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AL DIVISION SERIES: ATHLETICS v TWINS

October 6, 2006

Ken Macha

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA: Game Three

Q. Same lineup only with Jimenez?
KEN MACHA: It's not posted? All right. Same lineup. Same lineup.

Q. What are you expecting from Harden for Game 4?
KEN MACHA: Really, I am just worried about Game 3 right now, so Rich, he threw in the pen and he said he feels all right, so hopefully, we will expect what we expect, a well-pitched game.

Q. If it does go to Game 4, who do you expect from Minnesota to start?
KEN MACHA: That question is for the other manager.

Q. Would you be surprised if it was Johann Santana?
KEN MACHA: Actually, he has pitched well against us, Silva has always pitched well against us, so it's probably a tough choice for him.

Q. (Inaudible)?
KEN MACHA: Ron Washington. I have seen him in drills. Ron did a great job of having these guys work hard, and I have seen him out there in his drills, it was fine. Played him at shortstop in the Anaheim series because that's because what I was most concerned of is when our shortstop got hurt. I didn't feel as comfortable with moving Ellis over there and have somebody play second base. But I think he will do fine.

Q. What have you thought of Scutaro so far?
KEN MACHA: He's playing the game, baseball player, moving the runners over and approach has been excellent and solid in the field, intensity has been right where it should be. It's been great. Definite impact on our game the other day, Game 2.

Q. He's kind of been a bit of a clutch guy this year. Does this add to his reputation?
KEN MACHA: Okay. I will agree with you on that much. I agree with you on something. What's the date today, October 6th?

Q. Without getting into detail, have you given much thought yet as to how your rotation might be affected if you clinch today?
KEN MACHA: Not at all.

Q. Superstition or just --
KEN MACHA: We got a the task at hand, this is the task at hand. So we will have plenty of time to figure that out. Some teams have all the plans set, just to take Detroit, for example, Sunday, so they made a lot of wasted energy trying to win that last game. I mean, a lot of wasted energy setting up their rotation because they wanted to win that last game, and then all those plans were out the door, so let's just concentrate on the task at hand.

Q. Barry and Dan have gotten really close over the last couple years, and I know there are different styles of pitchers, but do you think it's a benefit for Barry to have gone through what he went through earlier in the series and to be able to talk to Dan about what to expect and how to approach it?
KEN MACHA: I am hoping Barry just -- I don't know what Barry would say to him, but I am sure it would be a help. You've just got to go pitch your game. It's just like a normal game. And I said this about Dan, if he is making his pitches, he is tough, tough to score on.
So taking your emotion out of it, and going out there and just having confidence in your delivery and your stuff, and making your pitches. The rest of it will all come together for him. That's why I said that the big play was Kendall throwing the runner out in the first inning. And it gave Barry a little breath of fresh air there, and it helped him just to get into his pitching routine and pattern and pitch with confidence.
And he went ahead and pitched a tremendous game, so --

Q. How much do you think Dan, having pitched in the World Series and been in the post-season before, is going to help?
KEN MACHA: He has pitched a lot of big games for us, too, so all that experience is helpful. Regardless of what you are doing, pitching or playing or coaching, managing, broadcasting, writing for MLB.com.

Q. Since you bring it up, what has your experience taught you about being up 2-0 in this series?
KEN MACHA: I am trying to avoid answering questions about Game 4. You've got to concentrate on the task at hand, so that's what that has taught me, or worrying about a rotation on down the line.
As we came down, trying to win the pennant in the first place, everybody was asking us, yeah, congratulations, great -- no, it's not over yet, we still have some games to win.
So you got to just focus on today, worry about tomorrow the next day. We will figure all that out.
This series, so far, has been a lot like the Boston series. I thought, in the Boston series, out of the five games, either team could have won any of those games.
When we lost in five, either team could have won any of those games. Game 2 in that playoff, maybe the Red Sox didn't play so well in that game, but all the other games could have been won by other team, and these first two games have been that way, too.
They played very well, they got good pitching, got a little luck on the inside-the-park homerun. That's the way these games go. That's why it's kind of a crap shoot in five games.
I know our guys are -- everybody has been asking them about being up 2-0 and they are tired of answering the questions, so I think they are pretty -- they know what concentration has to go in today and try to focus just on this game.

Q. Nick (Swisher) is a pretty excitable guy. Have you been surprised by the way he handled -- he seems completely under control, he has overswung a couple of times, but --
KEN MACHA: Okay, I will agree with that. Am I surprised by that? Here again, go back to Pedro's question, with your experience, our first trip into Yankee Stadium this year, you just try to launch the ball into the upper deck.
And the hitting coach and myself and some of the other -- you know, Brad takes care of the outfielders, we are all saying "Nick, what are you trying to do?"
So maybe a lot of the work that they put in early in the year is starting to sink in a little bit.
But we're pleased with his at-bats, he got a walk the other day, which was a great at-bat, and the reason it was a great at-bat was because he didn't swing at everything under the sun. I think in that particular bat he had a 2-0 count, and they threw a change-up and he swung and missed it by his normal 3 feet, but he settled down and wound up making the pitcher throw it in the zone. I don't have total recall. I think they wound up loading the bases. I have to look at that. I was very pleased at that.
I have said all along, well, "If you got to tell these guys to concentrate on their base running or the importance of the game, if you start coaching now, you didn't do a very good job in the first 162 games."
Q. (Inaudible)?
KEN MACHA: So hopefully Nick will continue to do that. I got a funny story. I went to Starbucks this morning -- is Josh here? He is not here? He hates Starbucks. And I ordered my Venti coffee and Vuch's Mocha, and I am walking out, and one of the guys sitting there said "Hey, don't let Milton pour that on Chavie today." I said "I got you covered."

End of FastScripts...

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