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MLB WORLD SERIES: RANGERS v GIANTSOctober 27, 2010Tim LincecumFreddie SanchezSAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: Game One Texas Rangers 7 Q. Could you talk about those first couple innings. It looked pretty shaky there, particularly the play at third. What were you thinking? TIM LINCECUM: Yeah, a little bit of a brain fart there, not really knowing the situation. Obviously those aren't the kind of situations you want to be in. But we got out of it with just that one run. But after a couple innings the team gave me a chance to kind of settle down, scored their runs, and gave me a chance to just kind of get into my mode there for a few innings. Q. The spark that Sanchez provided you with those three doubles in his first three at-bats, how much of an effect did that have on your team? TIM LINCECUM: It had a big-time effect, I'd say it just kind of kept the hits kind of coming when we scored the first two runs. I think that got us a little bit more motivated and fired up and hitters started getting their pitches, putting balls where guys weren't and just scoring runs. Q. Could you talk a little bit about Juan Uribe and what he's meant to this club. Seems like every time you need a big hit he delivers. TIM LINCECUM: Yeah, even outside his hitting he's been making big plays on defense, too. We saw one of those today, shortstop. So yeah, he's just coming up with the big hit, whether it's the go-ahead run or just the big run in general. He's done it. He's just kind of an unspoken guy, but coming up big on the field. Q. For Freddie, is there something to the approach that you have that you knew you might be able to have some luck against Lee, or what was going on today? FREDDIE SANCHEZ: I mean, you never know going in against a pitcher like that. You never think you're going to have success against a pitcher like that. We knew that he throws a lot of strikes and he gets ahead early, and I just tried to see the ball deep, and if you take a couple pitches and all of a sudden you're down 0-2. So just tried to attack early, swung at the first pitch of the game. Got it off the end. After that I just tried to see it and put the ball in play and fortunately enough was able to find some hits. Q. Seems like since the beginning of the post-season you're swinging the bat well, had a couple of warning-track shots, had a couple of line drives. Do you feel like it's coming together now? FREDDIE SANCHEZ: Yeah, I think that's a fair statement because at the beginning of the post-season I was feeling real anxious and not relaxed at the plate, and as the post-season went on I started to get more comfortable and started to find my swing a little bit. So definitely I think as the post-season got on, I think I've felt more comfortable and relaxed at the plate. Q. Tim, you said you had a brain fart at third. You thought there were two runners coming in? TIM LINCECUM: Yeah, pretty much. Q. Also, did you feel, and Fred talked about being nervous at the beginning of the playoffs. Did you feel some sort of tension or nervousness that you didn't feel before? TIM LINCECUM: Maybe a little bit because it is the World Series. It's a first for a lot of us and different kind of atmosphere. But you try to use what you've been through these last couple series with us to help you through it, and obviously I just kind of got outside of myself there, and like I said, made that brain fart. Q. Freddie, aside from what you did for the team, the spark you provided, did you realize that you're the first player in history to get doubles in your first three at-bats in a World Series game? FREDDIE SANCHEZ: I didn't know that until someone told me. I think it's crazy to have my name up there with all the guys that have played in the World Series that have done that before. I think it's -- obviously for no one to have done that yet, I think it's something special. For just a little guy like me to go out there and be able to do it. But getting the win was the most important thing, but that's something special and something I can enjoy along with the win. Q. Tim touched on this, but how do you explain the weirdness of this game? This is not what anyone was expecting, this kind of game tonight. FREDDIE SANCHEZ: I think it's just baseball. That's the only thing you can say. This is a crazy game. One day you do great things, next day you don't do anything right. I mean, it's just one of those deals where it's just baseball, and fortunately enough for us, we were able to come out on top tonight. You know, it was a back-and-forth battle. We didn't quit when they got up and they didn't quit when we got up. I think it's going to be a tough battle this series, and hopefully it'll be fun and exciting. Q. Tim, how much did the double play go to settling you down? And was there a particular hitter where you said, okay, I feel like I'm in a little bit of a groove now? TIM LINCECUM: Yeah, I mean, just any big out during this game was big for me. I didn't feel like I had all my stuff there today. I just was kind of battling myself, hitting spots, balls up in the zone a lot. But outside of that, if you get in tough situations like that, you just try