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AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: TIGERS v RANGERS

October 14, 2011

Max Scherzer

ARLINGTON, TEXAS: Workout Day

THE MODERATOR: It's Rick for the Tigers. I have Max Scherzer here. Pass the phone over to him right now.
MAX SCHERZER: Hello.
THE MODERATOR: First question for Mr. Scherzer.

Q. Max, I'm just wondering when you pitched in New York in that elimination game that closed out the Yankees, can nerves even be an issue in a game this big on Saturday?
MAX SCHERZER: No, when I pitched in that game, it was more just about the intensity of the moment. I really wasn't nervous about pitching in the game or being in the situation like that.
Nothing is going to change for Game 6. This is an opportunity of a lifetime, and for me, it's the most exciting challenge I've ever had to face.

Q. Max, psychology is always an interesting aspect of the playoff series. Where do you think the Tigers' heads are right now going into Dallas here?
MAX SCHERZER: I think we feel good. The series is still alive. We're still playing baseball. I think we all believe in each other that if we can win Game 6 that anything can happen in Game 7.
We're pretty relaxed as a whole. We're not really fazed by any of the situations that's have been presented to us. We're approaching it one game at a time.

Q. If you can expand on that a little bit, what happens when you go into an opposing arena as it were here in the ballpark in Arlington and you have the crowd to contend with, you have the magic with the national stage? Is there any, way, shape or form that you would perceive that as more pressure on one team or another?
MAX SCHERZER: Not at all. It's an awesome atmosphere pitching there in Arlington. It's such an electric stadium. The fans are tremendous, and it just makes it so much exciting to play in this type of moment. I think we're all chomping at the bit to be able to play Game 6.

Q. Max, without giving too much away, do you think you'll end up approaching Nelson Cruz any differently in this game than you did in your prior start?
MAX SCHERZER: No, not really. I realize he's a good hitter and he's hot. Given that, you can't fear him. You have to go right after him. The moment you start fearing a hitter or fearing what he can do, you're losing the battle. I have to be aggressive right back towards him.
Even though he's hot, if the situation arises, you might have to be more careful. My game plan, I guarantee you, going forward will be to be aggressive with him.

Q. Max, second half last year you really came on and Leyland said one of the best pitchers in baseball, of course. You found something seemingly you talked about late in this season. What has happened late in seasons that you sort of discovered something about yourself?
MAX SCHERZER: I think it was just tweaking everything to get it just right, being able to pitch with all three pitches, slider, change, fastball. It really has allowed me to pitch both to right-handers and left-handers and have success against them.
I really felt like kind of late there in the season I kind of got a grasp of -- get some consistency from start to start with all three of my pitches. And regardless of the results, I always felt great about how I was pitching.
So it's just a matter of kind of putting it all together and being able to execute throughout the whole game. And I feel like at this point in time I'm ready to face that type of challenge.

Q. Max, with Alex Avila and knowing what he's going through with the knee, how much respect do you think the pitching staff has for him that he's back there working with you guys given all the physical stuff he's going through right now?
MAX SCHERZER: It wasn't me that gave him all the distractions. It was the constant grinding he went through this year of playing probably 130 games and how many days straight and all the heat he played through.
We realize he's battle-tested, doesn't matter what the situation or what problems he has, he's always going to arise to the challenge and go out there and battle for us. That's so important as a pitching staff to have somebody back there kind of be the captain of the staff, to be able to direct everybody.
And for him to be able to step up and even in an injury like this, where he's going to gut it out no matter what, it's just kind of shows his type of character.

Q. Late in the season, how do you feel physically?
MAX SCHERZER: Physically I feel great. This is the strongest my arm has felt all year. I haven't decreased one bit. If anything, I'm getting stronger throughout the year. From a health standpoint, physical standpoint, this is as good as I felt the whole year.

Q. I want to ask you about Brandon Inge. How much was the fact -- the way he handled himself going down to Toledo and coming back and being so successful?
MAX SCHERZER: That's Brandon Inge. That's his character. You didn't expect much less from him because that's how he is in the clubhouse. He's one of our clubhouse leaders. This year he is struggling, and I think we all know that.
Everybody struggles at some point. We've all been there. For him to be able to bounce through it and just kind of put everything behind him and realize we have an opportunity here to do something special. He can be a big part of the reasons why we get there.
For him to be able to step up in this situation and come through for us in any situation we ask him is just a tribute to his character.

Q. Kind of a tale of rooting for the good guys to get some success?
MAX SCHERZER: He's one of our leaders. For him to have success in the postseason is a great feeling for him and a great feeling for our team.
THE MODERATOR: Any other questions for Max?

Q. A lot has been made about Miguel Cabrera's bouncer off the bag yesterday. Looking back on this series, which has really been pretty extraordinary, do you see that they've gone both ways, there's been a case made that Detroit actually figures it probably had this thing won about four times already. How do you reflect here on the way the baseball gods have sort of looked at both teams here during the course of this again very special playoff?
MAX SCHERZER: When you're looking at a seven-game series, each team is going to catch breaks. That's just the way baseball is. There's nothing you can really say about it. This game there's always something that's kind of a one in a million that happens every day.
So that's just the way it is sometimes. For us, yeah, we caught a break yesterday. But at the same time, you have to look at the talent. The talent at the end of the series is going to prevail and the better team is going to win. I don't think a team is going to win by just a break.
So given that, is it nice to get one, yeah, of course. But at the same time, at the end of the day, I think the better team will win.
THE MODERATOR: One last question for Max? Thank you, everyone. We're all set today. This concludes our conference call from the Tigers' perspective. We'll see you at the ballpark on Saturday. Thanks, Max.
MAX SCHERZER: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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