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NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: CARDINALS v METS

October 13, 2006

Scott Spiezio

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Game Two

Q. Can you just talk about that play, it looked like a home run at first and can you just take us through that, what was going through your mind?
SCOTT SPIEZIO: Well, I still haven't seen the play, but as far as the at-bat went, he threw me two changeups and I swung through them. So I had to kind of shorten my swing in my mind and be ready for that changeup again. He threw me two fastballs, pulled the first one foul. Second one, I got enough of it and it got in a hair, but I got enough of it at least to get it over Green's glove, barely. But I'll take it.
It was one of those situations where I was thinking in my head more a changeup than a fastball, and I was still able to put the meat of the bat on it.

Q. Your bullpen has been amazing in the post-season and so much talk going into the series was about the Mets' bullpen. Can you just talk a little bit about how important it is for you guys to have your bullpen doing so well?
SCOTT SPIEZIO: Well, you need a clutch bullpen when you get into post-season, and our bullpen has been unbelievable.
Our young guys have stepped it up and really faced the pressure amazingly. We talked to them and they asked a lot of questions to the guys that have been in post-season play before, and I also think that in the last week of the season, when we were fighting for a playoff berth against the Astros that that was kind of a playoff atmosphere and helped get us ready for this.

Q. Were you looking at the ball, the one you hit off Green, and when you were running the bases, did you get any kind of view at it and what did you think?
SCOTT SPIEZIO: I thought it was a home run. (Laughing) No, I saw it, it was high, so I was basically watching it the whole time.
It was really hard for me to tell, so I'm sure, you know, it was a tough call. I'd like to see it on the replay just for myself. But thank God it doesn't even matter, so either way, I'm happy with it.

Q. Just talk about the depth, obviously, now the two biggest rallies started by guys considered bench guys, the depth on your team.
SCOTT SPIEZIO: Ever since the playoffs with Jimmy Edmonds and Eckstein and Rolen have come back healthy, our bench has gotten really deep now. We've got great hitters coming off the bench, hitters that can start on many other teams, and that's a luxury to have in the playoffs.
Our bullpen is deep, as well. So it's great, it's great for us, it gives us a lot of confidence to know that we can come up in certain situations and make a move to bring in a lefty or a righty, we have a guy that can come up and pinch-hit in a crucial situation.

Q. What does it do for your confidence when Tony puts you in the starting lineup ahead of a great player like Scott Rolen?
SCOTT SPIEZIO: Well, you know, in any normal situation, if Rolen was anywhere near the way he should be, you know, I wouldn't have started.
But, you know, with that situation, I still feel, it does give me a lot of confidence because Tony puts me in a situation and knows that -- feels that I can have some big at-bats for him. Whenever you have a manager that has confidence in you, like he does every guy on the team, it boosts the whole morale of the team. I think it gets us excited when we get put in those situations.

Q. We think of Albert Pujols for his power hitting, but tonight he got on, walks, singled, doubled and managed to score two times. Just talk about that a little bit.
SCOTT SPIEZIO: You know, great hitters have to do that because they don't get a lot of pitches to hit in big situations. You see Bonds scoring a lot of runs because he gets walked, smart enough to take a walk, smart enough to take a single when he has to. And Albert has been doing a great job in the post-season getting on for us and starting rallies. That's pretty big for a guy that's used to driving in 140 runs a year and hitting 50 home runs to have to take those walks on a big stage like this.

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