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MLB WORLD SERIES: RANGERS v CARDINALS

October 22, 2011

Ron Washington

ARLINGTON, TEXAS: Game Three

St. Louis Cardinals 16
Texas Rangers 7

Q. When you could only get an inning and a third out of Feldman, did that sort of put your bullpen out of sequence and force you to scramble tonight?
RON WASHINGTON: Well, we certainly wanted to get more out of him, but we got back in the ballgame 8-6. And when Ogando couldn't come in and get it done, then we knew we were in trouble right there.

Q. You've been pretty protective of Ogando during the postseason. What do you think of this postseason so far, the World Series outings are going to do for his confidence? Are you going to talk to him or what's your plan?
RON WASHINGTON: Well, he's a strong kid, and no one felt worse than Ogando when he didn't get the job done. But it's our job to make sure that his confidence don't wane. No, we've got his back, and he got a ball up to Albert, and he didn't miss it. You know, he certainly after that just couldn't command the baseball.

Q. That replay showed that Ron Kulpa missed that call at first base. At the end of the night how much of a factor do you look back on and think that that had?
RON WASHINGTON: Well, he missed the play, and I knew he missed the play when I went out there. We still had an opportunity to get off that field with maybe them just pushing one run across the plate. We just didn't make the plays. I mean, I don't think you can just start all of a sudden making excuses about things. We had a chance to get off the field with them scoring one run in that inning right there, and we just threw the ball around in that inning, and it really messed up Harrison's outing because he was throwing the ball well.

Q. How would you rank Pujols' performance in hitting performances you've seen?
RON WASHINGTON: Between him and Cabrera you need to outlaw them. They're just that good. I don't know, the guy just got locked in after his first at-bat tonight, two singles. And I thought we had him put away. Next thing you know the ball is up in the third deck, and then he jumps all over GonzÃ¡lez in that first pitch in that one inning. I thought Ollie went out there and threw a good change-up, and he got that one, also. He's a super player, no doubt about it. He certainly came to play tonight.

Q. Holland hasn't given you a lot of length this postseason. Given what transpired tonight, is that maybe all the more important tomorrow?
RON WASHINGTON: Well, it is. Each time the starters go out there it's important that they go deep. It's unfortunate that Harrison didn't get a better fate. Certainly expect Holland to go out there tomorrow and take us deep in the ballgame.
We got beat tonight. They swung the lumber, and there wasn't much we could do about it. I don't know what combination I could have used to stop them. We just couldn't stop them. We fought. We didn't give into that ballgame. We kept fighting. We kept trying to get back in it. But it was just a little too much for us tonight.

Q. I know you're already somewhat pitching around Pujols, but the way he was locked in tonight, does that change the approach at all going forward?
RON WASHINGTON: Nope. I just hope that we can make him chase some stuff, not put stuff in the wrong spot and get it up in the zone and get it out over the plate. When the opportunity presents itself to put him on the bag, I'm not going to let him swing the bat. But tonight we just couldn't get the ball out of the middle of the plate and up, and he just didn't miss. I saw him on TV, but I'll tell you, tonight was something special.

Q. Would you consider a change at first base tomorrow? Or is that something you're going to sleep on and make tomorrow?
RON WASHINGTON: Why would I have to make a change at first base?

Q. Actually, no, maybe not, Napoli only made one error in the regular season, but with the throw, is that something you'd --
RON WASHINGTON: I think any baseball player in the world could have made that bad throw, not just because it was Napoli. We'll see tomorrow.

Q. La Russa goes into second place in all-time postseason wins with this win tonight. What does that say about his career and how great a manager he is? And you guys are all in this together.
RON WASHINGTON: Well, he certainly has a track record. You know, I just hope that I'm able to stay around the game as long as Tony and have the success that he's had, and to have the players to work with and the organization to work with that he's had. You know, I commend him, and once again, I just would like to be around as long as Tony.

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