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AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: ANGELS v YANKEESOctober 21, 2009Mike SciosciaLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Workout Day THE MODERATOR: Questions for Mike Scioscia. Q. Given how many big games John Lackey has pitched, what kind of faith do you have in a guy who has been here before? MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, you know, to get to our goal, obviously, we've got to take this one step at a time. We can map it out. I think we're going to have good arms that can get us to where we want to be. It starts with John Lackey. Obviously, he has to go out there and give us a chance to win. We're very confident he's going to do that. He's done it before. We need to support him. We need some early runs in ballgames. John's the type guy that knows what to do with the lead, and hopefully we'll see that tomorrow. Q. You've played with a lot of good players and played against a lot of good players. What A-Rod has done in this postseason, where does this rank for you as far as a guy who is in an unbelievable zone? MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, there is no questioning what he's meant to that Yankee lineup through the Minnesota series and now our series, you know. He's as good as anybody has performed up to this point at any playoff. With the clutch hits, he's played terrific defense. He's doing everything for those guys. Obviously, we have to find a better way to contain him and to counter it. I don't know if Alex is as much of a difference maker as what we saw from Sabathia. I think we definitely need to do more in our batter's box, and that's really going to rely on our ability to have good approaches against their pitchers as opposed to just trying to contain Alex. That's going to have a big are impact on how this series moves forward. Q. You spoke last night about the limited number of times your club had been able to play with the lead in this series. How much did that change the dynamic of what's going on? To grab the lead early? MIKE SCIOSCIA: No doubt about it. The Yankees have played at a high level and been able to dictate terms of how this game unfolds with getting some early runs, getting on the board early. Getting to some power arms in their pen in Games 1 and 2. And obviously, on the mound they're doing a terrific job against us. That's not the way you're going to beat that club. Certainly we've, outside of the game yesterday, we've pitched very good baseball. I think that some things with some early runs could have, you know, even helped us a little bit more on some things we want to do on the mound. But you're not going to -- if you're always looking up the wrong end of a game with a team like the Yankees, you're not going to get it done. So we need to get out there early. Get some early runs. Get some leads, and then hold them. I think that's the only template that's going to work against a team like the Yankees. So we need to do a better job in the batter's box, absolutely. Q. You alluded to it a little bit there. But how much more difficult is it knowing that you don't really have a break as far as the on poaching pitcher goes. Specifically, you've got Burnett again tomorrow? MIKE SCIOSCIA: Wouldn't matter who you're playing in a Division Series or a Championship Series or a World Series, you're going to face tough pitching every night. That's why teams get this far. We have the ability to do I think to the Yankees what the Yankees have done to us so far on the mound with guys like John Lackey and Joe Saunders going again. And then having either Kazmir or Weaver following up in Game 7. Now these guys have the ability to shut down good offenses. We're obviously going to need that. So it's not going to be easy. It's not going to be easy for them to close this out. We want to play our game. This isn't done until the fourth game is won. We obviously have no margin of error, but we have to have confidence that we can go out there and get the game pitched from whatever starter is going to be out there in the next couple of games, the next three games to give our offense a chance to break out and win ballgames. Q. You are talking about getting some runs, certainly all of your players are talking about being more productive offensively. Is there anything that you have to do to make sure that they don't, you know, press or try to do more than what they're used to doing because they're thinking about it so much? MIKE SCIOSCIA: You go through bouts during the season with this. You know, the guys there could be some 2 for 20s, and 4 for 30's, all these guys go through. Everything's going to be magnified in a playoff environment for sure. Players handle pressing or handle slumps all the time during the season. I don't think they're changing anything that they're doing now because maybe they're struggling offensively. The only issue is the timeline is much tighter in the playoffs, and you don't have the 20 or 30 at-bats to find it like you might have in the regular season and maybe not skip a beat. So there is a sense of urgency that has to happen with every player, but it can't cross that line of where a player is up there, getting out of their game and expanding their zone, or getting too passive because they think they've been swinging at pitches that are out of the zone. There is a lot that goes into it. Each player has to find that balance. There is not one magic pill that all of a sudden helps a whole offense come together. Some of our guys are seeing the ball well, swinging the bat well, with not a lot to show for it. And some of our guys are really a ways away from where they need to be. We have to