NL DIVISION SERIES: CARDINALS v DIAMONDBACKS

October 9, 2001

Curt Schilling

CURT SCHILLING: It was very satisfying the knowledge that we're going into game 2 tomorrow up 1-0 with Randy on the mound is very satisfying. Beyond that, I haven't really thought a whole lot.

CURT SCHILLING: I did, I felt we did everything we had to do tonight. I felt like early in this ballgame the tone would be set and I thought in the bottom of the first that Matt set the tone in the 9th. He had second and third in the heart of our lineup and he pitched out of it. In my mind, it was going to be a one-run game and every time they got a guy in scoring position, my thought processes was the game was on the line and that I needed to make pitches and we made plays and Damian and I were on the same page and it worked.

CURT SCHILLING: No, not really, because I think at this point in the game fatigue and adrenaline cross each other out. I felt good, felt strong. I knew I had three guys up that could tie the ball game and this year unfortunately I learned some lessons late in the ballgame, giving up home runs to tie games. My concentration was on location. And mentally, Damian and I we were together, and it was just a good flow late in the game.

CURT SCHILLING: This is the way we've won games over the last two months. Somebody figures out a way, and it's easy to do stuff as long as no one cares who gets the credit and we've been that way all year. But for the last couple of weeks, when we needed the win somebody found a win for us. We're going to have our work cut out for us, just like they have their work cut out over there. It's two very evenly matched teams. Some heroes are going to be made over the next couple of days.

CURT SCHILLING: My right hip stiffened in about the 2nd or 3rd inning. So Paul (Lessard) and I were stretching it the entire game. It was warm enough I could keep it stretched, but it's all right, though.

CURT SCHILLING: Yeah, it's happened before. It's something I'll have to work on over the next couple of days.

CURT SCHILLING: You get very caught up in it afterwards if you win. When you're in the middle of something like this, it's an intense focus and concentration as I'll ever have in any games, 1-0 game, 0-0 games, especially games like tonight. I talked to John Vuckovich last night, who is my former coach, and went over some stuff with the hitters and I did my video work last night and I felt I had a game plan prepared. I came to the park today and, you know, I just did as normal a routine as I could, and it was vastly different than the last time I came to the playoffs. Until it started flowing in the bullpen, I was pretty calm and relaxed and I think that helped.

CURT SCHILLING: Almost the same thing I was thinking when I was out there with guys in scoring position. That could be the game. I've seen games that I've won and games I've lost, where getting a guy over is the difference in a ballgame. With Matt being out there, I knew our opportunities were going to be slim. Early on, every chance we had he shut us down. You win games like this with clutch two-out hits and clutch base hits and we had to have runners in the right position and that's something I take a lot of pride in and work hard at.

CURT SCHILLING: I don't know. I just know Mac and I talked a long time ago, and he made a point, no matter how hard I was throwing on the day I was pitching against him, I was 92 and 93 to everyone else and 97 to him. He's one of those guys that brings it out in you. Every at-bat tonight he was in scoring position. And you have to minimize the amount of pitches he sees up there. And the last at bat, I felt he was sitting fast ball and we started him off with a split and he had a groundout. In a 1-0 game when you get him out of the way it's a huge sigh of relief.

CURT SCHILLING: Let's be clear. One run is not a cushion. One run is a lead, and especially against this lineup. This is a very very good lineup, as best as I've seen all year, but one run you have to work -- you pitch differently, you approach certain hitters differently, some guys you know are coming up to the plate to try to tie the game. Some guys you know that are kind of apt to bunt, will bunt leading off a one run game. I try to keep everyone aware defensively , moving my fielders in case they want to bunt, because you don't want to fluke your way into a run late in the game. That almost happened to us late in the game tonight, but we made the plays we had to make when we had to make them.

CURT SCHILLING: I just -- I only know how to do things one way when I pitch mentally and physically, and I'm a quiet guy the day I pitch. I don't socialize because there's really nothing anybody can tell me that night that's going to help, except y pitcher. When I'm in the game, as far as conversation goes, I'm usually the one who initiates conversation. Other than that I'm going over hitters, sequences. I decide how I'm going to start a guy and pitch a guy and how I've gotten him out to that point, those things, it's time consuming mental work that keeps me focused on the game and focused on situations.

CURT SCHILLING: Not really, it was so long ago, and I was so focused on pitch to pitch and out to out I didn't really have time or the inclination to think about anything else.