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AL DIVISION SERIES: TWINS v YANKEES

October 11, 2009

Ron Gardenhire

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: Game Three

Yankees Â– 4
Twins - 1

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Ron Gardenhire.

Q. Gardy, two questions: First, did you say anything to the team? And second, you have seen Punto make aggressive plays around third, but could you just talk could you just talk about that play, specifically.
RON GARDENHIRE: Yes, we talked to the team, I did, and told him how proud I was of them, and although it was very disappointing again to lose another game where we had our chances, didn't work out, but I told them I was very proud of them, from everything they have been through this year, the run that they made to get here, and the heart that they showed and gave, that's had a we expect here for this baseball team, and they gave us everything they had.
And I wanted them to know that, how proud I was of them, and it's very disappointing right now in the clubhouse, as it should be. Nick Punto, no one felt worse than him. He thought it was a base hit, he didn't pick up Scott, he had his head down, he just didn't pick up Scotty rounding third and Jeter makes a play and there you have it.
But like I said, Nicky thought it was a base hit off the mound -- off the -- you know, off the bat, and he was flying, and put his head down and was running, and you've got to keep your head up, and that's what happens, so he feels pretty bad about it.

Q. What happened with Cuddyer on base running? Did he misread the ball that alluded Cano because he started breaking back the first pitch.
RON GARDENHIRE: Cano missed it, it was a line drive right to him and he just missed the ball. He was trying not to get doubled up and that's another one of those freaky plays, it's a line drive right to his glove, and you have to freeze and he started going back to the bag because you think Robbie is going it catch the ball, and you get caught in no-man's land. There's really nothing you can do about it. You freeze on a line drive and you start going back, and the guy missed the ball. What are you going to do?
Really, it's just another play, Yankee luck. They had it there. They got a break.

Q. And Pavano, could you please talk about how well he pitched.
RON GARDENHIRE: He pitched wonderful.

Q. Why you made the decision -- I know he had 95 pitches. Why did you make the decision at that point to take him out?
RON GARDENHIRE: I think he had done his job, and we saw a couple balls get up, and it's been a long year, a lot of innings, over 200 innings for the guy, and he has been pitching, he had tendonitis and shots earlier in the year, he's been going through a lot, so he did his job. He did what he had to do.
He gave us a great opportunity to win the ball game. And he told us when he got here, 95 to 105 pitches is about where he stays, and that's where we tried to keep it with him.

Q. Gardy, in the ninth was it partly the numbers those guys have against Nathan, too?
RON GARDENHIRE: Well, yeah, and the match-ups. Andy kept saying the match-ups, he wanted to go left-right, left-right, and I got real tired of going out there, tell you the truth.
We just -- you know, you walk 'em. You can't walk people, you just can't do it. And then we end up putting Nathan in a stupid situation with the bases loaded because we didn't throw the ball over the plate. That's something we pride ourselves in is throwing it over, and three guys in a row walked, and I don't care how good a hitters they are, you gotta make them swing the bat, and we didn't do that, and Nathan gets put out there in that situation, it was really irritating. Wow, Minneapolis paper is doing good tonight, hot.

Q. Just to have it end so quickly, I think, just five days ago you guys must have felt kind of on top of the world. Just looking at that series, do you think you will look at the missed chances and just, how tough is it right now?
RON GARDENHIRE: Well, it's really tough. Again, another ball game where it just seems to happen. As soon as we get a lead, they go back out and jump us, and did again today, we score a run and then they come back and score two really quick, and they do it in a fashion where it's a couple of home runs, boom-boom.
So, you know, and that happened up in New York on that last game, we scored, then they come back and jump us right away, so it's about putting them away when you score, and we couldn't do it, and that's a great baseball team over there, you tip your hat to the New York Yankees, best record in baseball. They just keep running great hitters at you. That's why you end up having to make pitching moves, change, change, change, because they -- they are so dangerous that you just try to finagle your way through it half the time.
It's a great baseball team. They deserve all the accolades, they have got a great bullpen. Those guys come out there firing, bench, the whole package, they've got the whole deal, and they have got some of the classiest players in the league out in the field, guys that I really enjoyed watching play. I hate it when I play against them because they kill us but I enjoy watching Derek Jeter and A-Rod and those guys play. Those guys are very talented and classy people out in the field.

Q. In that vein, everybody talks about Derek, obviously, but you have played against Pettitte, Posada, Rivera, and all those guys for a long time.
How much can you appreciate the way they play and the way they still perform after all these years?
RON GARDENHIRE: Well, they are professionals, and as I said, they are baseball players. I know a lot of things get said about their payroll and all that stuff, but the bottom line is, they are just great baseball players. And aside from all the other stuff, they are very, very talented, that's why they make a lot of money, because they deserve it because they have played the game for a long time and they get it done, and they know how to get it done, and they play with class.
So, like I said, I tip my hat to them. We had our chances. We played on the same field with those guys and had our chances a lot this year, and they got us every time, and it's just because they got a few more at-bats than we do in big situations, and they know how to finish people off just a little bit better than we did this year.

Q. Ron, thank you very much.

End of FastScripts

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