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AL DIVISION SERIES: TIGERS v ATHLETICSOctober 6, 2013Alex AvilaDETROIT, MICHIGAN: Workout Day Q. Alex, you've been through this before. When you get to the postseason and you face the type of pitching that some of teams that advance have, does that change the way the offense goes about producing runs? Does that take what might be regular season style and force some teams to go into more of a manufacturing offense? ALEX AVILA: Not really. You go an entire season producing runs however you produce runs. In our case it's extra base hits and home runs, same in their case as well. You try to take advantage of any opportunity you have. The thing about postseason is that more times than not you're not going to have many opportunities. Usually the team that takes advantage for the one or two hits during the games, wins. Q. When you guys traded for Sanchez last year, how much did you know about him and what has sort of stood out to you about him the last year and a half that he's been here? ALEX AVILA: Well, not too many knew too much about him cause he was in Florida. But when he came over, catching a couple of his bullpens before his first start and watching some videotape on him, I knew he had some really good stuff. And from his numbers in Florida, he always had a lot of strikeouts. He threw a lot of strikes. We knew we were getting a guy that was going to keep us in the game and he's definitely been much better than what anyone thought as far as his consistency and he's been tremendous this season. He was great last year, too, down the stretch. Following into this season, he's been tremendous for us and someone we can count on. Q. You were talking about the offense moments ago, the last two games. Is that just running into two very good pitchers in Colon and Gray, or is there something approach‑wise that you guys were able to muster no runs in 17 innings? ALEX AVILA: Well, when you look at it, you have two teams that have high‑powered offenses ‑‑ hit a lot of home runs and extra base hits. Both teams had a week off, both teams are facing good pitching. That's just postseason baseball. Sometimes it's a little different animal. The way I see it, the series is tied 1‑1. Each team scored three runs and it's one of those things, you just strap it on and see what happens next. Q. The home runs and extra base hits, its kind of gone missing a little bit even before the postseason. Do you see guys pressing at all? Do you talk about that on the plane home. At any point do you address that verbally? ALEX AVILA: There's no need to. Like I said earlier, we've been through this before. This is postseason baseball. Sometimes you're not going to get those opportunities. Teams pitch at you a little bit differently, a little bit tougher. Seems like last couple of games, both teams ‑‑ in our case, Max and Justin, in their case Colon and Gray‑‑ really stepped up their game. We're just as sharp as can be. And we're obviously struggling a little bit down the stretch offensively, but still, we were able to win the games we needed to, and still this series, we were able to get one out of Oakland, tough place to play. So the way I look at it, not too upset about how we performed. I thought we played two really good games in Oakland, and hopefully we'll be able to get something going a little bit more in the game tomorrow and maybe string together a few more quality at‑bats. Q. Can you talk about the excitement factor of being back at home? The first playoff game of the season, 1:00 game. It's supposed to rain a little bit. I'm sure the fans are going to go crazy. ALEX AVILA: I'm sure it's going to be a mad house here if the last two years were any indication. It will be exciting. It was nice to get home and sleep in my own bed today. And nice to where you're not in a hostile environment like we were in Oakland. It was rocking there. So hopefully it will be a little bit uncomfortable for them on this side of town. Q. Alex, what time did you guys get back this morning, and how abrupt of a transition is it when you go from West Coast night games to, even with a day off, to an early start, as you guys have tomorrow? Even with the day off, is that still an adjustment with the body clocks? ALEX AVILA: Absolutely. I mean, got in very early this morning. I got home about 8:30, and I was able to take a little bit of a nap before coming here. But it's a little bit of an adjustment. You have the off day, but it's not really an off day, and it is a quick turnaround with the 1:00 game tomorrow. But sometimes I'd rather play day games in Detroit in October than night games. So I don't mind that too much. Q. You talk about the atmosphere there. Talk about the setup, the configuration last year you had first two games here. Now you're coming back here with the split, so you can finish the series potentially here if you win these next two. ALEX AVILA: Yeah, that's a possibility. We have to win the one Monday first, but that's a possibility. To be honest with you, a lot will be made about, you know, if we don't, if we split here, having to go back there and play there. Couple years ago we had to do that, had to go back and play New York in New York. And last year we had to win a game in Oakland. So regardless of what happens, we feel pretty confident we'll win anywhere. Q. This isn't really a baseball question, but I hope you can bear with me on this. You and your teammates, you and your teammates have nice jobs. You make a nice living in a city where a lot of people are struggling. The City itself has declared bankruptcy. There are a lot of people unemployed. There are a lot of people who are down on their luck. Does that ever cross your mind at all, just how well you guys are doing as opposed to everybody else, and does it ever bother you at all, or make you feel fortunate? ALEX AVILA: Well, me personally, I don't think I've ever taken what I've gotten in life for granted. I thank God every day that I have the opportunity to play baseball and have had the upbringing and the life I have. As far as the team, we're definitely aware of the situation and where we play. I think it's one thing that motivates us, is we want to be able to bring the championship to Detroit, a place that's longed for one since‑‑ been a while since there's been a championship here. And we feel we're a big part of the reason why people are coming back to downtown, and that's something that's definitely motivation for our team. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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