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MLB WORLD SERIES: RANGERS v CARDINALS

October 23, 2011

Ron Washington

ARLINGTON, TEXAS: Game Four

St. Louis Cardinals 0
Texas Rangers 4

Q. Obviously Holland pitched a great game, but what kind of adjustments specifically did you make to shut down their offense one night to another?
RON WASHINGTON: It was Holland and Mike Napoli. He was able to use all his pitches all around the strike zone he had good off-speed stuff tonight, kept them off balance, move them in, move them out, up, down, he was just outstanding. He and Napoli worked outstanding tonight. And that was the reason, it was Derek Holland and Mike Napoli.

Q. What was the discussion like with Derek Holland when you went to remove him in the ninth inning?
RON WASHINGTON: Well, he told me he can get the ground ball double play and I told him I knew he can. "With all you've done today I know you can get that ground ball double play, but I'm going to Nefti."

Q. It kind of caught you on TV having a little bit of a pep talk with Holland before he went onto the field, kind of holding his shoulders, gave him a little slap on the cheek. Were you trying to get him fired up a little?
RON WASHINGTON: It was just a general message that he's capable of going out there and keeping us in the ballgame. That's all it was. I talk with Derek like that all the time, it just happened to catch me on TV.

Q. You said earlier this postseason that Derek was still kind of a pony and ready to become a thoroughbred. Is it pretty much safe to say he's become a thoroughbred now?
RON WASHINGTON: Well, he was a thoroughbred tonight. I think as we move forward in his career, he'll let us know that. But tonight he did what we needed. We needed him to go out there and pitch well, and he did, and he showed the world what he's capable of doing. Now we've just got to find that capability every time he takes the baseball. Not throwing a shutout, just going out there and keeping himself in the game and staying under control and executing his pitches the way he did tonight. He executed his pitches around the whole strike zone tonight.

Q. We've seen what Napoli can do with the bat and we've all seen that this year, but talk about the calming influence he was for Holland and how well he's worked with him.
RON WASHINGTON: He's done that for us all year. He has a real good feel for receiving and a real good feel for what his pitchers are capable of doing, and he did a great job tonight of making sure Holland established his pitches. That's the key, just establishing his pitches, all of them. He used everything, curveball, change-up, fastball, up, down, out. He did everything, and that's what Nap has brought to us. And he also brought a three-run homer tonight.

Q. You guys haven't had a two-game or more losing streak since August. How do you do that? And how proud are you of the guys to be able to bounce back time after time?
RON WASHINGTON: Well, I think the reason why since we got on this roll is because they just learned from the day before, and they come out and they just try to deal with what they have to deal with on that day. And I always preach to them, it's not always the best team that wins, it's the team that plays the best on that day, and today we were better. I'm not even thinking about tomorrow until it gets here.
But we know how to -- we understand what happens when we lose, and we know what we have to do the next day to try to get back on track. Last night we got beat. We know we got beat. I still thought we played a pretty good baseball game, we just didn't have enough to stop those guys. So I tip my hat to them. But tonight it was about Derek Holland and Mike Napoli and us catching the ball out there and us doing some good things to pull off this win.

Q. When the game finds Napoli like that hitting eighth in the perfect spot there, is there a measure of satisfaction on your part?
RON WASHINGTON: No, I'm satisfied any time my guys go out there and win a ballgame. I was breaking up the lefties, and you know, hopefully if Mike was hitting in the seventh spot, where I probably would have had him, the same thing may have happened. But I was just breaking up my lefties. And what Mike Napoli has done tonight, we've seen him do before, so I'm not surprised. I'm not surprised at nothing my guys go out there and do because one thing they know how to do is play baseball.

Q. Derek said on the field that he was begging you to stay out there. Is that a fair description of what he was saying?
RON WASHINGTON: Very fair description. He was begging. I just told him if you want to stay out here, get on your knees. (Laughter). He walked off the field.

Q. As much as you've had confidence in Holland, could you have had anticipated something this dominant from him?
RON WASHINGTON: I've seen it before. This is not the first dominant outing that Derek Holland has had. He's had three or four for us all year. It's in him, as I told you. It's in him. And tonight he brought it out when we needed it the most. But he's dominated quite a few times this year in that fashion. So no, I'm not surprised.

Q. What is the difference between great Derek Holland and bad Derek Holland?
RON WASHINGTON: Emotions. Just controlling his emotions. He's a fighter. He's a battler. He goes out there and he gives you everything he has. Just sometimes his emotions overtakes everything. Tonight he never got out of control, and Mike Napoli deserves a lot of credit for that, for keeping him in control. From the first time I seen him come in that dugout and go sit down somewhere, he's always pacing.

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