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MLB WORLD SERIES: RANGERS v CARDINALS

October 25, 2011

Jaime Garcia

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI: Workout Day

Q. How does it feel to be pitching in a game tomorrow night that's a do-or-die situation?
JAIME GARCIA: It feels the same way that it did the first playoff game that I pitched this year, same exact feeling. Obviously this is the World Series, a little different, but to me personally, I try not to put extra pressure on myself or extra expectations. I'm just going to basically go out there and do my thing.

Q. If you wouldn't mind answering this in Spanish: You had your backs against the wall obviously being back in the wildcard race, so can you tell us about some starts that you had when you thought you wouldn't actually chase the Braves and you had to actually catch up pretty quickly?
JAIME GARCIA: Going through that process in the month of September, the last five or six starts that I made in the season, I kind of had the same mentality that I've had since the playoffs started. So it's been the same for me the last two months basically, and I'm still going to try to do the same thing, don't change anything, don't try to do too much because this is the World Series. That's kind of how I feel.

Q. You have pitched better every outing here in the playoffs. Are you finding a comfort level, or what's your explanation for that?
JAIME GARCIA: Pitched better --

Q. Each of your starts in the postseason so far.
JAIME GARCIA: Yeah, it's just -- it's a process, a learning process. This is only my second full year in the Big Leagues, and I've learned so many things during the regular season. So I feel like the playoffs, I feel good physically, but at the same time I made some adjustments in my mechanics and being more repetitive and more consistent instead of trying to do too much or all the little things that I've been working on.
So I've been feeling really good. I've been able to do the things that I want to do every time I go out there. Obviously sometimes they go your way, sometimes it doesn't, but I feel really confident about myself right now.

Q. Do you prepare any differently knowing that there's an 80 percent chance of rain tomorrow?
JAIME GARCIA: I didn't even know that, and if it is, I don't really care. And I don't worry about those things.

Q. What do you take out of the last start here? It was just a few days ago that you faced this same lineup and had some success. Do you tweak your approach a little bit? Did you take anything from that?
JAIME GARCIA: Obviously you learn things from hitters and I've been watching them the last couple games in Texas, too, but it all comes down to going out there and being able to execute what you basically want to do. It doesn't matter which team, which lineup, what part of the season it is. It's just going out there and worrying about the little things that you can control.

Q. Before you go to bed tonight or tomorrow when you have some quiet time to yourself, what's going to be going through your mind?
JAIME GARCIA: Just like I said before, the same thing that was going through my mind the first start I made against Philadelphia. Same thing, we've got to win, and every time I go out there -- I've said this a few times. It doesn't matter if it's regular season, Spring Training, I want to win. I want to give my team a chance. So I do that every single game, so it shouldn't change anything. Obviously there's a little more pressure, but I don't really -- I don't get too hard on myself. I'm going to sleep good and get ready. I've worked really hard in between starts through the whole season to get to this point, and it all comes down to whoever is better tomorrow.

Q. Can you talk about your road back from Tommy John surgery and at any point did you think this may not be possible?
JAIME GARCIA: What was that question again?

Q. Talk about your road back from surgery and if you thought this may not be possible, if there was ever a point where you hit a wall or anything like that.
JAIME GARCIA: I think the good thing is that when I went through the whole process, I never doubted that I was going to come back healthy and better than what I was before. It's something that I always had the confidence and have faith in God, and I knew things were going to work out. But obviously this is something that you dream as a little kid, being in an opportunity like this and having a chance to pitch in a game like tomorrow. But at the same time, that's something I've worked really hard for to get to this point. But no, there was never any doubt of having a chance like this.

Q. The way you described sort of how you go about every game and how September was for you, did you feel as the team started making its comeback that every time you started it was almost like a loss would end the season, a loss would eliminate you guys? Did you have that sense as you went into those starts?
JAIME GARCIA: Yeah, because obviously we were 10 and a half games behind and we needed a win every single game. That's the mindset. And that's something that I've learned. I've learned that you've got to pitch like that every single game. It doesn't matter if it's the first start of the year or a game like tomorrow. You've got to take that mindset into every single game of the season.
You know, it's something that I take from that, the last few months, the thing that's helped me is that it gets to a point where you can't worry about -- when you're on the mound you can't worry about little things like mechanics and other things, other distractions, and all you've got to do is just try to go out there and battle, just try to give your team a chance. It doesn't matter how it is or how you feel physically, how the weather is, home or away, just got to give your team a chance, and that's basically what I've been doing, and I'm going to keep doing it.

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