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NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: PHILLIES v DODGERSOctober 14, 2009Clayton KershawLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Workout Day Q. Can you talk about your discussion with Joe, finding out about this assignment, opening Game 1, what it means to you? CLAYTON KERSHAW: He was in Arizona watching Kuroda pitch, so he gave me a phone call. That's about it. That's all there was to it. Q. Can you just talk a little bit about the difference in you this year versus a year ago at this time in this series, how you feel about yourself and your capabilities? CLAYTON KERSHAW: I think I've grown up a lot since last year. I think I got to experience it last year out of the bullpen. It's not obviously the same starting Game 1 of a series or anything like that, but just to have the experience to get out there and pitch against them a little bit, you know, is definitely going to help me out tomorrow. Q. We were just talking to Larry Bowa, who said as impressive as the Phillies' lineup is the key against them is to be aggressive and go after them. How do you do that as a pitcher? CLAYTON KERSHAW: Be aggressive. That's what I try to do every time. I'm not trying to sit up there and walk people, or try and pitch around someone else. You can't go out there with that mindset. No disrespect to that lineup. They've got a great lineup. Same eight guys are out there every day and they make the pitcher work. They have good at-bats and they score run. But the pitcher's job is just to go right after them with your best stuff, and if they beat you, tip your hat to them, but that's all I'm going to try and do. Q. Last year against the Phillies the series seemed to unravel when it seemed like a lot of you guys wouldn't pitch. The talk was the Dodger pitchers won't pitch inside the Phillies series. I don't know if you recall that or not. How important is it to pitch inside and to make them uncomfortable? CLAYTON KERSHAW: Same -- you can't pitch the same way every time to good hitters. It doesn't matter what team it is or anything like that. They've got some guys that you pitch in patterns or you pitch the same way, they're going to figure it out and get hits. You've got to establish both parts of the plate. You've got to be aggressive within the strike zone and sometimes out of the stroke zone. That's the way it works. Q. During the regular season you were 0 and 2 against the Phillies, your ERA was over 5. What specific adjustments when you look back at those games do you need to make for that start? CLAYTON KERSHAW: That was a long time ago. I think I've gotten better since then. I think I've figured some stuff out from the beginning of the season to now, and there's a lot of stuff obviously I have to change from those starts. But nothing specific or nothing that I can pinpoint, it's just go out there and pitch the way that I've been pitching the past couple times out and don't worry about what's happened in the past. I think that's the most important thing for me. Q. We hear a lot of times about what starters can do to make life easier for the bullpen or take a load off the bullpen. But with the depth and quality that you guys have in the bullpen, what does that do for you as a starter? CLAYTON KERSHAW: Well, our bullpen speaks for itself. There's not one guy in the pen that we don't have confidence in or that we say we can't give the ball to. As a starter, I don't really say that makes our job easier because we still try to go deep into the game no matter what, no matter who's back there. But at the same time if we do happen to come out of the game or anything like that, we definitely have confidence that they can get the job done, which has been a big help this whole season, and I think it won't change this series, either. Q. How do you think the start in the first round of the playoffs helps you this time around? CLAYTON KERSHAW: You know, just experience. I think just getting -- just starting a game in the playoffs. It's got to happen sometime, so I'm glad I got it under my belt, and excited for this next one. Should be fun. End of FastScripts |
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