find it in a hurry, that's for sure. Q. How has John Lackey changed as a pitcher from when he first came to the Majors until now? MIKE SCIOSCIA: He's evolved in a couple of areas. One is his stuff. I think he's learned how to do more with the baseball, change speeds, maybe move it a little bit more. Where when he first came up he was really a power pitcher, fastball, breaking ball. I think that the experience has given him a lot of confidence. He's pitched for a long time with a lot of success. Pitched in playoffs and pitched well. So I think it's just that whole seasoning, that evolution from a young pitcher that has good stuff and maybe a little bit raw to a polished pitcher that can make pitches under any situation. I think that's what every pitcher wants to get to to let his talent, you know, dictate what's going to happen on the field. And John's very good at that. Q. You've been a team that throughout the regular season with runners in scoring position, this team has delivered. Throughout the series guys have gotten on, but when it comes time to cash them in and capitalize on those opportunities, you haven't. Can you pinpoint why and just how critical a factor that's been through four games? MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, it's critical, and it's probably why outside of last night's game, the Yankees also haven't broken out. I think we did a good job of pitching and containing them. But outside of Game 4. I think there's a number of reasons. We're facing good arms, and there's a lot of good arms down there that are a mix and match to make it a little more difficult to get a read on guys as games progress. And some of our guys are definitely not in their comfort zone of where they are at some points of the season to be swinging the bats like they're capable of right now. You know, that's something that's important to our offense. We don't hit home runs at the pace the Yankees do, but we certainly have gotten guys on base. In fact, I think we had more guys in scoring position than any team in baseball this year. So that's been a big part of our offense, and we need to keep pressuring them. Then cash in on the one or two opportunities maybe more than we have right now that are going to swing the tide of a game. You know, it's important for us to get out in front, get leads. If you're not hitting home runs, you better get guys on base and then come through with some hits when they're on base, and it can change the complexion of the game for us. Q. When a club has had as much success as yours in the previous regular seasons and this year in the Division Series against Boston, does a 3-1 deficit like this look like a serious challenge but nothing like Mount Everest? MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, every game is going to present challenges. You know, the Yankees are obviously closer than we are to getting to the next level. But they're not there yet. And they're going to have challenges that we're going to bring on the field that they're going to have to overcome. Although obviously we don't have the margin of error that they do right now, you know, this game tomorrow will be -- we're going to present as many challenges as they're going to present to any team trying to win this game. So it's really where you are right now as far as down 3-1 or up 3-1. Both teams have to, and are going to go out there and try to win tomorrow. No second chances for us, obviously. But as you start to build momentum back into your favor and play better, those challenges you bring on the field become stronger and stronger, and that's what we need to do. Q. When you talked yesterday about the lack of stolen bases, you said your guys still have to be aggressive in other areas of base running. Have they been as aggressive as you'd like to see when they've had those opportunities? MIKE SCIOSCIA: We haven't had many opportunities. I don't think the -- the Yankees are doing a terrific job of trying to contain just the stolen base. Our first to thirds, we haven't had a lot of opportunities to come up to where we've had opportunities to do that. So our offense is not pressuring those guys the way we need to. There's a lot of aspects of it. Right now our batter's box offense is not letting us get into some good scoring opportunities. So we need to bring that offense on to the field to get one of the first two hitters every inning on base. That's been important to us. Again, we don't drive the ball at the pace the Yankees do, so our offense is built a little bit differently than their offense is, and they've been able to contain it very well so far. And we need to break out of it. Q. Just a thumbnail sketch on Burnett. What's it take to get out in front of a guy like that especially with this much on the line? MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, I don't think there is any big secret of how you have to go against good pitchers. If a guy's pounding the zone, obviously you've got to make adjustments and maybe get aggressive on some of the early count pitches that are maybe in your favor. If he's a little wild, obviously, you're going to have to make him prove he can get the ball in the zone. I think getting guys on bases is important to get some of these guys out of the stretch. We haven't been able to do that on a consistent basis the way we need to. Burnett's tough. He's got as good a fastball-breaking ball combination as there is in the game. But there are, you know, some things that we can do from an offensive standpoint to get more pressure on these guys and we have to bring that out. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. End of FastScripts |
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