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NL DIVISION SERIES: ROCKIES v PHILLIES

October 12, 2009

Charlie Manuel

DENVER, COLORADO: Game Four

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Charlie.

Q. Durbin's had a little bit of an up-and-down year. There was the injury, when he came back he had a rough August. Since the beginning of September he's looked as good as he has all year. What have you seen that's been different?
CHARLIE MANUEL: I think last night, when I brought him into the game, he was aggressive. He was aggressive and he was throwing the ball.
A lot of times when I bring him in and he's like what I call like spot control. He wants to go out and he gets too fine with his pitches.
Last night he was aggressive, came in and threw strikes. Got ahead of the hitters. If he missed with the first pitch, he stayed aggressive. A lot of times he'll come in and he'll want to -- his command, he feels like his command, he's got to be perfect with his pitches on both sides of the plate. He falls behind and he was walking a lot of guys.
Last night he was on. He must have felt real good because he threw good.

Q. When Cliff is doing well, he is working faster seems like than anybody else around, especially in those first five starts, he would get the ball to the rubber and throw. At times it seems like that tempo isn't there. A lot of times it is. When it's not there, why is that? Are guys taking longer to get in the box on him or are guys adjusting to him? What do you see out of him in terms of his pace of game?
CHARLIE MANUEL: When he's on, his command is there, he's using the fastball and slider, his command is huge for him. If he's living on both sides of the plate and he's real aggressive and he gets in what I call the flow of the game, he's controlling the tempo and the flow of the game.
All of a sudden you're like if he falls behind on the hitters or he gets in a jam or trouble, then if you notice, if a game slows down, if he can keep it going, like gets one, it seems like he doesn't get hurt as much.
But to slow the game, sometimes both sides kind of slow the game down, and the slower the game, he has trouble at times to me really picking it back up and getting his tempo and rhythm going.
But he's definitely what I call a timing-tempo-rhythm pitcher, and when he gets the ball he just gets the ball and he knows what he's going to throw and he knows what he's got in mind to do and that's what he sets out and he stays right with his game plan.

Q. Any update on Scott Eyre?
CHARLIE MANUEL: No. Scott Sheridan has him out there right now, seeing if he can move, run, walk. Looked like he wasn't limping when I saw him this morning when I came in. We'll see. He should tell me when I go out, probably when you guys go out on the field might have something for you.

Q. To follow up on that, if Scott isn't available, how is that going to affect what you have in terms of matching up lefties in the bullpen with the remainder of the series?
CHARLIE MANUEL: We need Scott. And Bastardo, I've got Bastardo down there and he's got real good stuff. And in certain situations in a game, I'm definitely not afraid to use him. But at the same time, when we hit into a situation like last night, if the game stays tight, I either have to stay with Durbin or actually go to Bastardo, and I didn't particularly want to do that because he's young and I don't know if he's pitched in cold weather and stuff like that, but he's very young.
And I think the longer you leave him out there, let him face like Major League hitters, I think that his inexperience and everything will show up. I could be wrong, but at the same time I feel that way. But to put him in a situation, say, in the middle of a game on a left-hand hitter we need to get out, I have no trouble doing that.

Q. If the game goes the way you would want it to today, is Brad the guy in the ninth?
CHARLIE MANUEL: It could be. More than likely it's either him or Madson.

Q. Speaking of Madson, how about his deal last night? That doesn't get noticed given what happened in the ninth, but how big was his performance against the meat of the order?
CHARLIE MANUEL: He gave up a sac fly, but at the same time we got out of there with one run. And not only that, I think one of the biggest things is, too, is he's also able to hold Fowler close at first base, and like he was having trouble getting a good lead and stuff. That also came into play.
But his pitching was -- he did a tremendous job. And I felt like we had to hold him there. And like I said, I think I said that last night. I felt like that that was -- that we became in a big moment of the game and we had to definitely shut them down there. He did a heck of a job.

