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AL DIVISION SERIES: RANGERS v RAYS

October 3, 2011

Matt Harrison

TAMPA, FLORIDA: Game Three

THE MODERATOR: Okay. Matt Harrison is here. If you have any questions.

Q. Matt, Ron mentioned he wanted to get you in the game the other night to kind of help your first playoff experience, get your feet underneath you. How much do you think it helps and how will you approach tomorrow's start.
MATT HARRISON: I think it definitely helped. It was better for me to do that than just throw on the side. I actually get into the postseason game and get the butterflies out of the way was I think big for me.
And I'm looking forward to tomorrow. And I have that experience out of the way, and I'm ready to go out there and be ready to pitch tomorrow.

Q. That said, so how was it different from any regular season game?
MATT HARRISON: I think just the atmosphere. I think with all the fans being there. You know, being there last year but not pitching and sitting there watching, I know -- seeing how the energy level was with those guys, I know it was a little bit different.
And I could tell when I came into that game the other day, feeling the adrenaline rush, I guess, was a little bit different. And see 50,000 people in the stands is a little bit different, also.
It definitely helped me. It calmed my nerves after throwing to the first batter, so I hopefully don't get that same feeling when I go out tomorrow; I will just be ready to pitch.

Q. Did it surprise you at this point, you played a lot of baseball in your life, that you still get nervous like that?
MATT HARRISON: Not really. I think everybody gets a little nervous. I still get nerves every time I pitch, a little bit of butterflies and stuff. Once you get on the field and you get that first batter out of the way, the first pitch, your nerves calm down. So it gets a little bit easier after that.
But I think if you're not nervous, I think it's probably time to go home.

Q. In some of your starts there hasn't been a whole lot of run support, and Ron made a point of matching zero for zero for zero, and you've matched a lot of zeros. Just describe the mentality you have out there whenever you are not getting the runs that you want, but making sure that the other team is held to as low amount of runs as possible.
MATT HARRISON: Run support's always great, but you're not going to get that every time out. So the biggest thing for me is to just make sure I keep us in the game, to keep it close.
Eventually with this offense we're going to score runs, so it's just a matter of keeping it close. And a lot of it depends on who I am throwing against. Usually it has been either Felix or Masterson or some top-level pitchers in the league. And I think it helps me step up my game because I know I have to do a better job of keeping guys off base and getting us back into the dugout to swing the bats.
And run support comes here and there, but it is just a matter of me going out and doing my job, too.

Q. Something that was -- a point was made at the beginning of the season, you reading some books during the spring or the offseason. Just describe the books you read and how it's helped you mature during the season.
MATT HARRISON: I was sitting there this offseason, I was watching MLB Network and watching highlights of the playoffs and seeing my team on the field celebrating and stuff. And it really hit me hard and it was really frustrating for me to be sitting there watching. I am cheering for my teammates, but I would have liked to have been out there on the field, too.
And those couple of books I had, they were sitting on the nightstand right beside the couch I was sitting on, and I had them for a year or so and never even picked them up. And I think it kind of hit me hard when I saw those highlights and I wanted to be in that experience this year.
So I picked those up and it opened my eyes to a lot of different sides of the game, which is the mental part of it.
For me, the last couple of years, a couple of injuries, but being sent to the bullpen and not making the playoff roster it really made me -- I guess I had to find out a way to stay up here and be successful. And when I started reading those books, it really opened up my eyes to the mental side and it helped me be more focused this year.
And I made sure I took one bat at a time and I wasn't looking ahead or behind at what happened behind me, what happens with the defense or the run support; it is just a matter of making sure that I stay focused on the task at hand.
And that's what really has turned my career around so far this year.

Q. What were the books?
MATT HARRISON: It was Mental ABC's of Pitching, The Mental Game of Baseball, and Tao of Sports for athletes.

Q. I don't think you got a chance to start against these guys, faced them in the bullpen. What is the impressions of the Rays lineup and what you saw from them?
MATT HARRISON: They are a very good team and they are hot right now. And, you know, to see the way they played in September, they are fired up.
And they play small ball. They do all the little things right. They get the bunts down. They like to run the bases, a very aggressive team. And they are led by Joe Maddon. You see what he has done with these guys this year, it's unbelievable.
And at the same time I only faced them a couple of times out of the bullpen, which may work to my advantage, it may not. They haven't seen me that much this year. But it's a matter of me going out there and ultimately executing my pitches. I have a game plan, it is just a matter of putting the game plan into effect.
THE MODERATOR: Okay, thanks, Matt.
MATT HARRISON: Thank you.

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