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NL DIVISION SERIES: BREWERS v PHILLIESOctober 2, 2008C.C. SabathiaDale SveumPHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA: Game Two THE MODERATOR: Questions for Dale or C.C. Q. C.C., in the second inning there, Brett Myers at bat, nine pitches off of you. How much did that frustrate you? Because it seemed after that you went 3-0 or walked J-Ro after that. How much did that at-bat frustrate you? C.C. SABATHIA: I don't think it frustrated me. I just think that not being able to make pitches when I needed to. I had two strikes on him, 0-2. Ended up walking him. This game for me was about finishing, finish everything, finishing innings, two strikes, two strikes on Victorino, just not finishing. Q. Kind of frustrating not to get it done here in the post-season, just like last year kind of frustrating at this point in the year? C.C. SABATHIA: It's frustrating. Like I said, I think tonight more than just trying to be too perfect was just not finishing. I think I had some opportunities to get out some innings and get out some at-bats, when I needed to, and just didn't do it. Q. C.C., what did you throw to Victorino and what was your reaction when you saw it leave? C.C. SABATHIA: It was a cutter. I threw it in and didn't get it down, didn't bounce it, it was 0-2, 1-2, I don't know what the count was. I know it was two strikes. And just didn't make the pitch. When I saw it leave, I was just trying to keep the score right there where it was. Q. C.C., you said yesterday you were looking -- or that last year you were trying to throw no-hitters and trying to be perfect out there. What approach did you take that was different this time or did it end up seeming a lot like it was last year? C.C. SABATHIA: It didn't seem anything like it was last year, to be honest with you. Like I said, I was ahead of a lot of guys. Got two outs in some innings, gave up a double to Werth with two outs, just not finishing. I mean, I really think that that's what today was, was me not being able to finish innings, at-bats. I think that's the reason why I pitched so bad. Q. C.C., did pitching on this three days' rest take any sort of toll today, number one, and, secondly, had a team like the Phillies that you had faced over the past two or three months made you work as hard as you did tonight? C.C. SABATHIA: I hadn't faced them this year. Q. Another team. C.C. SABATHIA: No, I don't think so. I felt fine. I thought I had good stuff. They did a good job of laying off the changeup, 0-0, 0-1, 1-0. Things like that. Did a good job of laying off of it if it was down. And they made me work. Q. C.C., your stats coming into the playoffs, you've been on a roll. But 8.80 ERA last year in the playoffs, do you think you get too excited? Do you jack yourself up too much when you get to this point? C.C. SABATHIA: I don't think so. I don't think I was overly excited today. I don't think I was not pumped up enough. I just think that, like I said, I mean, just not being able to make pitches when I needed to. I think if I bounced that pitch to Victorino or get it to his back foot where it needs to be, then it's a good pitch. Q. Dale, you had a chance to blow up in the game in the first or at least put some runs on the board. And you had Myers on the ropes and Corey goes and swings at that first pitch. Was that offensively a turning point for you guys? DALE SVEUM: Yeah, I think it always is. Obviously they took advantage of bases loaded situation and we didn't. It was kind of the difference in the ball game. If you have it back, obviously you want them -- we had them kind of on the ropes and he'd thrown about 14 balls out of the last 19 pitches he threw. So that's just part of maturing, sometimes as a hitter, but Corey is a very aggressive hitter, and unfortunately he hit a ground ball back to the pitcher and they were able to get out of that inning, and obviously that was a turning point in the ball game. Q. C.C., you played with Charlie Manuel in Cleveland, and obviously there's some familiarity between you and Charlie. Is there more of an advantage for him telling his hitters how to approach you, or do you feel that there may have been -- there may be a familiarity and an advantage for you pitching against them? C.C. SABATHIA: I thought I would have had the advantage today. I think I'm a totally different pitcher than when I was with Charlie. I have a lot of different stuff than I did when I was with Charlie. I just threw mainly fastballs and a curveball. I got a lot more pitches now. And I felt like I had the advantage today. Q. Dale, couple of questions. You seem to be giving Ryan Howard much of the Barry Bonds treatment here, not giving him too much to hit. Is that part of a strategy? DALE SVEUM: Well, I think whenever you -- like I said yesterday, what he's done in the last month or whatever, you know, you just try to keep that guy in the ballpark. And we've done that and we basically in I guess 17 innings or 16 innings, we've just had two bad innings. Other than that, we've kept big-time power-hitting team in the ballpark. We just had a couple of unfortunate innings. Q. And with you guys, you've had seven hits now in two nights and your guy Fielder has been struggling a little bit, he hasn't had many opportunities. But he also grounded back to the box on the first pitch in the 8th inning, too. What do you guys have to do to try and get back in this series? DALE SVEUM: Well, obviously we've got to swing the bats a little better than we have. And it's not a mystery. We haven't really swung the bats that well for the last month. We've had some big home runs to get us to this point. But on a whole we're still not getting enough men on base to do a lot of damage. So we've really got to get home and figure the bats out. Q. How about Fielder, specifically? DALE SVEUM: Prince, to single him out is kind of ridiculous. Nobody's really swung the bat that good for a whole month. And Prince was hotter than hell for two weeks and now he's cooled off a little bit. But Prince can turn it on like that and obviously he knows that and we're going to need that when we get home. Q. C.C., you said you needed to make better pitches and finish tonight. How would you compare your ability to do that with the last three times you started on three days' rest? C.C. SABATHIA: I thought, you know, the last three times I was able to make pitches. I don't feel like starting on three days' rest had anything to do with it, or anything like that. I just think like tonight I didn't make the pitches when I needed to. I got out of a jam in the 1st inning. And I just didn't really make pitches. And that's honestly -- that's all that happened tonight, was my ability not to get out of innings, get out of situations. I had a lot of situations where it was two outs and gave up a double or two strikes and gave up a homer. I mean, you know, it was just one of those nights. Q. With as well as you've pitched, I'm sure people in Milwaukee thought this was a night set up for you to be a hero. Do you think people expect too much of people like you on nights like this? C.C. SABATHIA: No, because I expect that out of myself. And this is where I need to be. This is the situation I want to be in. This is the situation I need to be in. And I need to come out here and pitch a good game tonight. And I didn't do that. So you can blame this loss squarely on me. Q. Dale, with the way your guys, and you said it yourself, had been through hell the last couple of weeks and playing for their playoff lives, do you get the feeling that maybe your guys are a little gassed right now or are running out of steam? DALE SVEUM: No. I mean, you get in the playoffs. There's no doubt we went through hell for a month and went through a lot of adversity and these guys battled right up to the wire and got here. And that shows a lot. But to say they are running out of gas, first of all, this thing ain't over yet. We get to go home now. So to say anybody ran out of gas is far from the truth. These guys had their back up against the wall seven days ago and they came through in flying colors. So I've been there and I've seen it happen before. And it's just one game at a time now. It's one game at a time. We win Saturday, it's a different ball game. THE MODERATOR: Thanks very much. End of FastScripts |
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