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NL DIVISION SERIES: DIAMONDBACKS v BREWERS

October 4, 2011

Josh Collmenter

PHOENIX, ARIZONA: Game Three

Diamondbacks Â– 8
Brewers - 1

Q. Obviously biggest start of your career. Just talk about a little struggle the first inning, 20 pitches and a lot of balls, and you calmed down after that. Talk about that. And secondly about just the success you've had against Milwaukee so far, the three outings.
JOSH COLLMENTER: Yeah, I'm getting in a little jam there in the first. I wasn't going to give in to Braun, and the game plan is to pitch the infielder inside, and I decided to actually use some pitches to Weeks. And I wanted to slow it down and make the pitches I wanted to make and not let them get the momentum that we ended up getting.
And the bottom half of that was some runs. Once I got that, I was able to make pitches, and move it in and out and move the fastball and keep them off-balance.
And just pitching here and having some success against Milwaukee and pitching well at home, the fans were incredible. They were great. I think we really fed off of that and I think the more that they got into the game the more we got into the game.
Coming into the game I knew I had success against Milwaukee. I knew if I executed my game plan I could get them out. I didn't have to pitch out of my head. And I think that gave me some confidence to know that if I ever got in the situation with some runners on or got in a jam, I knew I'd pitch out of it by executing pitches against different guys.

Q. You're known as being kind of an unflappable character. Were there butterflies dancing in you before this game, last night when you went up to bat? And what do you think the guys at home in Michigan are thinking?
JOSH COLLMENTER: No, no butterflies. It wasn't until you see the atmosphere and the fans all wearing red with their pom-poms and how exciting that was.
Other than that, I just stuck to the same routine, got to the ballpark at the same time, did the normal warmup things, I didn't want to try to put any other pressure on it.
I don't think anyone was thinking we were down 0-2 coming into tonight. They were playing like we were playing at home. Just having that mindset really helped us out.
We were relaxed and the dugout atmosphere was incredible. The guys were rooting for each other and that's the way we were doing it all year.
At home in Michigan, I'm sure there's a lot of lights on at a time they usually aren't because everyone is gathered around the TV. I knew of a few places getting together, and maybe even tailgating the game. So, as special as it is for me here with the fans and teammates and stuff, I'm sure they're eating it up back there at home, as well.

Q. When you envisioned this game, did you envision 7 innings as dominant as you were or did you exceed your own expectations?
JOSH COLLMENTER: I exceeded my expectations a little bit. My goal was to give the team a win. Whatever I had to do just to keep the team in the ballgame and give us a chance to win down the stretch. Or in a situation like this, just pitch deep into the game, save the bullpen, and give the team a chance to turn the ball over to Saunders tomorrow in Game 4.
I wanted to look at myself as a bridge to get to that next game, to give us two here at home and Milwaukee held serve on their end and now it's our turn. And I'm expecting another good game tomorrow, good atmosphere, and it should be a lot of fun.

Q. You weren't the only rookie that had kind of a good game. Paul surprise you?
JOSH COLLMENTER: No, I've seen him play a handful of times and heard about his exploits in the minor leagues through friends that have played with him for a little bit more than I have. And the guy just has ice water in his veins. I said that out there earlier.
He just repeatedly hits, and that's what he does. And I don't think anything phases him. Whoever he's facing, as you can see, they put the stats up all the time about homering off of former Cy Young winners and things like that.
He's walking Miggy to get to him, we like our chances there. He came through big for us. And as much as a single would have worked out there, for him to put the one over the wall, I think it showed people what he's capable of and what he can do.

Q. How much with the two spot right away in the first inning, how much did that help you, just giving you a quick lead?
JOSH COLLMENTER: It's huge, anytime a starting pitcher can get runs early. It really helps calm you down and you don't have to be as fine. You can maybe get away with some pitches and try to challenge guys a little bit more. And knowing that if they put one in the gap or something, it's not the end of the world. As opposed to if it's nothing-nothing, going deep into a game you've got to make sure you're not the one to make a mistake.
Those runs, coupled with the fact that I had already done well against Milwaukee and got out of a little jam in the first inning, I think threw all the momentum on our side. Each inning when I went there, I wanted to focus getting the first guy out, making sure to got a quick out and not let them start a rally of any kind.
And that was really my focus going out each inning is getting the first guy, now focus on the rest of your pitches, and get back in the dugout and let the offense go to work again.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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