THE MODERATOR: First question for Darin Erstad.
Q. A lot of your teammates came out for BP with parkas and ski hats on. As a guy from North Dakota, what did you think of that? Did you feel more comfortable in these conditions?
DARIN ERSTAD: Well, I had long sleeves on, too. I mean, I'm not that stupid. But it was chilly. It does help that you grew up in that type of environment, to deal with these things. But on the other hand, when we play in Texas in the middle of the summer and it's 100, I'm out there and I need IVs after the game. It's a give-and-take thing.
Q. The DH wasn't really a factor tonight in this National League ballpark. Does a team feel confident you can win without the DH?
DARIN ERSTAD: Yeah, we're confident. We've played pretty well in interleague play. It definitely changes the game, there's no question about that. You just try and go out there and do what you can. Ramon, he's up there and you feel for him because the guy doesn't swing the bat very often. So it's definitely a lot of strategy involved. It's fortunate that Scioscia has played in the National League, he played in it for a long time. He has an understanding of that part of the game, so that really helps.
Q. You've hit in every game this postseason. Is this as locked in as you've felt all season?
DARIN ERSTAD: I mean, to be honest with you, I don't feel like I'm locked in. Every day I have to try and find my swing. I'm a perfectionist, so I'm never going to say I'm totally "locked in." Yeah, but I've been pretty inconsistent this year. I've had some good times but then I've had some really bad times. Fortunately, I'm getting a few hits to fall now. As far as "locked in," I wouldn't say that.
Q. In Game 2, you batted around once in your line-up, tonight was twice. Is there a killer instinct on this club that gets that going?
DARIN ERSTAD: Well, I think as a group, we've been through a lot of up-and-down games where we might have a big lead and teams have come back and we just know that no lead is ever safe. The idea is to keep pressing, to keep pouring it on as much as you can, regardless of what the score, you can't lay back and just -- it's like playing prevent-defense in football. It's not a good thing to do. So, if anything, we probably up our intensity a little bit, "killer instinct," I guess you can call it that. That's not something we say to each other. But we understand that it's very important to put runs on the board.
Q. The way these postseason games have progressed for you guys, the games have become less close as you go deeper. Do you have any explanation for that, is it not letting up?
DARIN ERSTAD: I have no explanation. We go out and we play hard. We leave it on the field. Nobody wants to let each other down. We're so close as a group, everybody pulls for everybody. Someone doesn't get the job done, the next guy wants to do it for him. It's a situation where a bunch of guys have been through a lot of tough times together, and you develop real close relationships and you just want to do anything for your teammates. At the professional level, I don't think you're going to find too many times where you have a full group of guys that are all on the same page and all behind each other. We have that here, and that's very special.
Q. You grabbed at the home field advantage. Tomorrow you have another finesse pitcher in Rueter. What do you think the team approach will be to him?
DARIN ERSTAD: We're going to be aggressive. Yeah, Rueter has great control. We really haven't done much against him. We've only faced him a few times. But as far as a team approach, we're just aggressive. We really don't talk about it too much. Each guy knows what they have to do. If you're going to lock in your zone, if you get a pitch to hit, hit. If it's the first pitch or fifth pitch, whatever pitch it is, you have to take advantage of that pitch. I highly doubt we're going to see many pitches over the plate that are good to hit because he's so good at hitting the corners. So you're going to have to really be disciplined. When you get your pitch, you just can't miss it.
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