|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: ROCKIES v DIAMONDBACKSOctober 11, 2007Clint HurdlePHOENIX, ARIZONA: Game One THE MODERATOR: Questions for Clint Hurdle. Q. Obviously you made the call so you believed in it, but did you have any trepidation or second thoughts about changing the lineup that had gone 17-1 coming in? CLINT HURDLE: It's something I sat down and thought about. I drew them up and looked at them. I just know the lineup we threw out there against Webb the last time didn't work. People brought a lot of attention to the one game we haven't won in this run we've been on. I just thought we needed to go at them a different way with some people that have had success and we were able to have some good at-bats early. Run up his pitch count, manufacture a run at the top. And then Hawpe had a big swing at the bat. You gotta do what you believe in. And if it doesn't work, any time you make a move like that, you're going to wear it. And you should. That's your job. But you gotta do what you believe in. Q. How much of a catalyst was Willy Taveras in the key 3rd inning tonight? CLINT HURDLE: That's one of the reasons Willy's been a good player for us, been a run-scorer for us. He stays on a breaking ball and punches it in the outfield, steals a base. He can do those things. You can get a quick run with Willy. You can get a quick run with Kaz. And at the top they put extra pressure on the defense. So we were hoping to get them in play a little bit and shake things up. Q. Your team showed some great patience in terms of batting against Webb and he kind of thrives on aggressive hitters, was that part of the game plan, was just not to chase anything as much as -- CLINT HURDLE: We didn't want to fire early unless we felt confident it was something we could square up. We talked to Alan Cockrell, and I thought one of the keys for us tonight would be the ability to hit with two strikes. We had to be comfortable with hitting with two strikes. He gets such dynamic movement. There's no other way to recreate it. We have seen him a number of times. And, you know, patience, not just in baseball, but in a lot of different areas, usually has a tendency to work to your advantage. You can't just stand up there and take things because he can paint and he can pitch. Q. Could you give us your view of the interference call and describe your reason for pulling the team off the field? CLINT HURDLE: Well, the interference call, I thought -- looked like a good aggressive slide going in and I thought he went out of his way to make contact. Pulling my team off the field, we get tired of having water bottles thrown on the field. That's all. It's just there comes a point in time where you need to make a point that enough's enough. Q. Why do you think Francis has been so successful against the Diamondbacks, especially here? CLINT HURDLE: Well, he's seen a lot of their hitters. He's had good command, quite often when he's pitched against them. This ballpark has been a good place for him. And, again, he's got a slow heartbeat out there. He's got a slow heartbeat. He doesn't get too excited. He can change speeds. That's probably a key as much as anything. THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Coach End of FastScripts |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|