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AL DIVISION SERIES: RANGERS v RAYS

October 10, 2010

Ron Washington

ARLINGTON, TEXAS: Game Four

Q. Wash, how much is the injury hampering Murphy?
RON WASHINGTON: Well, it didn't hamper him much yesterday. The move was precautionary. We've gone into the eighth defending six outs, and I just wanted to put fresh legs out there. So he's back in there today.

Q. Ron, do you subscribe to the old theory that momentum is today's pitcher?
RON WASHINGTON: Without a doubt. You know, you go through the process of playing baseball, and you're going to lose some ballgames. And I think if the next day's pitcher comes out and he has his game on, it could make a big difference. So you know we have Tommy going today, and we feel pretty good about it.

Q. What did you say to Tommy today? Anything in particular?
RON WASHINGTON: No. He knows what his job is. He's been preparing for this for a long time. So I mean, there's nothing I can tell him.

Q. Ron in terms of length, how many innings would you say a good outing for Tommy would be?
RON WASHINGTON: Nine. (Laughter). No, but if he can get us to the seventh inning, I think everything falls into place.
But you just can't predict this game. So we're going to give him the ball, and we hope he keep it as long as he possibly can.

Q. As solid as your bullpen has been all year with the leadership out there, do you have a pretty good feeling that they'll rebound from an uncharacteristic performance?
RON WASHINGTON: No doubt about it. As many games as you play, there will be days when things just don't fall into place. And once again, you have to give the Rays credit for what they did yesterday. We didn't get the job done. We certainly were in position to do just that, but we didn't get it done. So you move on.

Q. Have you replayed it at all in your mind? Do you think about what happened yesterday or have you moved on?
RON WASHINGTON: Well, you know, after the game you sit back and you replay things, and I wouldn't change a thing. Those guys that I put in there, we know what they are capable of doing. Maybe things would have been different, but they are only human. And the Rays are a very good team. You throw some balls in the wrong spot, they make you pay. You throw some balls in the wrong spot, they won't swing at it. They worked us out yesterday.

Q. Was Oliver's pitch an example of that? Normally he likes to come inside, maybe missed by an inch or two and that's the difference.
RON WASHINGTON: You know, as many outings as Darren has had, every now and then you are going to throw a pitch that's not going to go where you want it to go. I am almost certain he didn't want that pitch out over the plate that much, but it happened. And you have to give PeÃ±a credit for not missing it.

Q. Ron, in determining whether or not you would bring back Lee on short rest, was that something that Cliff himself was involved in the discussion, either him approaching you or you approaching him?
RON WASHINGTON: No, he was involved, but he has never done it before. As I said, we checked the history on that, and CC Sabathia is the only guy that has been consistent at it. There is only one of him.
So, you know, we have Tommy going today. For some reason if we don't get it done, we feel good about having Cliff available.

Q. Is there a noticeable difference in the Rays' lineup when they have the primarily left-handed hitters in versus the right-handed hitters?
RON WASHINGTON: No, I thought that yesterday if we would have hit all the spots like we did in the first two games, we'd have got the same results. But once again, they are Major League club. They won 90-something ballgames, 96, I think. They are resilient. They will fight. And yesterday they fought. They beat us.

Q. Any greater sense of urgency in that you just don't want to go back to Tampa?
RON WASHINGTON: You definitely don't want to go back to Tampa, but I don't think you go out there putting that type of pressure on you. You have to stay in the moment. We're planning on playing the game today for what it is, and hope when it is all over that it's in our favor. If it's not, we have to get on the plane and go to Tampa.

Q. Is C.J. an option today?
RON WASHINGTON: Yes, he is.

Q. Did you see a difference in the way that the club acted, your guys acted after yesterday opposed to the first two games in Tampa?
RON WASHINGTON: No, they acted the same way I have always seen them act. We lost, we understand why we lost. And we'll make some adjustments today and move forward.
THE MODERATOR: Okay, thank you very much.

End of FastScripts

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