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NL DIVISION SERIES: DIAMONDBACKS v BREWERS

October 1, 2011

Daniel Hudson

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN: Game One

Q. Kirk Gibson was just talking about how he looks at pitchers as athletes, and complete athletes. How is that music to your ears?
DANIEL HUDSON: Yeah, we all take pride in not just the stuff we do on the mound, we take pride in base running and at the plate, as well. We work hard on our starts and try to carry that on the field with us.

Q. (INAUDIBLE)
DANIEL HUDSON: 1 through 9 are pretty good. Obviously Braun and Fielder are in the middle. Weeks and Hart at the top, and the guys at the bottom, as well. The pitchers swinging the bat, as well. You've got to try to -- it's not whether or not they're going to score, it's just keeping them -- maintaining -- keeping them from the big inning is what's big.

Q. What are you looking forward to most tomorrow in your start?
DANIEL HUDSON: Just the anticipation of getting past -- over the anticipation of being, after for about six days, not being on the mound the last six or seven days. Just, obviously, this is what you play for, to get in the postseason. So for us to be here right now and for me to get that experience early on in my career means a lot.

Q. What are the things this year that you improved upon or developed to become a better pitcher?
DANIEL HUDSON: I think I went through a little bit of adversity in the beginning of the season. So I think going through that really helped me get to where I am right now. I started 0 and 4. I didn't really start off very well. Then I put on a decent stretch. Going through that helped me out. There's still things I've got to work on. Still things I've got to get better at. To be at this point in my career right now it's pretty cool.

Q. What do you think flipped the switch there to make the difference?
DANIEL HUDSON: Just I honestly don't even know. I was just telling myself to push through it, because it was such a long season. I was 0 and 4 after four starts, but I was telling myself I still had 29, 30 more to go through. I was just going to try to push through all the adversity I had and some tough luck there early on. So just try to tell myself to push through it and it would even out in the end.

Q. You talked about getting to start here in the playoffs early in your career, what about the difference playing here at Miller Park?
DANIEL HUDSON: Obviously they play so well here. They've won 50-some-odd games here at home. They fill the place. It's really loud here, especially if the roof is closed. It gets really loud. It's going to be a lot of fun.
It's going to be -- we're going to face some adversity. Like I said, the crowd is going to be loud. We've just got to try to keep that in the back of our minds and just kind of push through it.

Q. How do you manage the nerves and the butterflies?
DANIEL HUDSON: I don't know. Honestly, I don't even know what they're going to feel like, because I've never pitched in the postseason before. I'm pretty anxious to get out there and see what it's going to be like. I imagine it's not going to be too much different than your first couple of starts in your career, or your Major League debut. I can't imagine it's going to be too much different than that.

Q. How would you say Kirk and the coaches help you? We talked to Ian about that yesterday. And especially you said you got off to a slow start. How did they help you with your confidence or whatever you needed, maybe, as you went through the season?
DANIEL HUDSON: They just told me -- I didn't have any risk of losing a job. They just told me they're going to stick with me the whole time. They're going to push through it with me. This is such an individual game, it's good to get that team aspect behind you to know that everybody is behind you.
And like I said, I struggled at first, but they all said you're better than that, we know you're better than that, we know you're going to push through it and get us to where we need to be.

Q. How much has Charles Nagy influenced you and the rest of your staff, the first year of being a Big League pitching coach?
DANIEL HUDSON: I've said it countless times, I'm my own worst enemy on the mound. He can see that. When stuff starts going downhill, it's hard for me to stop and slow things down. He recognizes that, and he picks the right times to give me a little breather, give me a blow. So he picks the right time. He's definitely helped me to get where I am right now, and I wouldn't be here without him. We wouldn't be here without him.

Q. What's it like to throw to Miguel Montero, how is that relationship between pitcher and catcher?
DANIEL HUDSON: It's huge. He's got to trust me. I've got to trust him. We have to be on the same page every day. And we have been on the same page.
I can't even count how many times I've shook him off, on two hands, probably, this whole season. We've always been on the same page together. We go over the scouting reports before the game. He is smart, he works hard. I trust him, he trusts me. So it's been a lot of fun.

Q. I don't know if you'd call it resiliency, you started off tough, 0-4. You came back, this whole team attitude perhaps about when you're knocked down, dust it off, and get up. Would you say that is kind of the Diamondbacks' attitude, to come back and attack?
DANIEL HUDSON: Definitely. Every time we've been down in a game we never feel like we're out of it. And the numbers speak for themselves. They've shown them on TV plenty of times where the third or fourth time through the lineup our whole team is like 200 points higher than it is the first couple of times.
I know if I give up a couple of runs early, if I just keep the team in the game long enough to get the guys comfortable at the plate, they're going to pick me up in the end.
And not just me struggling, our whole team struggled earlier, 8 games under 500, in the last place. We looked around the locker room at each other, and said we're better than this, we know we're better than this. And let's see if we can pick it up and see where we are in a couple of weeks.

Q. How much is batting for you, part of your game? You've got some great numbers, and it seems like you really enjoy doing it.
DANIEL HUDSON: It's fun. Being able to go up to the plate, you know, every other inning or every third inning, it kind of takes your mind off the mound a little bit. It gives you something else you have to work at.
So it's not always what you're doing on the mound, it's not so much focus on that. It's knowing you can help the team in doing something else. Knowing that is a lot of fun. Like I said, us as a staff, we take pride in that. We try to help the team out as much as we can, if we get the chance.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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