|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
MLB WORLD SERIES: PHILLIES v RAYSOctober 23, 2008David PriceJames ShieldsST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA: Game Two Q. James, tonight this seems like a game where you really gutted it out. It didn't seem like maybe you had your best stuff. Tell me if I'm wrong on that and how you felt out there? JAMES SHIELDS: As far as my game goes tonight, I thought I pitched pretty well. I thought my stuff was good, and my change-up was exceptional tonight. I felt they did a good job of battling, taking pitches and being patient. And I'm known as a strike-thrower and most of the teams don't really take too many pitches on me. So they did a great job tonight and I had to battle through a lot of innings tonight. Q. David, when you entered in the game did you have any expectation of actually finishing? DAVID PRICE: No, not really. I went out there to face Utley and walked him, and got Howard. And they came and asked me in the ninth how I felt and I said I felt fine, so they left me out there. Same thing in the ninth. Q. Did you have any pressure on you to live up to the expectations of this nickname? JAMES SHIELDS: I've told everybody, it was just a couple of players in the minor leagues, and they just started calling me "Big Game" in the minor leagues. It was kind of a joke at first. I ended up pitching a couple of good games in the minor leagues and they say, you know, my whole organization is calling me "Big Game." They don't call me by my first name anymore. When I got called up to the big leagues the writers kind of got a hold of that, and they just started calling me that. I don't think I have any added pressure as far as that goes. Q. This is for both of you guys: You're pitching in the World Series, did it live up to your expectation? Was it any different? JAMES SHIELDS: There's no doubt. This is the World Series. This is what as kids we dreamed of doing, and our crowd tonight was electric. They definitely stepped up from the ALCS. And it's exciting. It's an exciting time in our lives and we're trying to enjoy the moment. DAVID PRICE: Same for me. I was nervous, very. I usually don't even sweat out there, and my hat looks like I went swimming with it. It's definitely different. That's what you hear, playoff baseball, is even more different than World Series baseball, and I definitely have to agree with that. Q. Can both of you maybe talk about how important this was to the team to get back in the series 1-1, not going to Philadelphia being down two, how big it was for you personally? JAMES SHIELDS: Yeah, I think it was huge tonight. You talk about home-field advantage, and after we lost the first game, now we're kind of tied up, and winning tonight, just as we did in the ALCS against Boston. We didn't have a very good record on the road this year, and we seem to be stepping it up in playoffs right now. That was a big win for us going into that series. Q. David, a long way from the SEC, but tonight, your first postseason home run, 96 mile-per-hour pitch, what happened on that? DAVID PRICE: I though CC (Crawford) should have caught it (laughs). He crushed it. He's been sitting on the bench for eight innings and comes in there and just acts like he's been playing the whole game. That's what it's about. I just have to make a better pitch. Q. You made it through Utley and Howard the first time, so what's your thought when you have to go through them again? DAVID PRICE: Just make good pitches, you know. He's human, just like everybody else out there. He doesn't have any super powers. So just make the pitch, keep the ball down, because he can definitely hit it over the fence. So just keep it down, and make the pitcher's pitch and just get him out. Q. Runners in scoring position in every inning but the first, what was your approach to get those damage control outs? JAMES SHIELDS: Bottom line is that I think our team gave us 2-0 lead right from the get-go. We ended up scoring another run, 3-0. They gave me enough confidence to get the job done and make my pitches. Maybe if it was a tied ballgame it would be a little bit different story. I might have put too much pressure on myself. The team did a great job going out there and getting the early lead, giving me some confidence and I made some key pitches in some key situations. 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
|