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AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: ANGELS v YANKEES

October 19, 2009

Mike Scioscia

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Game Three

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Mike Scioscia.

Q. In the last couple of months how has Kazmir fit in here, and what do you expect out of him tomorrow?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: Kaz has fit in very well. Not only with the guys in the clubhouse, but the how important he's been to our rotation, which has had an off -- another effect has been our bullpen has aligned itself with a much better role. So Scott's brought a lot. He'll be ready to go tomorrow.

Q. Based on your comments last couple of days, the big variable for you here is not the performance of the Yankees, but the performance of your own club; is that right?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, absolutely. I think if a team's playing well, it's going to be reflected in maybe some of the things the other team can't do. Some of the things we haven't done, you know, you have to give the Yankees some credit on the way they've pitched, obviously.
But we can do more. We can hopefully, you know, expand our game a little bit. We're going to have to.

Q. You seem very even keeled, if that's a correct assessment. Where does that come from, and why down 0-2 do you try to project that?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, inside I'm not, so (smiling). No, I mean, I don't know. I don't know where anything comes from. I do know is my experience as a player, one guy in particular really I just watched in the dugout was our bench Coach Monty Basgall who was with Tommy Lasorda for a long time. He would be coming to the dugout and say, hey, I got to think the game. I can't play for you guys.
It's kind of the position. You have to separate yourself from living and dying with every pitch, which obviously I think all of us do, and having the ability to just think back, think situations through.
You know, at times it's tough, but it's something that's helped me to at least keep the decision process in the right direction.

Q. You were talking about you have to think the game, you can't play for the guys. But what do you need to provide them right now? How do you frame this moment for them?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: There's certainly -- there's a positive feeling in our clubhouse. It's not a position you want to be in down two games, but it's where you are. I also know going into a series that you have to win four.
These type series, they change in a heartbeat. One win, one good inning, this is something that gives you momentum that can get you going in the right direction, and that's what we have to keep our focus on. You really have to get down to the at-bat, at-bat, pitch by pitch, mentality and hopefully build some momentum.
Our guys are very comfortable and confident that we're going to be able to do that. So I think everyone knows what the end result is, where you want to end up. You have to focus on the process to get there, and that's where our guys are.
We have a lot of confidence in Jered on the mound. We have a lot of confidence in what we need to do on the field and can do on the field. And we need to really focus on our game and what we can do, and hopefully move forward from there.
So I don't think there's any unusual sense of urgency that would lead to guys going out there trying to do too much. But, sure, you know what you're up against when you're down two games and what you need to accomplish. But now you need to focus on the steps to get there, and that's what our guys are going to do.

Q. About the Kazmir acquisition, what exactly were the circumstances that made getting him so desirable at that time?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, Scott was a guy we were tracking for a long time. You know, he started off the season, wasn't really throwing to his capabilities. Probably the three or four starts before we acquired him he was lights out. At the time in our rotation we were -- we had some guys that were young and maybe not quite ready for the challenge of a pennant race and what we wanted to do beyond the pennant race.
When he became available, he became really a good fit for what we thought that we needed. He's, you know, he really threw the ball well for us since we got him through the month of September. And hopefully he'll come up big in the playoffs, too.

Q. When you see Vlad struggle like he did the other night, do you even think about moving him down in the order or anything like that?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, if there were ways to reshuffle a deck that was going to make you more productive, certainly it's something we would look at. Right now I think there's a lot of focus on Vlad. But we've got a lot of guys we need to get into their game on the offensive side swinging bats.
So if there was some pieces to really reshuffle some guys that were really killing the ball, some guys that we said, hey, we need to get these guys in more of an RBI situation, of course we'd consider it. That's not the case right now. I think whenever you start swinging the bat well and you have some options, you would consider it. Right now we have a lot of guys that need to get into their game, and reshuffling this is not going to have a positive impact at this stage right now.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Mike.

End of FastScripts

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