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AL DIVISION SERIES: YANKEES v TWINS

October 7, 2010

Ron Gardenhire

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: Game Two

New York Yankees 5
Minnesota Twins 2

Q. Gardy, it was clear that Carl was a little flustered by the call on Berkman. After the double you went out there. What were your intentions when you went out to the mound at that time?
RON GARDENHIRE: Calm Carl down. Calm everything down on the mound and go from there.

Q. Just how upset were you by that strike call?
RON GARDENHIRE: Not at all, because -- what do you expect me to do?

Q. What was it that you said that got the ejection?
RON GARDENHIRE: Let's just talk about baseball here, all right. We didn't get it done tonight. They got it done. They got some hits. We played hard. We had our chances. We were in the ballgame. Carl was pitching his butt off, and it didn't work out for us. We had a bad inning out there for us. A couple of things didn't go our way. That's the way it is in these games.
The guys were fighting. The guys were trying hard. Pettitte threw really well against us. Used all of his pitches and we have seen it before. It was a tough loss for us, a tough night. And we've got a big hill to climb. It's not going to be easy, but it can be done. We've seen it done before and this club is never going to quit, and we will give them everything we have when we go to New York. And I am proud of the team for that. But it is very disappointing in front of our fans here to lose two ballgames.

Q. Ron, could you follow-up on Pettitte. Was he particularly sharp or did you think your guys were a little anxious?
RON GARDENHIRE: No, he was pretty good. Using the breaking ball, cutting the ball in, he had a great change-up. And he pitched effectively out of the zone, up and in, up and away. And you know what, he really didn't give into us. He threw the ball pretty doggone good.

Q. Ron, given your history with Hunter Wendelstedt --
RON GARDENHIRE: It has nothing to do with it. Hunter and I talked and we kind of straightened all our stuff away. Hunter, it has nothing to do with that at all, all right. I went out to make sure my guys were straight on what we were going to do next and make my side of the story known. I thought the ball was a strike, he didn't call it a strike and I wanted to make sure he knew that. But I wanted to get him away from my guys, because there are a lot of guys full of emotion at that time and I wanted Carl to concentrate. They were going to bomb over and get the outs. That's what I told my guys on the mound, and then I said what I said to stay.
Hunter and I, it has nothing to do with that. We cleared that stuff on all the other stuff behind us. We get along just fine, all right.

Q. Ron, Cuzzi's call on Mauer's hit last year against the Yankees and now this.
RON GARDENHIRE: I cleared the air with Cuzzi, too. Everything is fine. Everything is fine. It is baseball. It is the human element and it is the way it is in this game.
Sometimes they go your way and sometimes they don't.

Q. Do you have to reinforce it to your players? Is it fair they may feel snake bit?
RON GARDENHIRE: No, we have to figure out a way to beat the Yankees. We haven't done that very well. I think it is documented and my job is to figure out how we can go to New York and beat the Yankees. They're getting some big hits when they have to. They're playing good baseball right now, and we haven't got it done. We have to figure out a way to beat the Yankees when we go to New York and get back home.

Q. Ron, it is no secret Berkman hasn't had the year he had throughout his career. When you manage to keep the guys in middle of the lineup down and he beats you with a couple of big hits, is it deflating or how do you look at it?
RON GARDENHIRE: Berkman is a great player. Another guy you can bring in off the bench, DH him, do a lot of things. He has a track record and you make a mistake against a guy like that he's going to kill you. He has a track record. The guy can flat out hit. That's what the Yankees do, they built a line-up and then they built a bench. They can bring people in a guy sitting over there, a big right-hander, that hasn't played yet that is a pretty good player, too. They do those things. We know that. Berkman was over there and we got pitches out and over, and he stayed on two of them and drove the ball.

Q. You mentioned your fans, sometimes postseason fans act like they haven't been to a lot of games during the season. What can you say about your hometown fans, the way they get into this game?
RON GARDENHIRE: Our fans are into the game. They love this baseball team. They have a passion about Twins' baseball and it shows. When they come to the park, it's been that way all year long. Win, lose or draw they are still there at the end. And I know they are disappointed right now, as we all are. We have high expectations, but those can still be met. All we have to do is get after it in New York. They are as good as they get around here. I am telling you, they have been behind this club and backed us forever. And they will be with us through the bitter end.

Q. Ron, you said, "We have to figure out a way to beat the Yankees." Do you think within your clubhouse there is enough belief you can beat the Yankees?
RON GARDENHIRE: Yeah, that's kind of a sad question. You're questioning a Major League Baseball team there. We'll play, all right. We have a lot of heart. We have a good baseball team and that's kind of sad that you asked that question.

Q. Bottom four were I think 0-for-10. You got one sacrifice. Do you see guys at all pressing as the game goes forward? Or was it just great pitching by Pettitte and those guys?
RON GARDENHIRE: A little bit of both. He is pitching well, throwing the ball good. He is locating the ball. He had the ball breaking, a nice breaking ball, a change-up and moved it in and out and Posada does a great job behind the plate. He moves it in and out, controls the game well and he did it again tonight. Whether we are pressing or not, probably. We want to win ballgames. It happens. We have young hitters that are trying. The bottom line, Pettitte outpitched us tonight. He did a heck of a job against us.

Q. Gardy, can you talk about the pitching match-up and how you see it on Saturday?
RON GARDENHIRE: Finally baseball. Okay. You know what, tough at hand, Duensing has been there before. He is winning there and got after these guys. We know Hughes, we know he has great stuff. We will have to see what happens. Duensing opened the playoffs there last year. He's pitched very, very well for us. Another kid that handles the pressures and there's going to be some pressure out there. But I think our ballclub, we have to kind of let it fly. We'll see what happens. But we have got to let it all go out there and see what happens and take our shot.
We got nothing to lose now. We're in the hole. We have put ourselves in the hole and the Yankees have put us in a hole and we have to try to dig ourselves out and we will do the best we possibly can. And Duensing on the mound, we kind of like that.
THE MODERATOR: Okay. Thank you, Ron.

End of FastScripts

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