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NL DIVISION SERIES: DODGERS v BRAVESOctober 7, 2013Freddie FreemanLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Game Four Q. You guys had a feeling this might happen with Kershaw. When did you find out for sure, and what was your reaction? FREDDIE FREEMAN: I actually found out in the elevator today going down from the hotel. But I think it's going to be good. We're going to have to beat them anyways either today or on Wednesday. Kershaw hasn't done this before in his career, pitched on three daysÂ’ rest, so maybe this will be a positive for us. Q. Who told you on the elevator? FREDDIE FREEMAN: Brandon Beachy. Q. Does it help‑‑ I know everyone's different, but does it help you personally when you've seen a pitcher maybe twice in a week or twice in a short period of time? FREDDIE FREEMAN: I think so. We had a tough task. We haven't faced Kershaw since 2011 going in the first game. We had a few days off and that's always going to mess up a hitter's timing when you have a couple days off. So we can take as many positives as can you out of this. Clayton Kershaw, he's probably going to be the Cy Young award winner. We're going to have a battle every time you face a guy like that. So maybe we can get to him a little early. Maybe he's a little tired. He did throw 130 pitches three days ago, so hopefully that will benefit us tonight. Q. You've had some moderate success against him. What's been the key to that? FREDDIE FREEMAN: I don't know. I think I've only had three or four at‑bats against him. Q. Seven. FREDDIE FREEMAN: Seven plate appearances? I don't think I do anything different against pitchers. I'm a very aggressive hitter. I try to go up there. I don't like to let strikes go by. He throws a lot of strikes and doesn't walk a lot of guys. I don't know if that plays into my game, but he's going to go after hitters, and I try to just get it out of the way as quick as I can. Q. Coming out of Game 1 I think I heard two things in your clubhouse, one, we want to get his pitch count up. And then Justin was like we're not concerned about that, we just want to get hits and runs off him. But tonight on three days' rest, do you look at it like let's take some pitches where we might not normally? FREDDIE FREEMAN: I don't know if we're going to go that route. He might be a little tired, so he might be leaving some pitches over the plate. I don't think you want to be passive against him tonight. We are a very aggressive team. We go down swinging if we're going to go down. We want to go out there and just get after it as quick as we can tonight. Q. How would you characterize the mood in the clubhouse now after last night? Are you able to count it like you would in the regular season? Like, hey, it's one game, it's a new day, no big deal? FREDDIE FREEMAN: I think we pretty much covered that last night. It's one of those games that you just got to put it behind you. You can't let that linger over to tomorrow. I think that's the beauty of the series. Everything with the experience last year that if something like that does happen, we're able to come back the next day. We're ready to go tonight, and hopefully we can get a W and get back to Atlanta. Q. Can you talk a little bit about the transition and the steps you have taken since last season and how the experience of last season has helped you for this time around? FREDDIE FREEMAN: I think it's helped a great deal. Last year, going into last year, I had never experienced something like that. It was a one‑game elimination and unfortunately we did get eliminated in that game. But I think it kind of helped because going into the first game of this playoff series my nerves weren't‑‑ I'm not going to lie. I had some nerves going into that Wild Card game because I never experienced anything like that. But going into Game 1 of the NLDS, they were a lot more calm. But in front of a packed house, and it was so loud, I think it was beneficiary for a lot of us that experienced that last year. Q. Did the move for them to start Kershaw surprise you? Were you sort of preparing for both? FREDDIE FREEMAN: Yeah, we kind of knew. I think before the series even started they had that door open that if something like this Game 4 was going to happen, that was going to be an option for them. So I think as a west coast team, they don't want to go back to the east coast having to make another game like that. So I think it's a smart move on their part. They want to get this series over with because they don't want to go back to our fans in Atlanta. It's going to be a very tough game for us tonight, and it's going to be tough for them because we want to get back to Atlanta. Q. How quickly do you think you'll be able to tell if he's tired after that Thursday start, or is it something you won't know until your third at‑bat, sixth inning? FREDDIE FREEMAN: I don't know. You might be able to tell pretty quickly. Most of the time he's hitting the spots, he's moving away from us a lot. He keeps it pretty on the corners. So I think in the first couple innings if he's over the plate and his curveball's not as sharp, maybe that will give us some extra confidence and we'll be able to spark from that. But it is Clayton Kershaw. It's going to be a tough battle no matter how many days rest he has. It's going to be a good game tonight. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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