NL DIVISION SERIES: CARDINALS v DIAMONDBACKS

October 13, 2001

Bob Brenly

BOB BRENLY: It could. We haven't really made any kind of a decision on that yet. I have ultimate confidence that Albie Lopez can go out there and do what we expect him to do. And obviously that would mean Curt would be available for any potential Game 5. But we haven't really come to a decision on what we are going to do in the event of a rain out.

BOB BRENLY: Womack playing shortstop; Reggie Sanders batting 2nd, playing right field; Luis Gonzalez in left; Greg Colbrunn playing first base, batting fourth; Steve Finley in centerfield, batting 5th; Matt Williams at third base, batting sixth; Craig Counsell at 2nd in the seven hole, and Damian Miller catching Albie Lopez.

BOB BRENLY: Well, like I said, it's all under advisement at this point. I would like to keep Curt and Randy either on their regular rest, or if anything, an extra day, if we could. But we'll wait and see what happens.

BOB BRENLY: Not really that much of a difference. One obvious difference is the amount of people who are willing to second-guess every decision you make. But that goes with the territory, and I knew that going in. As far as game decisions, probably the only thing where I think I would stray a little bit from what we did during the regular season would be the handling of the starting pitchers. You don't have the luxury of allowing a guy to get back into a rhythm. If he's struggling early and giving up runs early, you really can't afford to let him go out there and continue to struggle. You have to make changes a lot quicker than you do during the regular season.

BOB BRENLY: With the other personnel that we have in the lineup today, it just seemed like the two hole was the best fit for Reggie, batting ahead of Gonzalez. Hopefully, that will give him good pitches to hit. We feel the style of pitcher Bud Smith is a good match for Reggie. And also with his speed at the top of the order, it gives us a chance to set the table for the guys in the middle.

BOB BRENLY: He's a real competitor, he's basically a fastball/change-up pitcher to right-handers, and fastball/ curveball pitcher to left handers. The guy threw a no-hitter, so he must do something right. He has great command of his pitches and tries to stay out of the middle of the zone. And much like all season long, we're going to have patience and try to make him throw pitches that we can handle rather than chase pitches early in the count.

BOB BRENLY: Well, we're very fortunate in the fact we've got, first of all, Brian Anderson available out of the bullpen, who has been a starter most of the season. And he's a guy that, should we have a lengthy delay and Albie not be able to go back to the mound, Brian, I'm confident, is a guy who can give us three or four or five innings, whatever we need, to get the bullpen set up the way we like. Mike Morgan has been stretched out this year, and he's capable of throwing multiple innings if necessary. So we'll just play it by ear. Brian Anderson this year, in a start in Cincinnati, sat through a two-and-a-half-hour rain delay and came back and pitched. As far as Albie goes, we'll just have to take his temperature and see where he's at, should we go through a delay like that. If he feels he can go back out and continue, we'll go in that direction probably. But we'll just have to wait and see where we're at.

BOB BRENLY: I prefer to give the overwhelming credit to the pitching. Like I said the other day, there is a reason the eight teams that are in the postseason are in the postseason. It's because of good pitching. When you take the emphasis off of the four and five starters and seeing one, two, and three and the bullpen, it's going to make it tough to score runs. Those guys are good pitchers for a reason. They've made their pitches, especially Matt Morris and Woody Williams, in games against us -- they seem to turn it up a notch, and I feel our guys are capable of doing that as well.

BOB BRENLY: Well, given the competitive nature of both of those guys and the incredible stuff they both have, I mean, if they hooked up in spring training, you would get a feeling it's an outstanding pitching performance from both guys. The interesting thing to see is what adjustments, if any adjustment, the hitters will make against those two pitchers. They both have such great stuff. I guess the only saying is, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." And I have to believe they'll pitch the same way they did in Game 1. It will be interesting to see if the hitters are going to make any adjustments.

BOB BRENLY: What I've learned as a player, don't ever anticipate that a game is going to be rained out, don't hope that it's going to be rained out, and don't assume it's going to be played. I know that's a vague answer, but as tough as it is to sit around and wait, that's what we have to do. We just roll with the punches. We've been a very adaptable club this year. We've been able to deal with a lot of different circumstances, and this is just going to be another one. I really don't have a preference one way or the other, because whatever I hope for the opposite is going to happen.