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NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: CARDINALS v BREWERSOctober 12, 2011Tony La RussaST. LOUIS, MISSOURI: Game Three ST. LOUIS CARDINALS 4 Q. How would you best describe that job done by the bullpen tonight? TONY LA RUSSA: Well, as good as you can do. Get 12 outs against that offense. It's not going to work very often that you can put four zeros against their offense. But each guy came in and really stepped up. I thought they were really aggressive, they threw good strikes and didn't fall behind. Not too many intimidating hitters, but still got to go after them, and they did. Q. Have the last couple of games been a nice point for your bullpen to step forward? TONY LA RUSSA: Well, it's a nice point for people that haven't seen them much. But you know, after Mo (Mozeliak) made that trade with McClellan and Dotel went to the pen, we were really good and really deep and then we lost Lynn, which was a big blow. You see what he's capable of doing. But that's the way they have been pitching. We just have got a lot of depth on both the right hand and left-hand side. Q. Your team has had to play from behind a lot, dating back to the wild-card race. What's it like to have a series lead right now? What's that like? TONY LA RUSSA: We'll see tomorrow night. Hope we don't lose two in a row just to put our backs up against the wall. We are really not going to stop and think about it, because there's so much yet to do. But if you stop and think, you may get distracted and you start walking around and digging yourself, and we don't want to do that. I feel very comfortable we'll come out tomorrow ready to play, because of the respect we have for Milwaukee, and we know how good they are. Q. You mentioned about Lynn. He's really been a huge factor in this series in Game 2, with the one-pitch double play. And then tonight. What's he doing that he's just really doing a great job in that middle relief? TONY LA RUSSA: He started two games when we had a problem, and he pitched well. He beat Houston; sent him back down. Brought him back, used him in the pen, and it's just one of those things where he was absolutely not intimidated by the situation or circumstances or whatever. And what he was doing, reliever stuff, he's rearing back and he's throwing -- and today Dunc says, I'm not sure how good he is, because his velocity was down, but he spotted it well and he had his breaking ball. That's what he does really well, he has a breaking ball he can throw, but on most days, he's getting it up there, 94, 95, 96 with late life and absolutely can't bother him. It's one of those hits that when we had to put him on the disabled list, we went, oh, man, and we got around it, and now he's back. Q. How huge was it for the offense to come out as fast as they did in the first inning? TONY LA RUSSA: They both did, because both guys you could tell early on, they were in the middle of the plate, and we got Gallardo and later on you saw what he did with the double plays and we couldn't get anything else off of him. He just started making quality pitches, and Carp got better. He worked so hard early that Dave and I, there wasn't even a hesitation at inning five, once he got that last big out, he shouldn't be pushed. But both offenses noticed that the starters were not sharp early and they came out and had some fun and starters got better and the relievers were better. Q. That's five games in a row you've scored in the first inning now. Can you talk about just jumping out early and also what David Freese is giving you down at the bottom of the order? TONY LA RUSSA: I think any place you put David Freese, he'll give it to you. He's just a quality, clutch producer and he'll get better and better in his career. I think a lot of it has to go to the readiness to take that first at-bat of Rafael and Jon. They are the ones that are setting the table early. They are the ones getting themselves ready for that first at-bat. Q. I believe it was 19 earned in the last 16 and two thirds for your team against Gallardo. Any reason why you can explain the success against a talent like Yo? TONY LA RUSSA: I was reviewing our season against him and I ran into a lineup card where he shut us out 4-0, and after that first four-run spot, what did he get? He's got all of the pitches. We got him before he got sharp, but he's the real deal and he showed it. We had a couple of great chances to add which normally come back to haunt you, but our pitching staff prevented that. But let me tell you, he's a handful, and he's every bit as good as a No. 1 starter is supposed to be. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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