NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: MARLINS v CUBS

October 11, 2003

Matt Clement

MATT CLEMENT: Well, before I start, I want to at least say I wished Ron Santo was here. I've been praying for him, and this is what his life is all about, Cubs baseball. And I just wanted to say hello to him. He's been real supportive of me and my career, since I've become a Cub, and always with him. And just send a hello out to him. As far as pressure, I mean they're a lot of fun. They're always fun when you win, especially in a situation like this. And it's a tough team, even though you have a 4-0 lead, which is nice. A couple of bunt singles, and you get those rabbits running around, it can turn into a 4-4 game, like happened in Game 1. It was a lot of fun to go out there and I was trying to throw strikes and keep the team in the game all the way through.

MATT CLEMENT: It felt pretty good tonight. Over the last two starts it went from hurting when I pitched, to hurting when I'm done pitching. It feels pretty good. But it's usually the day after I feel it a little bit. But this time of year I also get some extra rest. That makes things easier to deal with. And there's no time to worry about the groin. Hopefully after we're done with this next couple of weeks, hopefully, I'll have all of November and December and everything else to rest.

MATT CLEMENT: You know, that was big, especially the innings -- Joe did such a tremendous job throwing all those innings yesterday, and anytime you go out there you want to get as deep as you can for that fact, whether you throw three complete games or not, to save the bullpen some innings is nice. I'm glad we came out on top.

MATT CLEMENT: I said this yesterday when I came in before the game, I don't let the focus being on somebody else bother me. They deserve the focus on them. And we've pitched as a rotation together, the five of us this year, and helped get this club here. And I think everybody realizes that. Obviously they're tremendous talents, and they've been unbelievable, Mark since he got hurt, and whatever, his last 10, 11 starts. And it doesn't put any pressure on me. But also it's nice for Zambrano and I to get a win. So it seemed the only games we won were the ones they were pitching. And hopefully we can all get on a roll right now.

MATT CLEMENT: There was a couple of

pitches that were close. He called a good game. There's a pitch to Conine that was close. When you're on the mound, everything looks like a strike, and should be strike three sometimes. I haven't seen the film, though. I just prayed between innings to keep relaxing. And that's the most relaxed I've been for a start for a long time, not just because it's the playoffs, in any start. And I just went out there and tried to do my job and not get caught up in what was going on.

MATT CLEMENT: I don't know. We've got to keep our focus and think of it as one more win, and not get ahead of ourselves. What it will mean to the city of Chicago, and to the Cubs fans and to the many Cubs players that have suffered over the years, it would be tremendous. And let's just go one game at a time here, and hopefully the sooner the better to win another one. But the city is behind us and after those four runs in the first inning, you started to hear the Cubs fans more than the Marlins fans, even though they were triple outnumbered in the stadium. That was a nice feeling to be out there and hear your own fans.