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NL DIVISION SERIES: CARDINALS v PADRES

October 5, 2006

Bruce Bochy

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA: Game Two

Q. Boch, two things, your thoughts on Boomer, for one, and then the other one, on the run down, the run down, how important was that for him getting to second base?
BRUCE BOCHY: I thought David threw all right. Just in that kind of game I had to take him out there. He threw all right. He gave us a chance to win. We just messed up a run down there. And you know, we're in a tough spot there, lead-off double. And obviously my decision to pitch Pujols didn't work out, but we're in a tough situation there.
They had a lot of options if we put him on. It's fourth inning. I just didn't want to try to open up a big inning there. I felt confident we would score some runs, and unfortunately we didn't.
And as far as the rundown, we just didn't execute. Could have been a one-run ball game, but we made a mistake there.

Q. Whose mistake was it? Is it Blum's job to get back after taking --
BRUCE BOCHY: At some point Walker has to realize that he's not there.

Q. Bruce, you've seen Jeff Weaver pitch a number of times. How important was it for him to get out of that first inning or disappointment for your ball club without a ball on that inning?
BRUCE BOCHY: Weaver is the guy that beat us. We scored one run in two games. That's not going to work. I felt confident about the offense today but he shut us down. And their bullpen did the same and that's tough when you're not getting a big hit when you need it. And it's the only thing that's going to get us out of this is start swinging the bats a little better.

Q. Bruce, do you think your hitters are taking any different approach now? You see any signs of problems beyond the final score?
BRUCE BOCHY: I don't think so. You know, that's tough to answer, whether the pitching is that good or we, you know, tightened up a little bit offensively. We've been through this during the course of the year where we don't put runs on board and really felt good today.
I thought we would. That's why I, in the fourth inning, went the way I did is I felt like we would get some runs and then potentially have a big inning there on us. And you know we -- we only gave up two runs. And if I would have known that before the game, I would have taken it. But you know, we have pitched great in the bullpen, shut us down.

Q. Bruce, you pretty much had success in Busch a couple weeks ago. What's the confidence level now going Busch, down 2-0, having to win the next two games?
BRUCE BOCHY: We've certainly had more an uphill climb, no question. Our backs are to the wall. And the only thing we can do is go down swinging and hopefully we loosen up here, go to St. Louis and get these bats going a little bit.
You know, our pitching did a pretty good job. They gave us a chance today, but somewhere along the line we'll have to put some runs on the board. That's the only way you're going to win ball games, and you know, we've been down before during the course of the season. We've been very resilient.
Hopefully we show that in St. Louis.

Q. You've seen an awful lot of curve balls in the first two games. Can you speak to the effectiveness of slow-breaking pitches and the (inaudible) by a lot of hard breaking stuff, and particularly Jeff Weaver today using that kind of setup, the fast ball against the left-handed lineup?
BRUCE BOCHY: Yeah. I mean, we've seen a lot of them. They still have to get them over the plate, you know. In Major Leagues you have to hit a breaking ball, and we've seen our share of them. We know it.
Comes down to us taking good swings at those, too. But you give them credit. They've executed their pitches and they've gotten out of it when they've had to.
We are getting some chances. We're just missing that big hit to really get us going and hopefully get the team rolling.

Q. Weaver kind of pitching backwards today?
BRUCE BOCHY: Yeah. I mean, he used all his pitches. Changeup, curve balls, fast ball. I mean, they're mixing it up well, and I thought we did, too. We did a pretty good job out there.

Q. Bruce, how much did you know about their bullpen, having seen them just about a week ago, and the young guys and what kind of scouting reports can you get on them or what can you learn from them just in general?
BRUCE BOCHY: We know quite a bit about them. We've seen them. We have reports on them. They're pitching like we thought. We're just not getting base hits.
Give them credit, they're making pitches and getting us out. And the only thing that's going to change is, you know, we gotta get a big hit, put some runs on the board. That's what it comes down to. Pretty simple game, really. And today we just got shut down completely.

Q. Boch, the last couple of weeks of the season, the team really turned it on at home. How disappointing, got a home field advantage, is it to come without a win?
BRUCE BOCHY: No question disappointed. We felt good coming into the series. We've been playing well, scoring runs swinging the bats. And we've been shut down completely.
So we're going to St. Louis frustrated, sure. And the guys are, too. But now we have to wash this off and hopefully show some intestinal fortitude here in St. Louis.

Q. Bruce, you talked about your decision to pitch to Pujols there, that early in the game. I know it's coming out of the series the way you said you would do it do you even think about it or --
BRUCE BOCHY: I'm going to have to start thinking about it. I had a guy out there that can locate the ball as well as anybody. Made some great pitches. Got ahead in the count. Just got a ball up there a little bit that he could handle. Nice to get him in that run down, but we did keep it to a one-run ball game. But overall, you know, I think our staff's been doing a pretty good job. Just comes down to putting some runs on the board.
MODERATOR: Thank you, Bruce.

End of FastScripts...

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