AL DIVISION SERIES: YANKEES v ATHLETICS

October 7, 2000

Art Howe

ART HOWE: That's about the way he is almost every time out, to be honest with you. He's just pitched great baseball for us. I think he's only had about two outings where he hasn't been real sharp. Thank goodness he was sharp tonight. We were able to get him some runs early so he could maybe relax a little bit more out there.

ART HOWE: It was huge. It gave us a big lift, a three-run spot in the beginning. At the same time, our young pitcher had something to work with. So we're just thankful he put a charge in one and got us going, a couple walks and then the home run. We had some opportunities the next couple innings maybe to break it wide open but we couldn't cash in. We hung in there until the sixth and got it done.

ART HOWE: Not necessarily. Roger Clemens is just a great pitcher. He's going to go in the Hall of Fame, he battles every second he's on the hill. Like I said, he wasn't settled in just yet. His command was a little bit off in the first inning and we took advantage of it. Then in the sixth, we were able to get to him.

ART HOWE: Bruised. No, Saenz is bruised. Mecir kind of hyperextended his knee a little bit when he hit the ground, and he thinks he's going to be fine for tomorrow.

ART HOWE: Well, I don't know. I mean maybe -- well, if he goes eight or nine, I guess he could be better. But five and two-thirds against that line-up, he only gave up one run, he did a heck of a job. In a pressure-filled situation, that's what's really exciting about it. Our two young pitchers in the last two nights have gone out there and competed with the ex-champs - hopefully - and held their own. They did a good job. Tonight we got some runs to work with; last night we didn't. That was the difference.

ART HOWE: Those guys in that room who were there, I haven't pointed anything out to them, I haven't made a big thing out of any single game all year long. But they know what's at stake and they know what they have to do to get it done. They deserve all the credit. They came out tonight and played a great game. My hat's off to them. I hope we can put another one together tomorrow, we'll be ready to move on. Otherwise, we'll be ready to move on and go home. Hopefully we can have another good game.

ART HOWE: I hope so. (Laughing.) But I don't know. It comes down to one game, it's just the same thing - whoever can go out and build some momentum early will probably have the upper hand. We're hoping to get them out in the first and come into the dugout with some momentum and try to get on the board first. But only the game will tell how it goes tomorrow.

ART HOWE: It's very satisfying. It was, like I said, it gave us a spark, it gave us a three-run spot in the first inning. We knew, or we felt we were going to be able to add on somewhere along the line. The key was for Zito, he went out and kept putting zeros up.

ART HOWE: No. We're playing the New York Yankees. There's no way you're overconfident playing them. Hopefully we have confidence, though, we have confidence about our own ability. But we have to go out and play a solid game to have a chance to beat them. It starts with pitching. We have to put some zeros up tomorrow.

ART HOWE: We're probably going to get in somewhere around three in the morning or something out there. Try to get some sleep on the flight, as much as possible, get to the park whenever tomorrow and get ready to go after it.