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AL DIVISION SERIES: RANGERS v RAYS

October 3, 2011

Ron Washington

TAMPA, FLORIDA: Game Three

THE MODERATOR: Okay. Ron Washington is here. We'll get started.

Q. Ron, you had some success against David Price in recent times and back to last year. Something that can give your guys some confidence or something we know he can turn it on at some point?
RON WASHINGTON: Well, it does give you confidence but it doesn't mean anything. You have to play the game between the lines. There's a lot of things that can happen in a ballgame that maybe you can't control, so we are confident that we can go out and compete against him, but I don't think we can say what's going to happen until nine innings are over.

Q. Ron, after the last game you were talking about guys coming in to pitch relief and they were gotten for that purpose. As far as your bullpen before and after the trading deadline, how bad was the situation prior to these acquisitions? And how I improved is it now?
RON WASHINGTON: Well, we really didn't have roles over than Neffy and Darren Oliver coming in and doing things. And at that point of the season, we was giving the ball to Darren Oliver with some regularity, and acquiring Uehara and Mike Adams, we acquired them for certain parts of the ballgame. And then roles began to get set.
And that's important that a guy can sit down there and know at this time in the game it's for me. And I give the ball to him. You always want to keep them in a positive mental state, and that's the whole purpose.
Right now I feel like we can shorten the ballgame. If we can get a lead through six and we have to remove our starter, I feel good about the seventh, eighth and ninth. You know, earlier in the season, as I said, it was almost every night Darren Oliver was in the ballgame. So it certainly helped us set up roles for guys down there.

Q. Ron, Harrison's pitched really well down the stretch. And you look at his whole season, how do you feel he evolved as a pitcher and as his first full season in that rotation?
RON WASHINGTON: I think he has done an awesome job for us. Last year he was in the starting rotation, in the bullpen, and he didn't make our playoff roster last year. And this year he played a big part in our returning here with the opportunity to play in postseason. And he certainly has shown that he has the ability to go out there and keep his team in the ballgame, which is what we ask of all of our starters pitchers, just to keep us in the ballgame, give us an opportunity, and he certainly has done that along with the rest of those kids.
We're very pleased with him. He got him in the first ballgame because that's the first time, also, for him to feel what it's like to be in a big stage, so be on a big stage and go out there and try to recognize it is the same. If you hit your spots and hit your pitches, good things can happen. So when we give him the ball in the next ballgame, we feel very confident that he will do the one thing that we always ask: Keep us in the ballgame.

Q. Wash, you said you feel like Nelson Cruz is getting close. What do you see that gives that you confidence?
RON WASHINGTON: It is passes. He is taking better passes at the ball. He is more balanced up there. You know, he's not swinging as wild. He's not chasing as many pitches. And we certainly need Nelson to get locked in. And he had a tough chore coming back off his hamstring, not being able to go out on rehab. He had to face some of the best pitchers in the American League to try to get himself back in to where we need him to be.
And with each game he see pitches, he's getting close, and I expect him to break out here pretty soon.

Q. Back in April, I believe, Matt had a situation where bases were loaded, a couple of runs scored, you left him in the ballgame to, I guess, work things out. Just describe or put into words the way he has grown from that moment on. Has that experience been a big one for him this season?
RON WASHINGTON: That's a huge experience for a young pitcher. You get yourself in trouble, get yourself out. And at that point he was one of our starters and we needed him to understand that just because trouble arises the wheels doesn't have to come off.
The bottom line is minimal damage, and if you can get minimal damage, which usually is one run hopefully, two runs at the most, then you have accomplished what you had to accomplish. Get us off the field and we are still in the ballgame, and that's what he did. And from that point on, when problems arise, which they will do in the course of a ballgame, he's been there, he's done that, and he know that if he continue to make his pitches, that he can get out the inning.
And that's just a maturity part of Harrison.

