THE MODERATOR: First question for Mike.
Q. Everybody's going to remember Salmon's heroics, but how big was Francisco for you tonight?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: That was incredible. We talked before the game that we were going to use Francisco. We figured he would pitch, he hadn't pitched in a while. We were looking for the seventh inning. I think you could see where that game was going. We stretched him earlier. For him to step up, pitch that, give us three innings and really under 30 pitches is what was incredible, that's -- I think that's the game right there. If we don't get that game settled down a little bit, there's not going to be much to come back on. He did a great job.
Q. Could you go through your decision to use Lackey and how that will impact your rotation the rest of the series?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: We had John last night for maybe a little longer. Tonight was a little shorter because, obviously, getting closer to his start, but we had him for what we figured was 30 to 40 pitches and he could still come back and make his start. So, at that point of the game, I think that those were innings that we could get John in there, let him have a little freedom to make some pitches. He did a super job. Under all the circumstances, he probably could have gone a little longer, but not with having a start in two days.
Q. Will you talk about your approach at the beginning to Ortiz, and the ability tonight to put the ball in play, no strikeouts for them, keeping the pressure on them the whole night?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: First of all, Russ Ortiz is a tough pitcher. He's pitched against us many times, and we've seen him in the spring, we've seen him -- we've seen him quite often. He has an outstanding arm. Tonight, it didn't seem like he got into his rhythm the way I know he can, and it was good for us to obviously get him early. Any mistakes he was making, we were hitting. I thought that we got ahead of the count okay, we put the ball in play hard. There was some little ball mixed in there, too, but we pounded the ball tonight against a good staff.
Q. Can you just remove yourself from the emotion of a game like that and be a fan and appreciate what happened?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: Maybe after the series is over I'll maybe put the tape in and watch it. That might have been entertaining to a lot of people. At times, that was real entertaining to us. That was a tough ball game. Our guys left every drop they had of energy on the field, as the Giants did. That's one of the best I've ever been involved in.
Q. What does it mean for Tim to be the guy tonight? He's been with this franchise for so long, been hurting this postseason, for him to come through like that?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: Tim's really gotten back into his groove. He was, obviously, a major part of us being here. He got off to a little tough streak earlier. They weren't falling in for him in a couple games. But big night tonight. I think you can see the potential Tim has to -- when he's swinging the bat well, to break open a game. Tonight it was -- those hits were huge.
Q. You mentioned you had a little small ball tonight. Can you talk about the first two guys in your order, not too much yesterday, but tonight we saw what they've been doing all season.
MIKE SCIOSCIA: Eck did a great job, obviously, getting the bunt down and getting on base to lead off the game, too. Ersty, I thought he did a great job working counts. Last at-bat, Rodriguez, I don't know how many pitches he saw, but it was a ton. Early in the game, he splits a gap to get us going, gets us on the board, hits a double off a lefty. Those two guys swinging the bat set the tone. We had plenty of runners on base, we got some action. I thought we ran the bases well, too. So, it has to be there, we're not always going to pound the ball like we did tonight. We have to have those little balls. Those guys at the top of the line-up, they worked counts, got on base and definitely set a tone.
Q. This question was asked to Dusty, I imagine it's appropriate for you, too. Do you think you'll have enough pitching to get through this series? The bullpens have been great, but they have to be going on adrenaline?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: We had a little more freedom tonight because of a day off tomorrow. As you go into three games in Pac Bell, we're probably going to have to be a little bit more prudent of the way we can use guys and set it up. Obviously, we'll need more length from our starter. That didn't help us tonight. Yeah, I think we'll be fine. I think the depth of each staff is going to really be a key here. You're not going to always have everybody available on every night, but I think there's enough arms to go around. Certainly, in both bullpens you should be able to get some matchups and should be able to do a job on the mound. Tonight wasn't a good night to be a pitcher. Both sides were really swinging the bats well.
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