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NL DIVISION SERIES: PIRATES v CARDINALSOctober 7, 2013Clint HurdlePITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA: Game Four Cardinals – 2 Q. Clint, between Wacha's sustained velocity and his ability to mix locations, what was the most impressive thing about him today? CLINT HURDLE: The whole package. Until Pedro's homer, he had given up one hit in how many innings was that? 15 innings, almost 16 innings? It was what we had seen. When you got to feel it and you have to go try and hit it, it's is a completely different thing. Fastball, velocity, obviously there. A little extra when he wanted to, when he needed to. The change‑up we knew going in is a very, very good pitch for him. The curveball he sprinkled in as well. But the command, the location, the sharpness, all of it was there. Q. When you've got a guy like that who's working fast, pounding the strike zone early, what kind of things can you do to try to get him off his game or try to counter that? CLINT HURDLE: Get hits. He's pounding the zone. It was almost what 66%, 67% strikes to balls until the last walk. So you look at a couple of situations where you take a pitch, now you're down 0‑1. Some fastballs were in the zone that we weren't able to barrel early. But that you just get in there and you do the best you can. You know, you do the best you can. It didn't look like a day where you were able to work walks because he just kept pounding the zone with all his pitches. We weren't able to get anybody on and get any motion created. That is some kind of postseason outing for a young man his first postseason game. Q. What can you say about Charlie Morton's outing with the way he pitched considering how far the Cardinals had hit him this season, and also what his outing says about how little the margin of error really is in the playoffs? CLINT HURDLE: Two good points. Charlie pitched extremely well. I think the cowboys say he drew a tough bull today. He navigated through their lineup extremely efficiently. The sinker was working, the breaking ball was working. Holliday barrelled the one ball. He wasn't trying to pitch around Beltran. We had Beltran up three of the times today with nobody on. Just couldn't get the ball where he wanted to. At the end of the day, Charlie gave us a very professional outing. And it just goes to show you, as you said, there's no safety net in the postseason. Q. Clint, who is your Game 5 starter? CLINT HURDLE: Gerrit Cole is going to start. Q. What separated him? CLINT HURDLE: We have one game to win. As I've done and I've challenged the guys to do, we need to do the best we can to win that next game. I believe that match‑up is the best we can do to beat the Cardinals in Game 5. Q. Clint, have you decided to run Harrison when you put him in the game, what was your thinking there? CLINT HURDLE: It was a hit and run. So we were going to put him in motion and Tabata try to get a ball on the ground, open up a lane and make something happen. He just swung through the ball. Unfortunately, we weren't able to put it in play. But that was the play we had on was a hit and run. Q. They've done a pretty good job of keeping Marte and Walker off base this series. How do you find a way to get more production from those two spots going into Game 5? CLINT HURDLE: Extremely well. We got to find an answer here the day after tomorrow. We would like to get a little better action up top. These guys are trying, they're working. The pitching has been challenging for them. They're gaining valuable playoff experience. They tried to work counts at times. I think where a little patience might help at times. And the time you do take it, it seems like it's always a strike. We just got to keep grinding‑‑ they have to get in there and keep trying. Both are capable. Q. Had you talked to A.J. about that situation before the end of this game today? And given how important he's been for you guys, just how tough of a decision is that for you to make? CLINT HURDLE: No, we had not talked to anybody. We got them both‑‑ they're both on routine. They had both thrown their sides seeing how it was going to play out. Eliminate any of what we felt might be distractions either way. It's a very hard decision. It's a difficult decision because he has meant so much, we've asked so much of him while he's been here. It has been a very challenging park for him. If this was any other venue, he would have gotten the ball. But for me in this venue this game, Cole is going to be our guy. A.J. wants the ball every day he's scheduled to pitch. That's one of the things that's gotten him to the point‑‑ this point in his career and having success that he's had. So by no means ‑‑ you want to treat men professionally. Sometimes we don't agree on things.  We have to find a way to get this together to give our team the best opportunity to win in all aspects. Q. Since Burnett is ready, would you be willing to use him out of the bullpen in multiple‑inning role if needed? CLINT HURDLE: I think that's something that if we get to that point to talk about, I really don't have an answer for you on that right now. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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