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MLB WORLD SERIES: RANGERS v GIANTS

October 31, 2010

Ron Washington

ARLINGTON, TEXAS: Game Four

Q. Given that Josh Hamilton missed so much time in September, do you think he's just now finding his groove again? He's got five home runs in the post-season but now he looks like his old self again.
RON WASHINGTON: Yeah, I think he's beginning to feel more comfortable. I think he has an idea now exactly what they're trying to do, and he's laying off pitches that earlier he may have been swinging at. And it takes at-bats. I mean, he missed a month. You have a guy with less talent, I don't think he would have caught up as fast as Hamilton has. He's a very talented kid.
He's aware of what they're trying to do now, and I think he's making good adjustments, so I would have to say that his rhythm is back.

Q. Your bullpen finished second in the American League in saves and ERA this year. How big was it for them to come back and do what they did last night after struggling the night before?
RON WASHINGTON: Well, it was huge because they're guys we depend on. There's certain parts of the game that they know they will get the ball, and as soon as they can get back out there and regain themselves, the better it's going to be for us. It was nice to have O'Day come in and do what he did, and it was even nicer to have Feliz finally touch the rubber and do what he did.
It means a lot because our bullpen comes into play a lot.

Q. You have not really asked anybody to do anything in the post-season that they really didn't do during the regular season. You've been very loyal to guys about that and their roles and what they are. Where does that come from and your feeling about sticking with guys and the roles they've had?
RON WASHINGTON: Well, it comes from the fact that that's what's on my roster. Those are the guys that got us where we are, and I can't readily just jump away from what they expect to happen during the course of a ballgame because that's the only way they can execute what they have to execute as a pitcher. So that's my roster. That's what I have.
At some point every single guy down there will have to come in and do a job, and I just want to have them ready and let them know that I believe in them, and that helps them to maintain belief in themselves.

Q. What was the most amazing thing you ever saw in Nelson Cruz in terms of showing strength hitting a baseball, whether it was in a game or in batting practice?
RON WASHINGTON: Well, I saw him in San Francisco almost hit the Coke bottle. He has tremendous power. You know, more than anything else, he's learned to use the other part of the field this year, and I think that's helped him with his success. But nothing Nelly does and now hard he hits the ball, we've been seeing that for quite a while. You know, example, that line drive he hit at Renteria last night. Renteria has some of the most honest hands that you ever want to see in the game, and that ball went through him.
One year I was playing shortstop in Minnesota and Dave Winfield was at the plate, and he hit a line drive to me at shortstop and I jumped up to catch it and my glove and everything went into left field. So I know what Renteria felt right there.

Q. When was that that you almost saw him hit the Coke bottle?
RON WASHINGTON: During BP in San Francisco. I think it was during Game 2 when he was taking BP.

Q. For you what was the essential difference between Tommy Hunter's success in the season and his two starts in the post-season that didn't go well?
RON WASHINGTON: Command of his fastball. When Tommy can command his fastball and keep it out of the middle of the plate, then his other pitches come into play. He has a tremendous breaking ball, he has a good change-up, he can cut the ball, but the command of his fastball is key. If he can command that, then he can get those hitters off his other stuff. But if he can't command the fastball and put it where he wants to and get strike one and able to just shove it inside to hitters, then he has to play with the middle of the plate. He's not a power pitcher. He's a pitcher that relies on command.

Q. A number of your players last night after you guys won your first game at home said that the momentum has shifted. Do you feel that way and do you feel that about your team and being home and trying to take advantage of that?
RON WASHINGTON: Well, the old clichÃ© is your momentum is only as good as your next day's pitcher. We finally got a chance to play the type of baseball we like to play. It was a very crisp game we played last night on every end, and that's the way we've been playing until the World Series started. We had some little hiccups in San Francisco, but it was nice to get back to feeling like we can go out there and now play our type of game. And last night we did. But tonight we're going to have to do it again. And I think we're going to have to do it from here on out. But it's nice that we finally put one together, and hopefully a domino effect can happen.
But momentum is only as good, again, as the next day's pitcher. If Tommy goes out there tonight and is able to execute and do his thing, then I think we'll be in good shape.

Q. In the opener did you see anything early from Lee that told you he's not quite right tonight?
RON WASHINGTON: No, I didn't. You know, the third inning was a big inning there in that first game when we didn't make a couple plays, and he ended up extending himself in that inning. And Cliff Lee is a thoroughbred. Once he gets on that rubber, it's come, come, come, it's charge, charge, charge, and you know, to throw 32 pitches and then come back the next inning and put another 20-something up there, I just think it took a lot out of him.
But as he said, if you don't put the ball where you want to, Major League hitters get it. There's a couple pitches he wanted someplace else, they weren't, and he just got hit.
But no, Cliff Lee is fine. He's only human. He's been so great, so when he's not great, it just opens him up for questions. No, he's fine.

End of FastScripts

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