year it seems. From where you're sitting and watching, can you help explain why a guy who seems to get maybe two or three pitches to hit a game can knock one out?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, he's swinging the bat as well as I've ever seen, not only Barry swinging the bat, but anyone swinging the bat. He's incredible. I think all the things you're talking about as far as him being able to maybe get one or two pitches to hit a game and not miss them is -- speaks volumes to the talent that Barry has. I don't really need to sit down and try to explain it. The fact of the matter is it's there; it's real. This guy has had the last two seasons, he's had the best seasons of anyone that's ever played this game on the offensive side of it. I'm just -- I just can't see anybody having done more that's ever played this game. So, putting it in that light and seeing where his bat speed is, it's the first time we've seen him since spring training, he's incredible; we realize that. There are going to be times when obviously you're going to go after Barry and there will be times when you have to get around him and try to get the guys behind him out. But the talent's real, what he's doing is real. Like I said, I don't think I have to sit down and try to analyze it or explain it. The bottom line is it's real and he's had an incredible run.
Q. I've got two questions. Have you seen anything in the first two games that makes you think you can change any of your approach to how you're pitching to him in this series?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: I think there's some things you can try to do with Barry. Your margin of error is not very comfortable, because he's -- he can take you out, any part of the ballpark, and on any pitch. I don't think, as far as when we are challenging Barry, every pitch is going to be a little different. It's not like there's a book on, "Okay, if you're going to challenge Barry, here's what you have the best chance of doing to contain him." Every pitch is going to be different, you can't really compare what maybe Schoeneweis is going to do compared to Donnelly. Every pitch is going to be different. Every pitcher has to have not only a game plan or idea of what they're trying to do, look at the situation, and if you are going after him, maybe understand the importance of executing your pitches and it's a challenge. We've talked about it a long time - it's a challenge.
Q. Also, Frankie Rodriguez said that he was able to pitch even deeper, four or five innings. Have you given any thought to pitching him longer? I know three innings was as long as you've used him.
MIKE SCIOSCIA: I think with Frankie, the thing you're going to balance maybe more than the innings, you're going to look at how hard he has to work out there, what his pitch count is, how fresh he is, what his mechanics are like. We have extended him a little bit. We extended him a little bit in the Minnesota series as far as the games that we used him, and he came out of it fine. So, it looks like he maintains his stuff. As far as either starting him or bringing him in the third inning and let him go through the eighth, that would have to be some extreme circumstances. In fairness to not only Frankie, but our confidence with our whole pen, we feel good with what our roles are. I don't see the need to consider pitching Frankie something outrageous like five or six innings because it's something he hasn't done all year. Yesterday's ball game, he threw under 30 pitches to get through three innings, which is incredibly efficient. You can't always -- you're not always going to have that efficiency. I think Frankie has a definite role that we have expanded from what we -- we did get three innings out of him . To go longer than that with Frankie, I think is not only counterproductive, but we have guys in our bullpen we have confidence in. They've been throwing the ball well all year for us, maintained their stuff late in the season and have done a heck of a job in the playoffs for us; that will bridge any gap we need to keep Frankie in his limited role that will also keep Percy where he should be.
Q. On the same subject, do you anticipate he'll be able to bounce back and be available tomorrow? Have you had to fight the urge or temptation not to push him too far, to not abuse him at this stage of his career?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: No, we haven't had to fight any temptation. We've challenged Frankie in a lot of ways. We challenged him during the season in multi-innings, challenged him when he came with one on third to get a strikeout, challenged him in back-to-back games early, to see how he would respond. As we talked about three innings, I think that shows the confidence we have to put him out there and see how his pitch count is, game situation is, just everything fell into place last night. When you go through a line-up like that with around 30 pitches for three innings, that's impressive. I think that as we reflect on it when the series is over, that was an incredible accomplishment. I don't think we're fighting any urge. If Francisco's role is there and he's going to help us win a game, he'll be in there. We also know it's unrealistic to think about him coming in in the third or fourth inning and carrying us to the eighth. That's something that I don't think is anything that we would consider. I don't think that's fighting temptation. I think it's common sense that we really feel our bullpen roles are solid. He's a big part of it. If we're going to try to expand, we're not as a one-man bullpen as we talk with Percy, or a two-man bullpen with Percy and Francisco. We have a lot of confidence in our guys down there to keep roles where they should be.
Q. Based on using Lackey out of the bullpen the other night and him starting, that specifically, but also more generally, how do you balance in the postseason the win for tonight need versus planning ahead for the next game?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, every night you go out there, you're out there to win. But you also have to be realistic about the ability to win four games to win this series. If we didn't have confidence in anyone in our bullpen except John Lackey and Francisco and Percy, it's going to be tough for us to win this series. John Lackey, we knew we had him in a limited role yesterday. I thought he did a heck of a job. We need John Lackey to do more than just pitch one game out of the pen for us. As I said, we have some great roles in our bullpen, some guys that we have a lot of confidence that can do the job. Although last night didn't work out maybe according to what we had hoped, we have a lot of confidence in what Web can do and what Donnelly can do and what Schoeneweis can do, Scot Shields. You put them with the way Lackey's been pitching, we used him out of the pen, Francisco and Percy, this is what a championship bullpen is all about. I don't think there's any need to stretch one guy out of his -- what we feel his role is when you have other guys that we have a lot of confidence in that are throwing the ball well also.
Q. Forgive me if you answered this already, just wondered, some players last night expressed some concern about the baseballs, maybe being harder or smaller. Have you had a chance to take a look? Have you had any feelings one way or the other?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: I haven't had any chance. I talked with some guys, they thought the balls -- maybe they were rubbed differently, I don't know. I really haven't had a chance to look at it and see what the situation is with the baseballs. I mean, some of those balls that we hit in our series in Anaheim, I think you could have been hitting 16-inch mush softballs and they would have been going. They put some pretty good swings on balls.
Q. What's the key for Ramon to be successful?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: I think Ramon really needs to channel his energy into something positive that will keep him focused. He's had a terrific season for us. He's really kept us -- he's pitched deep in the ball game, been very effective for the vast majority of his starts. Against the Yankees, in his first playoff start, he was absolutely too amped up and was trying to throw the ball 97 miles an hour instead of 94, got taken out of his game and paid a price. Came back against the Twins and really was able to channel everything he needed to do to keeping it positive about making pitches, pitched a terrific game under tough circumstances in the Metrodome. If he can channel it and keep focused on executing pitches, he's going to give us a great start.
Q. Are you surprised at how unpredictable these two games have been?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: I think Game 1 was probably more along the lines of what we would expect the series was going to be about. I think you have two terrific pitching staffs, two terrific bullpens. You've got some incredibly talented offensive players, I think, that can not only drive the ball, but manufacture stuff when they have to. I felt home runs really decided Game 1, and they were a huge part of last night, too. I wouldn't have expected 11-10 game, but as you said about the playoffs, you kind of take on what's in front of you. We battled hard and it was a good win for us last night. Just happened to be 11-10, I wouldn't have expected that, but I also wouldn't have expected an 8- and 10-run inning that we had against two good pitching staffs in the playoffs. So, I've been involved in a lot of playoff games and it's really the exception you're going to see an 11-10 game in my mind and the 8- and 10-run innings were something I wouldn't have expected. But it worked out in our favor, so it was great.
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