to worry about that next pitch. We got that double play, but -- yeah, I don't know. Q. Freddie, you talked about the apprehension you had at the start of this post-season. Did you have to slow it down a little bit? How do you get yourself in a better spot in a big moment, especially a big moment like this? FREDDIE SANCHEZ: Well, you know, I love being up in a big situation, game on the line, that's regardless -- everyone wants to be in that situation. You're not always going to come through obviously, but when you do, it feels good. But as far as that goes, I just -- there were things in my swing that I needed to adjust early on, just getting real anxious, real big, and so that's what I tried to do. I tried to just relax at the plate. I don't think it had anything to do with being obviously nervous or anything like that, I think it was just more just anxious, just a little bit -- just trying to do too much, you know what I mean, instead of staying within myself. Q. You were one of the better hitters in the National League against left-handers, do you see the ball better against guys pitching lefty? And you've got C. J. Wilson again tomorrow. FREDDIE SANCHEZ: No, I didn't even know that, to be honest with you. I mean, I just try to go up there, and when I'm not feeling good, I feel like anybody can get me out. When I'm feeling good, I feel like I can hit anybody. That's just baseball. I don't really look at it as me hitting good against lefties. I don't care if a lefty or righty is on the mound, I just go up there and try to keep the same approach, and I was just able to find some holes today. Q. I'd like to ask Freddie, the psychological victory you get by beating this dominant ace who's never lost in post-season history. And Tim, for you, can you talk about what it means to get a World Series win in your World Series debut. TIM LINCECUM: Yeah, when you get here and you get to the playoffs you start to realize that it's not so much about your stats or if you get a hit here, it's just who comes out on top at the end of the day. When you pull out a win like this where both teams are scrapping like that, a lot of changes in the game, a lot of excitement in the game, a lot of things can go wrong. Obviously things kind of nipped away at us, but we came out on top and shut them down. Q. And Freddie, the psychological victory over a dominant pitcher like Cliff who's never lost in the World Series or post-season play before? FREDDIE SANCHEZ: Yeah, I mean, obviously he's one of the best pitchers in the game, been unhittable in the post-season. But I don't think there's anything psychological to that. I think we were able to put the bat on the ball today and find some holes. I think that's really what it boiled down to. Guys were able to step up and have good at-bats and tried to work the pitch count and put the ball in play. As far as the psychological stuff goes, I don't look too far into that at all. Q. Tim, if both you and Freddie could address this one: This was a much different team when you started the season, you weren't playing, Buster wasn't here, Burrell wasn't here, Cody wasn't. How much of a difference did that make when those guys came along and sort of picked things up and how much different is your ballclub than in April? FREDDIE SANCHEZ: Yeah, like you said, I didn't even pick up a bat during Spring Training. I was rehabbing. Really wasn't even with the team. I was in the clubhouse all day, and when they broke camp it was tough. I had to watch it on TV. And like you said, Buster wasn't here, Pat wasn't here, Cody wasn't here, Fontenot wasn't here, Lopez. We added some great pieces throughout the year, and obviously they made some great moves and they all paid off. We have such a diverse group of guys and diverse group of personalities in our clubhouse but everyone gets together, we just want to win. Everybody just wants to win. We have fun in the clubhouse and I think we take that on the field. So definitely we felt like we had a good team when we broke camp, when the guys broke camp, but you know, adding big pieces obviously helped out tremendously. Q. Tim, I don't know how you would describe this, but I've seen you do this before when you got off to a rough start and you get in a groove and you get a big out and a double play and you get the lead and things start going well. Was this the same as that when it has happened several times during the regular season, or how different is that because it's the World Series? TIM LINCECUM: Yeah, I mean, like you said, you try to approach every single one of these games as if it's a regular game. You don't need the added pressure. You just go out there and try to keep yourself collected. As far as the struggles go in those first couple innings, it did feel a lot like some of those games were just going to sneak away, is it not? Am I going to have time to settle down? Is the team going to score? You ask yourself those. But, like I said, when you get here you stop worrying about the statistics and you start worrying about the next inning and throwing up the zero and whatever you can do to help the team win. It's a little different because you're not hanging on every number, you're just hanging on that