Q. A lot of great Rookie of the Year candidates this season. How would you compare -- how does Jeremy Hellickson compare, I guess, to the guys you have seen this year?
RON WASHINGTON: A tremendous young pitcher. Tampa continues to get 'em. And he has great presence out there. He certainly is aware what he's capable of doing. It looks like he does his homework, because he pitches very well to whatever the hitter's strengths are.
And I think you have to give the organization credit for choosing these type of young kids that they have. From what I've read, this kid could definitely have more wins than he has had simply because the offense here sometimes sputters as little bit. But they always find ways to win ballgames.
So when you talk about a ballclub, it's about pitching and defense. And the Tampa Bay Rays epitomize that. They pitch and they catch the ball, and Hellickson's played a great part in that. And I've only seen him the one time, the first time we got an opportunity to see him, and I think we ended up getting two runs because Hamilton ended up catching one.
But before that, the kid definitely showed like he was in control out there, and he should be a great candidate for Rookie of the Year.

Q. How would the outcome of Game 3 affect or influence your approach to Game 4? And is there any special preparation for Hellickson for Game 4?
RON WASHINGTON: There's no preparation. We got the information, but before we can think about Game 4, we've got to deal with David Price. We're not looking past David Price. And if it's unfortunate that we don't win tonight, I don't think anyone know if we will or won't, we'll come tomorrow, strap it on and try to play baseball. Take advantage of opportunities as presented, try to limit the opportunities we give, and when nine innings are over, see who's got the lead. That's the only way you can think about it.

Q. Ron, when you look at David Price from this year to last year, just in scouting him, do you notice any difference in how he goes about getting out hitters?
RON WASHINGTON: Well, I still see the same David Price, tremendous competitor. He's going to stand out there and battle you until Joe decide to come and take the ball from him. He's not going to give in. He's going to do what he feel he have to do to get you out, and that's the one thing that you like most about him. When you give him the ball, you know he's going to be out there giving you an opportunity to stay in the ballgame. And he does that very well.
The times that maybe things don't work out that way, that's just the game of baseball. He takes the ball 32 -- 31, 32 times a year, you will have days when things don't go right. And sometimes those days will go back to back.
But for the most part, each time he takes the ball, his feeling is he's going to keep his team in the game, and I know the Tampa Bay team feeling is that he will keep them in the game. And that's really his job, and he does it very well.

Q. Did you notice a difference in your team from last year in terms of when you're in a tight series now, that they have been there before? Is there a different feel in the clubhouse? A difference among the players? Are they more or less hyped up about it?
RON WASHINGTON: Well, we hyped up. We're excited. But we understand that this is only the beginning and you have to be focused on the job you have to do today. And that's the difference in my team.
I mean, last year we were all pumped up. It was the first time. This year we're pumped up, but we're learning how to keep it inside of us and know what we have to go out there and do. And once we walk out the clubhouse, we're going to go out there and have fun. And we're going to do what we've always done, play our very best game that we can tonight and then worry about everything after that.
So we're very confident. But it's hard to predict what's going to happen. I don't see nerves. What I see is a group of guys that's willing to go out there and pull together and try to take advantage of whatever the game offers and hope that it's in our advantage.

Q. This starts with Harrison in the lineup. He doesn't get a whole lot of run support, but at the same time you guys were able to pull those wins out and get victories. Just describe the level of confidence that you guys have with him on the mound.
RON WASHINGTON: Well, we have the same amount of confidence any time each and every one of our pitchers take the mound, because, as I keep repeating, their purpose is not to go out there and try to throw a shutout.
Yeah, you can have that on your mind, but the whole purpose is just to keep your team in the ballgame. Give us a chance to put some runs on the board and see what happen. And that's what Harri does and he does it very well.
Sometimes, you know, the opposing pitcher is doing as great a job as you would like to see your pitcher do, and then the mindset have to be I have to match zeros. And sometimes some of your pitchers in your rotation have to match more zeros than other.
And it is just fortunate that when Harri is on the mound we have to watch more zeros than most of my other pitchers. That's just the way it goes. And there are some pitchers that go out there and they get runs, but that's just the way it is. And I think it makes you better. It certainly makes you better. He is a competitor, and it just makes you a better competitor. Match zeros; that's what the game is about.
THE MODERATOR: All right. Thank you, Wash.
RON WASHINGTON: Thank you.

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