AL DIVISION SERIES: ANGELS v YANKEES

October 2, 2002

Mike Scioscia

MIKE SCIOSCIA: Right. Well, I think very simply, as we're looking to Percy to try to keep him as short as we can, I thought it was important for us to get -- to give Brendan a chance to get Percy into range. He did a great job, big at-bat against Vander Wal. Got some big right-handed bats in the line-up, we definitely want to keep those on the bench. We went to Donnelly to try to get that out, see how the inning progressed. Fortunately for us, he got a big out for us, gave us some matchups for Percy that were obviously important.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, Andy's tough. We haven't gotten to him as well as we did in those first couple innings very often. He's an incredible pitcher. He usually, you know, he's always stepped up in the playoffs and pitched big games. Our guys did a great job. We got some pitches to hit. They didn't miss them. Timmy hit a 3-2, I think was a little cutter or slider for a home run. Spiez got a hold of a fastball and got us on the board.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, every time you're out there it's important to post victories. I think, you know, we have enough heart, that if it didn't work our way tonight, we really feel that we're still in this series. Coming away with that win obviously will give us a little momentum going back home. Got a big challenge ahead of us, no doubt about it. You know, we have to go out there and continue to press these guys. Offensive end, I don't think we could have done much more the last couple nights. I think we played our game. Tonight, you know, Ape battled through five. They got the lead, we came back and took it right from them. So, you know, obviously a good ball game for us.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: No, at this point, every game has special meaning. There's no doubt about that. But, well, from the start of the series it does. But I think you, you know, you still have to do things, you know, along the lines of what got us into this position. Could be obviously some more matchups on the pitching side you might go to earlier, you might see a pinch-hitter appear a little earlier in the game if it's a big situation. Those things might come about. But I think as far as our style of play and what we're doing, especially how we're working our bullpen, I expect that to stay in place because it's been such a big part of our season so far.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: I think it's important for us to keep Percy in a, you know, in a very, very controlled situation. Four outs for us is the max. I think, you know, it has to be something big if we're going to bring him in before that. This is the fifth time this season we've really brought him in in the eighth inning. He got a huge out for us, obviously, to close out that eighth. But I think part of the reason is, too, our setup guys have been so proficient, they've been doing a great job, if you look at the job Donnelly, Weber, Schoeneweis have done, you know, they've really kept Percy in his little bubble. And as deep as our starters have pitched into a ball game, we've been able to get those three or four, five important outs to get to Percy with a group of guys that have been doing a great job. I think that's why Percy was so successful. I think it's why our staff is, you know -- it's an important bridge, those three or four outs. We have a group of guys that have been doing a great job of getting them. Tonight, the way the matchups were flowing, especially Web was out of the game when he got injured, there was no doubt in our mind the matchup we were trying to get in this game was going to be Percy in the eighth inning.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: I think it was 28, I think it was under 30. It was in that ballpark. I'll have to check with Buddy.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: Yeah, I should have done that. Who thought I should have brought Percival in tonight? Anybody (smiling). That was, you know -- this is baseball. The opinions are great. I certainly appreciate opinions, and I take it the room full of guys we had here before the game, I'm sure it's some of the same guys here, had a feeling Percy should have been in the game last night. That's fine.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: It's sore. Any time a pitcher injures his hand, or his fingers especially, it's disturbing. It doesn't look like there's anything that's fractured, although I'm sure they're going to take X-rays when we go back. It's very sore, and that leads me to believe it's guarded right now on what he can get back out there. With a day off tomorrow, we'll be able to get a little better read on it obviously, and we'll see how it is when we get back home.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: Absolutely. Garrett is right at the leader of the pack as far as what we try to do on the bases offensively. If you look at the way that Eck, Garrett, Timmy when gets a chance, Brad Fullmer, I can go all the way down our line-up and see how aggressive they run the bases. Today Shawn Wooten gave us a huge first to third early, Garrett gave us a huge first to third, tagged on that ball that Glaus hit down the line, the one you're talking about, which ended up getting a run. Spiezio got the base hit. It was a fly ball to leftfield. Glaus just missed it. And Rivera caught it near the track in leftfield. Yeah, that's -- that's the package these guys bring to the game as far as running the bases aggressively. Sometimes we're going to run into outs. For the most part, I think we've manufactured more runs. Tonight, I think our base running was a huge influence on our offense, and that has to keep coming because we're facing terrific pitchers and it's not going to be commonplace we bang out -- what is it, 17 hits, I think? It's not going to be commonplace. But when you do, and you combine that with aggressive running, you come up with eight runs and that was important.