Q. There have been issues with the umpires in this game, including the ninth inning last night. The outcry for more instant replay is going to come into it. Where do you stand on that? Would you like to see increased replay, or you just live with it or what?
CHARLIE MANUEL: When you go out, like I've always been a guy that human nature plays a part in the game. And that's where like -- that's where you just leave the game alone and a decision is a decision and you kind of go that way.
But now that we changed the replay and looked at home runs and stuff and the fact that -- the one I went out on when Dobbs hit a ball in Philadelphia still kind of sticks in my mind. Dobbs hit a bases-loaded ball that went over, definitely the wind was pushing the ball toward right field, and I thought it was fair. When I go back and look at it on video and I know it's fair, they're sitting there telling me it's foul, like I got a problem with that.
And then they wouldn't grant me a review of it. And that kind of stuck with me. But at the same time when I see -- when I go there in the video and see the plays run back and I see the call's missed, I mean, in some ways if you don't have any replay or something like that, it's all part of the game.
But once you start opening it up, then like go back on home runs and stuff, then I think that's going to cause a lot of problems.
The first thing they'll tell you, we want to get it right. Then I don't know the answer of getting it right, but at the same time I agree with getting it right. So whatever that means, something that has to be done about it, I don't know, I would say if they're going to get it right, something has to be done about it.
But they can always miss calls. I mean, they've been missing calls ever since baseball has been 100-something-years-old or whatever, they've been missing them that long. But at the same time if they want to get them right, then getting it right is getting them right.

Q. All year long we've talked about your offense and situational hitting and the reliance on home runs sometimes. In this series you've got only two home runs and it seems like every part of the order from the top where you have your speed to the middle where you have your power to the bottom has manufactured runs. Have you noticed a change in their approach at the plate at all in this series to push runs across the way they have?
CHARLIE MANUEL: Like I said in the last two or three days, like we know how to play. And basically, I get back to it, baseball is a funny game. And like a lot of times how you play and who you're playing dictates how you're playing, if that makes sense. Follow what I'm saying? And I think we're playing a good team.
And we know we've got to do things the correct way. When we get a chance to score we've got to do that. It's very important that we stay ahead of them when we can, because they're a very good club and they like to play and they've got a lot of energy and they stay with you the whole game. And I think all that comes into play.
Who you're playing, if the season is a long season, 162-game schedule, who you play a lot of times, and I've said this before, if you remember, when we would struggle, it's like you get into the same flow of the game that the other team gets in. If you play a second division team, a lot of times like you sit there with them and you play right along with them, by the end of the game, if it's a close game, then they've got a chance to win, too.
They've got a big chance. So this is not a game where you have that, what do you call it, all that life and energy and everything every day.
You try that. That's exactly what we want, that's what we talk about. But if you follow baseball day in, day out, like that is definitely not there. And I think who you are playing and a good team, especially, seemed like they will rise up to the occasion of who they're playing, but a real, real good team, they play good every day, of course, the more consistent you are, the better a team you've got, and that's more than likely who is going to win.

Q. You spoke the other day about how Myers still doesn't quite seem like himself and you have to keep an eye on him, certain ways that you use him. Yet you like him in potential sorts of big moments. If you guys were to advance, would you have to think about bringing him with you on the roster, particularly considering you hope to get Chan Ho Park back or is he someone who will be with you the whole way?
CHARLIE MANUEL: I think if we were to advance we're definitely going to sit and talk about our roster, if there's things that we feel like we need to change on, of course we will. The whole thing about it is we want to get the best 25 guys we possibly can have to help us win.
And I think anytime we can -- if there's a chance we can change our roster and we want to make any move or we want to better our club or something and we feel that way, at that moment, then that's what we'll do.

Q. Do you plan on having Escalona meet up with you guys at all in case Eric can't go? And are there any other options down there in Clearwater staying lose right now?
CHARLIE MANUEL: He's in Clearwater right now. But I would say like we haven't talked about that. I mean, we've got him down there in case of emergency or something. Like if we have to have him or something. Like he got hurt last night or something.
But at the same time I don't know exactly the rules, but I think if something would happen, we'd put him on today or something or tomorrow, I think we'd have to keep him on for the next round, if I'm mother mistaken. I could be wrong, but I think that's the way it goes.

Q. It's not serious enough where you feel the need to start thinking about something like that?
CHARLIE MANUEL: Right now we don't feel the need to make any move on the roster.

Q. I was wondering if it came down to it, would you be more likely to take somebody like Condrey or Walker because they have a little more experience and they're right here with you over Sergio who is still young but yet a left-hander?
CHARLIE MANUEL: There again, we'd probably go -- we'd sit down and see how those guys have done against the teams we're playing and look at the match-up sheet and things like that, and that would definitely -- that might play into what our decision would be.
But, yeah, we'd cover all those. Anything we need to cover, we will. And we sit and, as a matter of fact, I've said it before, hell, we talk too damn much.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

End of FastScripts

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