NL DIVISION SERIES: ASTROS v BRAVES

October 9, 2004

Morgan Ensberg

MORGAN ENSBERG: I think immediately following the shot that I took, and I don't remember the date of that, but essentially the next day I was pretty much ready to go. I think he caught us right in the middle of a 12-game winning streak. To put me in, hadn't played for about three weeks, when Mike Lamb was hitting upwards of .380, would have been ridiculous. We were riding the wave. Mike was playing great. But my back itself was fine the whole time.

MORGAN ENSBERG: Yeah, I think that that's been something we've been doing for the last month and a half. Our back has been against the wall for six months. We started off playing very poorly. Right in the middle there we started to battle back. I think you saw guys doing a better job of having a better idea, trying to fight, trying to scratch, foul off a pitch, hope that the pitcher misses, drive a ball. I think when you get an entire team doing that offensively you're going to run into some opportunities there. And really all it is is fouling off the bad pitch and hoping for the pitcher to miss so you can capitalize on it.

MORGAN ENSBERG: I think there's no question that the crowd is a factor. When they are that loud, yeah, we respond to it. We feel good about that. You feel like you've got a bunch of people behind you. You feel positive, it is something that is very positive. I think you're playing as the pitch comes, you don't hear a thing. I have no idea what would be going on, just like if I was on defense right as the ball goes across the plate, as you're getting set, you don't hear it. I tell you what, I think the opposing pitcher feels it. I think the opposing pitcher hears it. And, you know, right before he was supposed to pitch, I'm sure he tunes it out, too. Up until that point, you have 43,000 people screaming and supporting us. Yeah, I think that's definitely a huge factor.

MORGAN ENSBERG: Speaking for myself, of course, I don't look to this as winning the series, you know. Somehow that seems like we're getting ahead a little bit. I think I look more so at what's going on exactly at the time. We feel very good when Roger is on the mound, obviously. The guy is a miracle. He's consistent. He's been consistent all year. He's been a guy that's just put us in a spot to win virtually every single start. So we feel very confident when he's up on the mound, and, you know, I just don't think of it in terms of winning the series; I think of it more in terms of we have a job to do right now, stay in the moment.

MORGAN ENSBERG: I think Backe has done an incredible job. He answers the bell every single time. He came up a few games ago, he gets three-hour notice, goes out there and wins the game for us, coming out today and does an incredible job, also. He's a guy who I think, again, is mirroring what our team is doing. He's not giving in. He's getting ahead of the batters. He's putting pitches where he wants to put them and that's making him very effective. He's got very good stuff but is a competitor. I think he's really mirroring what the entire team is doing.