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NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: CARDINALS v BREWERS

October 9, 2011

Shaun Marcum

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN: Game One

Q. You faced the Cardinals three times in August. Is there an offensive side or pitching side that has an advantage, since you've seen each other that frequently?
SHAUN MARCUM: I think it goes both ways. They know what I'm going to do. I know what approach they're going to take for me. For me it's a matter of going out and locating, keeping the ball down. I do know what they're going to try to do. I do know what they're going to try to do against me. We're going to go back and forth.
I'm going to have to make adjustments, whether it's pitch by pitch or inning by inning.

Q. A few thoughts on being able to pitch here?
SHAUN MARCUM: Looking forward to it. Obviously the road thing didn't work out last round. So hopefully things are turning around. It's just one of those things, like I said before, you go through stretches and go through years where you have better road numbers, and not so good home numbers. You go through years where righties hit better than lefties, and this year has been one of those years for me.
But this season is a new season right now. It's postseason, we have to put the past behind us, and come out tomorrow ready to go, and not worry about what's happened so far this year at home.

Q. With the way that last start went, do you just kind of put that one away and focus on this one, or is there part of you that says I want to make this one work?
SHAUN MARCUM: Definitely put the last one away, that's not one you want to remember. It was pretty easy to put that one away.
Coming into this one it's going to be the same thing. I'm going to go out and just try to be myself, throw strikes, hopefully not make mistake pitches.
That's how I've had success my whole career, if I don't make mistake pitches, I can usually have a pretty decent game. If I get myself in trouble, it's when I walk people, fall behind in counts and then leave a ball over the middle of the plate.
It's going to be one of those games tomorrow where I've got to go out and locate and be shooting on all cylinders.

Q. When you look over at your last six or seven starts, what do you think the difference has been, compared to the first five months of the year?
SHAUN MARCUM: You know, you go back and look, I've given up a lot of hits, but a lot of them haven't really been hit that hard. It all started that Philadelphia game, Shane Victorino starts off with a broken bat single. And there's a couple of bloopers that fall in and then Howard hits the home run.
The Pittsburgh game, the same thing, a couple of bloopers, a couple of broken bat singles, 96 hoppers that somehow get through the infield and then they get a big hit.
It's just one of those things. It's baseball. You make good pitches and sometimes you don't get rewarded for it and sometimes you make mistake pitches and they hit it right at somebody. That's how this game works. But tomorrow is another day and you've got to come out ready to go.

Q. How many times did you see the replay of your glove flip the next couple of days, have you ever done that before?
SHAUN MARCUM: I was practicing it yesterday with Yo, actually, out in the outfield just in case it happens again.
I didn't really see the replay, and I didn't realize I did it until afterwards. I was like, what the heck did I just do? It reminded me of Ted Lilly a couple of years ago in Arizona, but he slammed his glove down on the ground. It's just a reaction thing. Definitely I didn't realize I did it until afterwards.
I think I only saw the replay of it once.

Q. I understand you're from the opposite side of the state, but I'm just curious, if this is a little tougher, some of your family members who want you to do well, but have some Missouri ties to the Cardinals?
SHAUN MARCUM: Yeah, I don't think being on the Kansas City side there's too many of my family that are Cardinal fans, anyway. We've grown up in Kansas City, always been Royals fans, Chiefs fans, that's just where we grew up and what we watched.
But as far as my family, I don't know how many people are coming or going to be there. I know I've got a lot of college friends that I played with that have already been calling me for tickets. They're going to have to stand in line like everyone else.
No, it will be fun. It is Missouri. I have a lot of respect for the Cardinals and the city of St. Louis. So I'm looking forward to it.

Q. Zack was in here yesterday, and had some nice things to say about Lucroy. Can you describe what your working relationship is with him?
SHAUN MARCUM: He's been great. I got traded over here in December, and it was probably three days later I was on the phone with him. He was getting video of me trying to figure out how I like to pitch. So from day 1 he's been great.
I love throwing to the kid. He's definitely learned a lot this year. And he's gotten better each and every time out. The way he blocked balls the other day was incredible. If he probably wouldn't have done that, we might not have won that game. He was outstanding.
He's been a pleasure to throw to, and I'm looking forward to getting out there with him tomorrow. He's definitely learned a lot this year, and he's grown up and he's going to be a really good catcher for a long time.

Q. Rzepczynski has only been with the Cardinals a couple of months. What can people expect to see from him?
SHAUN MARCUM: He's good. He's real good. I was surprised that Toronto traded him. Even when he was -- I saw him mostly as a starter in Toronto. He was in the bullpen a little bit last season. He's a guy that's going to command the strike zone. He's got a really good, late, heavy sinker. He's got a really good slider, too. But that sinker, I know he learned that from Scott Downs last year, using that sinker to get quick outs.
That's the last thing you want to do is have a reliever throw balls and walk people. He's kind of taken that next step, and in my opinion, he's going to be one of the best left-hand relievers in the game.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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