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NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: CARDINALS v GIANTSOctober 14, 2012Carlos BeltranDavid FreeseSAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: Game One St. Louis Cardinals – 6 Q. Carlos, this makes in 29 games, 14 home runs in the postseason. Is there something about this time of year or about games like this that bring this out for you? CARLOS BELTRAN: Well, you know what, right now I'm just really enjoying myself, honestly. And three opportunities that I've been in the playoffs, I always tell myself to go play the game, don't try to do too much. And right now I'm seeing the ball well. I feel like I have ‑‑ I'm not trying to do too much, good things are happening, I feel good about that. Q. It's a smaller body of work, David, but it's kind of the same question for you. You had a great postseason last year and what is it about these games that you think the Cardinals rise to and that you rise to? DAVID FREESE: I think it's the best time of the year. Not every player, not every team gets a chance to be a part of something like this. And that was one thing when I got traded over here, to be a St. Louis Cardinal you get an opportunity to fight for a playoff spot year in and year out. And you've got to bring that focus, you've got to bring that desire. And honestly, I've been fortunate enough to play with some veterans that you can learn a lot from. And obviously one of them is sitting to my left. He goes about it ‑‑ I'm going to take that with me for the rest of my career. Q. It's a question for both guys. Because of the way you guys won the last series and jumped out right here, is there an actual tangible momentum thing going for you guys? Is there a bit of a rolling feeling for you guys right now? CARLOS BELTRAN: You know what, the way I see it is the way we play the game, we have been in this type of situation before during the regular season. We were able to get back in the game. And we fought to tie the game and to win those ballgames. As a team we feel ‑‑ what I see is just these guys have this mentality of no panicking. And it doesn't matter how far behind in the game, we feel as a team that we're going to be able to come back. They did it last year in the postseason and they did it all year last year. And experiencing my first year with them, that's what I see about the team. It's just we grind. We put good at‑bats and we not give up. DAVID FREESE: For me, I don't really believe in that kind of stuff, especially when you go series to series. We're all professionals here and you wake up the next day no matter what happened previously and you grind it out. And you take it obviously one pitch at a time, especially in the postseason, how much focus goes into every pitch. But as far as momentum, I think both teams just battle and you just play it out. And then if it doesn't work out one night you get a good night's sleep and you show up the next day ready to go. Q. Carlos, you just mentioned that your postseason approach is to stay in control, not put too much pressure on yourself. Was there a veteran maybe in your Astros days who gave you advice on how to handle the postseason? CARLOS BELTRAN: You know what, when I got traded to the Astros and I got an opportunity to be in the playoffs I was so happy, I never experienced anything like it, to be able to play in meaningful games and try to win a championship. And I was so excited I just saw the guys playing the game and I just told myself, just go out there and have fun. Don't try to do too much. And that's what I told myself. And I went out there and good things happened for me. It's hard for me to explain this production. I'm just enjoying myself. I don't feel the pressure. I don't feel like I need to do something special. I just feel like I need to go out there and play the game the right way and let things happen. Q. Carlos, to what extent did the Cardinals' ability to get to the postseason on a regular basis, to what extent did that have an effect on you in choosing to go to St. Louis? CARLOS BELTRAN: In my case, I always as a ballplayer would love to be in this type of situation where you're playing for a championship. And that was something that I felt was on this off‑season. I wanted to be on a team that gave me that opportunity. And the Cardinals were there. They pursued me and we talk about it and we agreed on terms and I just felt it was the right decision for me to come here and try to help the team win anywhere I could. Q. Do either of you, what was the feeling in the dugout when the Giants got back in the game at the end of the 4th after you guys had four runs? CARLOS BELTRAN: We were in the field. Q. On the field, in the dugout, I don't know. CARLOS BELTRAN: Well, they're a good team. There's no doubt that the Giants are a good team. They fight. They try to come back in games and that was the specialty, always has been the specialty for them. They wait to the last moment to kind of do something. But in the four, they came hard. They put good at‑bats, they were able to get on base. And scored four huge runs for them. Lucky enough for us our bullpen came in and did a good job, shut the doors. DAVID FREESE: I'm thinking about the DC game. They were up 6‑0. We were up 6‑0. And that shows that you've got to keep playing. And I think the last thing the Giants were worrying about were how many runs they had at that point. They just knew they had to chip away. They were trying to hit hard liners. And they started finding gaps. And we were fortunate enough that our bullpen came in and closed the door the rest of the way. Q. You mentioned the 6‑0. A lot of people were thinking when you got to that score, did anybody mention that at all? What does it mean to you guys that Tim Lincecum is in their bullpen coming in in relief situations like that? DAVID FREESE: No, I was never a part of a conversation as far as thinking about or talking about the DC game. But I think there's probably people that are thinking about it. I was. I knew that this team, they weren't going anywhere. That crowd was electric. It was on fire in the 4th inning. That's a cool thing to be a part of when it's your home crowd. We know what kind of guys we've got in our pen and especially how young these guys are. It's amazing the demeanor they have when they go in there. They're unfazed and they pound the zone and get outs. And we're lucky to have them on our side. CARLOS BELTRAN: I think I was able to have the opportunity to play with Tim last year. Tim is a team player. He is doing what he is called to do. Bochy feels it's better to use him out of the bullpen. And he has done a real good job. Has had good outings for the team. And that's a decision that they are making. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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