NL DIVISION SERIES: CARDINALS v DIAMONDBACKS

October 13, 2001

Bob Brenly

BOB BRENLY: Albie has had a preexisting condition, he has very loose ankles. It has happened a couple of times throughout the course of the regular season. He just turned his ankle a little bit. But much like during the regular season, he was able to recover from it. I don't think it affected his performance in any way.

BOB BRENLY: It was real big. It was a heads-up play on their part. We know both Renteria and Vina were active with runners at 2nd base. But Smith is a tremendous athlete. It was something we were aware of. They like to use that play, but it happened so quickly and Vina I believe stepped on Tony's hand to keep him from getting to the base, but that was a big play.

BOB BRENLY: Yes. We felt that way even before he threw 35 pitches in the first inning. But to his credit he settled in. We hit some balls hard today, not only Bud Smith, but Hermanson. They put the pitches in the right location whgere we hit it at their defenders, Polanco at 3rd base, Vina at 2nd, a couple of line drives to centerfield, their pitchers executed the pitches they wanted to make, and that forced us to hit the ball right into the T for the defense.

BOB BRENLY: Our lineup all year has been a day-to-day thing. We really don't have a set A-team we run out there. Depending on match ups and who is swinging the bat particularly well at that time, we'll take a look and see.

BOB BRENLY: I thought he pitched a tremendous ball game. Especially after that first inning he was out there struggling a little bit. After that first inning, like I said before, he executed his pitches. He put balls on the corners of the plate, he kept down below the knees and forced us to put the ball in play without much authority. And you know, I don't care if you're a rookie pitcher or a 15-year veteran, if you're smart enough to let your defense work behind you you're going to have a pretty good career.

BOB BRENLY: None.