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AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: TIGERS v RANGERSOctober 11, 2011Ron WashingtonDETROIT, MICHIGAN: Game Three THE MODERATOR: Let's get started with Ron Washington. Q. Ron, what kind of shape is your bullpen in for tonight? And as good as your relievers have pitched, are you getting a little concerned about the burden they're carrying? RON WASHINGTON: Well, we're in good shape. We had three or four guys down there that haven't been on the field, so they're fresh. If we get late in the ballgame, we can run our winning piece that we consider winning pieces out there again. I'm not concerned right now. This is about trying to win ballgames, and that's where our mindset is. All hands are on deck. Q. Ron, you talked last night about the possibility that you might move up Nelson Cruz in the lineup. As you were looking at your lineup today, how close did you come to doing that? RON WASHINGTON: I don't think I ever said it's a possibility. I was asked the question, and I said when I decide that I need to do that, I will do it. It works right now. You know, I haven't thought about it because the same guys that's running from 1 to 6 are still in the lineup, and they're still holding our lineup together. So for right now I penciled Nelson again in the seventh slot. Q. Wash, what went into your decision to get Endy and Yorvit in the lineup tonight? RON WASHINGTON: Napoli has been catching since our series in Oakland. All the way through Oakland, all the way through Anaheim and all the way through Tampa and the first two games against Detroit. He's taken a beating back there. I want to get him off his feet, stoop him down, giving him relaxation mentally. So I decided to DH him. Yorvit played a big part of where we are. I haven't had an opportunity to get him in the game. Colby Lewis is throwing tonight. He's always done a great job with Colby. This is my chance to get him in there. First base, all Michael has been doing is DHing since we hit the playoffs. I want to give him an opportunity to do something also, take a little burden off his mind and get him off the field. Getting Endy in there. Endy played a big part in our run. Murph has been playing since Oakland also, so I have to give him a chance to get a breather and get Endy in there. The lineup I got out there tonight, we've won many games with that lineup. That's the type of team we have. No matter who plays, we feel like we can compete, and so that's the reason. Q. Ron, you haven't had as much success in Detroit as other places, and you have a couple of sinker ball pitchers you're going to be facing. What kind of adjustments do your hitters need to make here? RON WASHINGTON: Well, I think what happened previously through the regular season, you throw that out the door. We just got to go out there tonight and continue to play good baseball, and if we play good baseball, it doesn't matter that we're in Detroit. We're playing a quality team, and we know that we just going to have to perform. We just have to wait and see what happens, but it's not on our mind that we're back in Detroit and we never won here. Only thing is on our mind is going out there and trying to play the very best baseball game we possibly can and hoping when nine innings is over, we got a lead. Q. Hey, Wash. Does your strategy change with Delmon now out of the lineup on top of Magglio? RON WASHINGTON: No, who's ever in there, we have what we want to do, and we'll certainly try to execute our game plan. And once again, as I said, if our pitchers execute the game plan and we are able to take advantage of some opportunities that we may have against Fister or may not have against Fister, that's going to decide the ballgame. No, we certainly just going to do one thing, stay focused, going out there trying to play the very best baseball that we possibly can tonight. Q. Wash, the national attention in the American League is often on the Yankees and the Red Sox. Do you feel you guys have been overlooked in a way? RON WASHINGTON: No, I don't think we've been overlooked. I think if you would ask the competition that we play, I think they got a lot of respect for the Texas Rangers. You know, you play a whole year, and I think everyone's intention when they reach Spring Training in February is to get to this point where you got an opportunity to go to the World Series. It wasn't easy this year. We had to play to get here, just as the Detroit Tigers had to play to get here. So I'm -- I know the Red Sox and the Yankees also hope to have played to get here. It just didn't work out. No, I don't feel taken aback to it. I know what it took to get here. And it was a lot of hard work. It was a lot of dedication. It was a lot of commitment by those guys in that clubhouse, by the organization, by my coaching staff. So, no, we feel proud to be here. Q. Wash, in the ninth inning yesterday when you loaded the bases with nobody out, and I know nobody is going to score -- Murphy didn't hit the ball deep enough -- but the fact that you didn't run for Beltre, is that a sign his hamstring is for you 100% now and you don't have to think about a runner for him? RON WASHINGTON: Well, I think if you have been watching as we -- as we have been going along in the ballgames, when Beltre has to run, Beltre runs. I wasn't going to remove Beltre right there; and then we don't score, as we did, and now we get into a situation like we did in that 11th inning, and Beltre was a part of that rally, and here I got Beltre sitting on the bench. No, I had no intentions of taking Beltre out of that ballgame. Michael Young either. Speedy Gonzalez couldn't have scored on that ball that Murphy hit. THE MODERATOR: Okay, thank you very much. RON WASHINGTON: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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