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AL DIVISION SERIES: TIGERS v ATHLETICSOctober 6, 2012Jim LeylandDETROIT, MICHIGAN: Game One THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Jim Leyland. Questions. Q. Did you watch those games last night? If you did, did you say thankful we're not in a wildcard game because anything can happen, especially with Atlanta losing like they did? JIM LEYLAND: It was wild, all right. That's for sure. But it was neat. It was a neat thing. And a lot of excitement, obviously, in both places. Both teams, obviously. And it was weird seeing that one and done. A new concept, obviously, and the stakes were real big. I enjoyed it. I didn't see all the first game but I did see all the second game. But I enjoyed it. I thought the atmosphere was terrific. Hopefully today won't play out like it did last night, because both road teams won. Q. Jim, with Porcello and Smyly both on the roster, does that free up Smyly to pitch in a variety of roles out of the bullpen, or do you want to save him‑‑ JIM LEYLAND: He'll be basically the second lefty in the bullpen. Don't know how it's going to play out. Originally we didn't think it would happen. Didn't look like it would happen, which is okay. He'll be our second lefty. But actually if there would have been a rainout by chance today, you would have needed five starters because there would be no day off. Porcello fills a nice role in the bullpen for us. And one thing you always sweat out if you're a manager, and sometimes it can happen, if you happen to get into an extra‑inning game in the playoffs and you use your big guys out of the bullpen and all of a sudden you go two or three innings more like we did in Minnesota, then a guy like Porcello fits in there really good because he can pitch several innings. Q. Can you just talk about how tough of a decision was it to leave Boesch and bring Kelly and Worth on the playoff roster? JIM LEYLAND: I don't think it was a tough decision; I think it was a sentimental decision. From that standpoint it was tough, because Boesch has been here. But if you look at the way we've been playing lately and have been pretty successful, not been playing. Berry's been playing and Garcia has been playing when they pitch a lefty. From that standpoint it really wasn't a tough decision from really a commonsense decision, but it was a tough decision because Boesche has been here all year. He's a big part of our team. This is not the time to get sentimental. And the other thing is he will stay with us, as will Holaday, and if something would happen, and who knows down the stretch, you know, depending how far you go, your roster can change as you go a little deeper into this thing if you're fortunate enough to get deeper. So we don't know how it will play out. But we obviously went for versatility. Kelly gives us protection at third and first, outfield, third, catcher in an emergency. We also felt like there's going to be situations possibly where we've got to run for Jhonny Peralta, and we can use Worth to run. So I think we try to utilize our roster, the versatility of our roster, and I can honestly tell you that from Dave Dombrowski to myself to every coach, we all have the exact same roster. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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