win. Q. Piggybacking off his question to you, Tim, what is it in detail that you told yourself today after a rough start just to get back in the flow of things? TIM LINCECUM: Just try to keep the team in it. Like I said, I got into some tough spots trying to figure out how I'm going to get through the lineup again and not get hurt too bad. Giving up four hits in the first two innings, you try to think about how you're going to approach this guy, how you're going to pitch this guy, did that not pitch not even work, is it working today, and you start second-guessing yourself. They allowed me to kind of get myself together by scoring those two big runs and creating a lot of momentum for us. Q. Freddie, by your second double did you know you were hot at that point? Were you feeling a groove? FREDDIE SANCHEZ: No, I mean, I think my first double I got it off the end and went down the line. I broke my bat. But yeah, after the second double I felt like I was seeing the ball better than I had all post-season, and that helped, just being able to see the ball and recognizing, not swinging at everything, balls in the dirt, just trying to get a pitch that I can hit. I felt like I started seeing the ball better after that second hit. Q. You took a couple of balls off your leg, and I was just wondering, could you describe both those plays and how do you feel? TIM LINCECUM: Fine. Just sometimes those quick come-backers you can't gauge whether or not they're coming 100 miles an hour or a one-hopper coming 50. So obviously I looked a little funky out there trying to catch the ball along with my emotions. I didn't get a chance to get out of the way. Both hit me in the leg, one on the front of the left shin and the other on the back of the left hamstring. Q. We've watched so many different guys take turns being the hero, Ross, Uribe, on and on and on. What do you think as this is going on? Do you assume your turn will come? FREDDIE SANCHEZ: It doesn't really matter to me, especially like Timmy said, in the post-season your stats don't matter. It doesn't matter what you're hitting. It matters if you win, and being a two-hole hitter I've got to give myself up a lot. I've got to sac bunt, move the runners over to second, things like that. I'm not trying to be the hero. If I can be the hero and get a bunt down to move two guys over for the guys behind me, I'll take that. I might not get the headlines for the bunt, but the guys behind me will get the headlines for driving in the runs and we'll get the win. I'm not worried about being a hero. I'm just trying to help put our team in a position to obviously win ballgames, and like I said, if that's a bunt, hitting behind guys, moving guys over, then that's what I'm going to do. Q. This is for both of you: What was that like in the dugout in the fifth inning as you guys kept getting on base and scoring? You guys haven't had an inning that big in a long time. What was that like in the dugout as that was happening? And what was your personal highlight of that inning watching it? FREDDIE SANCHEZ: I mean, obviously it felt good. It felt good scoring runs. Anytime we get runs on the board and try to take the pressure off of our pitchers. Obviously Timmy said he didn't have his best stuff tonight, but he kept us in the game. There's not a lot of times when pitchers don't have their best stuff and still keep you in the ballgame, and that's what he did. Timmy has been a bulldog and warrior for us all year. It's not too often he doesn't have his good stuff, but he kept us in the game. To go out there and score some runs for our pitching staff and Timmy and try to take some pressure off of them just felt good. TIM LINCECUM: Yeah, I mean, for me it was exciting just watching the two runs just to get us back to a tied game. We started scoring more on top of that, and it just started -- you start seeing the possibilities what can happen, especially against a pitcher like that, Cliff, where you don't see that stuff happen, you don't see him get into too many jams. It's more exciting for us and for the team in the dugout. Q. Freddie, just piggybacking about your injury and everything, your rehab, I don't think you came back, was it May in Arizona where you rejoined the team? How gratifying is this knowing what you went through to get back to this point? FREDDIE SANCHEZ: I mean, it definitely feels good. Obviously anybody who knows me that's close to me knows it's been a long road from the day I got traded over here until now. I just feel blessed. I thank the man above every day for blessing me and keeping me healthy and strong after coming back from my injuries and still keeping me on the field. It was a tough road, you know, so it definitely does feel good to -- I'm still not where I need to be obviously strength-wise and physically, but I'm good enough, and I can't thank the man upstairs enough for at least helping me in this situation and keeping me going. Q. Tim, the two come-backers that hit you, did you need any kind of treatment after the game? Do you think you'll need to do anything? TIM LINCECUM: No, just a little bit of ice and a compression sleeve and that was it. End of FastScripts |
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