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NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: CARDINALS v GIANTSOctober 18, 2012Mike MathenyST. LOUIS, MISSOURI: Game Four St. Louis Cardinals – 8 Q.  I know after the second inning when you left four guys on, then scored 6 runs and only left three guys on, that had to be a good feeling of adding to the lead that we got there early, the 5th through the 7th inning? MIKE MATHENY: That was nice, and gave Adam some freedom to feel like he had a little wiggle room, even though he goes about it all the same. Nice to see when guys pick each other up and take advantage of those opportunities. We had some big hits today. It was nice to see. Q. When Adam got into a little trouble there in the 6th inning, can you explain the decision to let him go back out, to give him the bat and stay in the game? MIKE MATHENY: Well, a few things go into that, one, his pitch count, which was relatively low for that point in the game, what his stuff looked like. I thought he still looked very sharp. Gets out of a pretty tough spot in Sandoval rollover pitch. Looked to me like he was still there. And we never have a problem with giving our pen another day if we can lengthen out our starter a bit. And he did a nice job coming back out. And obviously we got a few more runs, which helped that, as well. He did everything we could have asked from him today. I thought he was as sharp as we've seen him in a while. Q. You guys were the last team into the playoffs and here you are. What do you say about this team's resiliency and what it's accomplished? MIKE MATHENY: Well, what I say right now is we've got to keep playing. We're looking at a team right here with the Giants that have shown a great deal of resiliency, as well, walking into Cincinnati and did something very unlikely. So we don't look past that, at all. And that's what we're looking at is an opportunity to come out and play tomorrow. But overall, all season I've been commending these guys for the fight that they have. And how they just don't go away. And that's part of their character, I think, and it's become just their nature. We've got a long way to go. Q. You sort of just answered my question right there, but do you see shades of your team in the Giants, the way they rallied from 2 down against the Reds? MIKE MATHENY: Yeah, I mean, that was a tough order. And you look tonight, they came back and answered and struck back there in the 9th. We know that it's a team capable of doing just about anything. And we've got our guard up for that. We just have to keep our head down, like I said. Keep your head down, keep playing the game. Keep doing things right. Stay aggressive, stay within yourself, do your piece, and trust that we can pull together and do what we need to do. Q. I heard you discussing Adam's start. Obviously this was his first postseason win, and Adam talked about how gratifying it was for him. I was just curious, especially after that Game 5 in Washington, just how important it was to see him just come out and basically be lights out tonight for the Cardinals? MIKE MATHENY: First of all, I don't think any of us were surprised. He was barely getting off the mound in Washington, telling everybody to pick him up and keep us right there. And he wanted another chance to pitch. And I think we all knew we'd see something pretty special if he did get that opportunity. That's just his makeup. He came out today and was really sharp. He established his fastball and his curveball is as good as I've seen it. It was one of those times when a guy who's a leader on your team has that opportunity to step up and do something big, and he did it. Q. If you could address in particular Matt Carpenter on base three more times tonight and Kozma two more hits. Talk about these young guys and what they keep doing for you in the postseason. MIKE MATHENY: Well, Matt Carpenter, that doesn't surprise us at all, either. This guy knows how to work the count. He knows how to take tough at‑bats. That's what he does. He's done a really nice job of staying within his strike zone and staying to his strengths. And then he shows some power at times and the ability to draw walks. And if you're drawing walks in front of a lineup, the middle of the lineup like ours, and Matt Holliday is starting to do what he does, it's a nice thing to have. Jon Jay getting on right off the top, too, it went well, the top of the order, because the guys were working it. Pete Kozma, we are just continuing to stay out of his way, let him keep doing what he's doing. And we keep talking about it and fortunately he's had a very good mental approach of taking the attention, but just deflecting it back and going out there and doing what he does. But he's doing a nice job in the field and he's putting together tough at‑bats. I'm wearing out that term, but that's really what we preach around here is grind at‑bats. We saw it in Washington and most of the season, where these guys just don't give in. Q. I also wanted to know if you would comment about what you saw, and I know you only see the Giants a couple of times a year, but the difference with Lincecum. He obviously gave up one earned run in 8 1/3 innings in relief. He didn't seem to be quite all there, and I was curious on what you saw, what the win means to you, especially going in against Barry Zito and how the Giants' strategy sets up? MIKE MATHENY: The win means a lot to us, every one of them does. We understand and figure that Tim would probably come in out of the stretch as he's had so much success and pitched so well, he's been outstanding in his postseason outings out of the pen. We knew he was going to come out and feature the same sort of stuff. So our guys just went in with a good approach and tried to stay with it and did a nice job of executing. To go back to today, we don't take any of these for granted. We know today is a big win, but we'll enjoy it a little bit and start focusing on tomorrow. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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