AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: RED SOX v YANKEES

ORLANDO HERNANDEZ: Thank you.

ORLANDO HERNANDEZ: It was very important because it helped the team to win the American League Championship.

ORLANDO HERNANDEZ: He said he try to, you know, when he came out here, everything was up in the zone. He made a little bit of an adjustment, it was falling to the first-base side. He said, you know, that was a very important inning for him, coming out of that inning with, you know, coming out with no runs. It was very important and helped the team win, he thought.

JORGE POSADA: I hit a fast ball inside. It felt good. I can't tell you a lot about it.

RAMIRO MENDOZA: He said he feel good in the bullpen. He was throwing real low. His sinker was real low in the zone. He wanted to pitch, went out, wanted to help out the team. He got the opportunity to go in the game and he felt good in the bullpen, so he was just doing what he was doing in the bullpen.

RAMIRO MENDOZA: He say it felt real good. You know, he was leaving the ball low and going in the zone, like he said, and doing like he did in New York and trying to get a ground ball. He feel real good, get the chance to go to the World Series like he did in New York and he's, you know, he's very proud of what he's done.

RAMIRO MENDOZA: He said he felt proud, you know. The situation kind of dictated what he was doing, but he said he felt proud; he felt good. He was doing what he did in New York, just felt real good about himself.

JORGE POSADA: Well, he really likes his pressure situations. He comes out here and he did it last year in Cleveland and ever since that day, he has stepped up and, you know, he comes out there and he gives us a chance to win the game. He gave us strong innings. His fast ball was jumping out of his hand. I was trying to call it a lot more. His curveball was falling for a strike. He made the adjustments in the first inning, and, you know, it's a lot of fun to see a guy so intense, so aggressive, throwing a lot of strikes. Makes it easy for me to call a game because, you know, he wants the ball. He wants to be the guy. He wants to take charge and that's what he did today.

ORLANDO HERNANDEZ: He said, you know, he's really proud of, you know, the opportunity he's got. You know, United States has given him a chance to, you know, to be El Duque again. He's very happy and he's very proud that, you know, he's pitching in these situations. And, you know, he couldn't say it better than -- or just -- I mean, I can't tell you. He's just very happy that he's in this situation and helping the team go back to the World Series.

JORGE POSADA: For us to win?

JORGE POSADA: Can you repeat that?

ORLANDO HERNANDEZ: There's got to be a winner. He says playing the Red Sox -- they were playing real tough. They came out there and they were very tough on the Yankees. You know, but he's happy that, you know, it has come the way it has, but he's very happy that the Red Sox play them the way they did. It brought the best out of them and of us.

RAMIRO MENDOZA: He said they were tough. The Red Sox were a very tough team. He said they should be, you know, very proud about themselves because they played us tough. You know, they got a lot to come next year. They're gonna be a tough team. So, you know, they should hang their head high and, you know, he's happy that the Yankees are going back to the World Series.

JORGE POSADA: I think the difference was pitching, no doubt. I mean pitching and we played defense, we did the little things to win the games. And those close hits helped a lot. A couple of the hits, I can't tell you -- but the main thing was the way the guys pitched and the way the guys played defense behind our pitchers.