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MLB WORLD SERIES: RANGERS v GIANTSOctober 27, 2010Bruce BochySAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: Game One Texas Rangers 7 Q. Winning the first game in any series is really important, but to win the way you did tonight against Cliff Lee, doesn't that really build your confidence? BRUCE BOCHY: Well, it is something that hopefully the hitters can build on. You get confidence like that. We faced a great pitcher tonight and he wasn't quite on top of his game, and Timmy wasn't quite as sharp, either. It's not quite the game we thought it would be. But certainly a huge game for us, and we needed the runs. We had some great at-bats there, some two-out hits, and Juan's home run helped give us some cushion there. We're not a team that tries to slug it with other teams, but today they threw out some great at-bats. Q. Do you consider Sanchez with the three doubles early the spark plug of the game? BRUCE BOCHY: Yeah, I'd have to say that. I mean, what a game he had offensively. You know, it just seemed like he got contagious there with his at-bats, and the confidence grew with the offense. We just clicked on all cylinders tonight, and it took that because they had some good at-bats, too, and we were fighting back to get in the game. But we held on. You have to look at Casilla, too, what he did, came in and stopped the rally and gave us great effort there. Q. Freddie is a guy who hadn't been in the playoffs before this season, any question in your mind that he would be a guy who could step up in a moment like this against a pitcher like Cliff Lee? BRUCE BOCHY: Freddie is a great player. I mean, this guy did win the batting title one year. He can hit, and he can hit good pitching, and he showed that tonight, and really throughout the playoffs. I know he's having fun with this. He hasn't been in this situation as a couple of them haven't, but certainly was a catalyst tonight for us. He jump started us, no getting around that. But this guy can hit. Q. For a team that at times has struggled to score runs, does a game like tonight lift the confidence and mindset into other games, or do you have to -- BRUCE BOCHY: Well, hopefully you build on it. Say for me it was nice. We have a lot of these, and to score runs the way we did, like I said, we just had some quality ABs there and his pitch count got up and had some big two-out hits. But it is something that I think the hitters should feel good about, especially when you're going against a guy who's probably the hottest pitcher in post-season, and threw out the at-bats that we did tonight. Q. Did the left side of your infield sort of throw out a life preserver to get Lincecum through those early innings? BRUCE BOCHY: Yeah, it wasn't a very auspicious start there for Timmy. The play on third and I think he thought two runners were on third and just walked it back. The key is he stayed out of the big inning, and Juan got a huge double play. He made a couple nice plays down there, Edgar did, and our defense saved us, because early we were out of sync, and Timmy was a little bit. It took him a couple innings to get settled in. Q. Mentioning back to the play at third where Tim didn't tag him and then Sanchez got doubled off of second, against Cliff Lee what was the level of concern when you're making some mistakes like that early when you usually haven't been? BRUCE BOCHY: Well, we know as a club we need to execute, and we hate to give extra outs. We got away with it tonight, we know it. But you know what, you move on, and that's what's important. It's not that it happened, you put it behind you, and Timmy did. He got a huge double play after that mistake. And the club itself, I thought, we were two runs down, they went up eight and battled against a very tough pitcher. Q. Any concern about having to use so many relievers toward the end of the game? BRUCE BOCHY: No, to be honest they needed work. We've had some time off, and I think a couple of them have some rust on them. It's tough for relievers at this time of year because you're getting a lot of days off. They're not getting that consistent work that they get during the season. I was actually happy that they got in the game and got some work and didn't go well there in the ninth, but Wilson has had some time off, so it was probably good for him to get a couple outs there. Q. Back to Freddie, I think he's hitting over .500 the last six games. Is there something in his approach that you're seeing that's different, anything you can pinpoint? BRUCE BOCHY: No, more than anything he's a good hitter, he's seeing the ball well. He's just getting some good swings off, and when good hitters get in that zone as we talk about, they're probably going to get their hits. And tonight he was in that zone and got some good swings and really got us going. That's what it takes, one guy sometimes, to just build that confidence up with the offense. Again, you're getting two runs down, so you need somebody to get you going, and Freddie did it. Q. Do you think the Giants' hitters saw something with the way Cliff was pitching early on that gave them a sense of encouragement that they were going to get to him? BRUCE BOCHY: I think more than anything it just goes to show you great pitchers sometimes they're a little bit off. Hopefully when they are, you take advantage of mistakes, and we did it tonight. Again, it's quality at-bats, they mount up, and pitch count, things like that. But he's done a tremendous job for them. Again, he's the hottest pitcher in the post-season, but there's nothing that the hitters saw or anything. You know, he just probably wasn't quite hitting his spots like he normally does. Q. Did Lincecum get hurt at all with that line drive? BRUCE BOCHY: No, he's fine. Timmy is fine. He was just at that point, and once he gave up the last hit there, I knew it was time to go get him. Q. At times you've had to talk to the team about being more patient at the plate. How much of getting Cliff Lee to 100 pitches when he did was your team being more patient? How much of it was the way he was pitching tonight? BRUCE BOCHY: You know, we have some hitters now with our new additions, Pat Burrell, I know he struck out a couple times, but Posey I'll throw in there, too, Huff, these guys are patient hitters. Even though you may not get a hit, but it's the at-bat that can help out. Even Torres the first at-bat of the game, those are big, and they add up. Especially when you're facing a good pitcher, and that's what you're hoping to do, make him work a little bit harder, and our hitters did a great job of it tonight. End of FastScripts |
