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NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: DODGERS v CARDINALSOctober 11, 2013Carlos BeltranJoe KellyST. LOUIS, MISSOURI: Game One Cardinals – 3 Q. After Carlos tied it up in the third, things seemed to settle down for you a little bit. Did it feel like you got new life there in the fourth when you went back out? JOE KELLY: Yeah, after you get runs. It's big to try to shut those guys down as quick as you can. After I scored I was really excited and just tried to do what I can to get on the fence back into the dugout as quick as I could. Q. Obviously, Game 1, did you feel like emotions were maybe a little amped up early on? You got out of that first inning jam, and as was mentioned after the third inning, pretty solid after that. How were you feeling as the game began anyway? JOE KELLY: Oh, I was definitely excited. Yadier came out and told me, hey, man, you've got good stuff. Try not to be too amped up right now, and just try to make quality pitches. And that's what I tried to do. But in the beginning, emotions were flying high, and I was just excited to be pitching out there. But it was definitely a good time and I had a lot of fun. Q. Several key plays to get out of rallies were made by Pete Kozma. I'm just curious if there is a certain comfort level to have a guy like that behind you as a groundball pitcher? JOE KELLY: Yeah, Pete Kozma is one of the best defenders. He's a stud back there. If you hit a groundball somewhere near him, he's going to make the play. It definitely gives you a lot of confidence when you know he can get a ball down, try to get a groundball and he'll make a play for you. So it's fun to have him back there. Q. What does it also mean to you as a starter just to have the effort that the bullpen gave tonight? Not only to you as a starter, but just the whole team in general, just to solidify what happened from the sixth inning on? JOE KELLY: Yeah, our bullpen is great. They went out there. Every single pitcher was locked in and they competed their butts off. To have a game like that where it's an extra inning game, those guys grinded and made big pitches when they needed to. It was awesome to see. Me, icing my arm and watching those guys pitch, they definitely did an excellent job. We have one of the best bullpens in the League, so it was fun to watch them pitch. THE MODERATOR: Questions for Carlos Beltran. Q. You've talked before about how you're able to eliminate distraction and raise the concentration level. Can you just kind of share how you did that in that last at‑bat tonight? CARLOS BELTRAN: Well, in my last at‑bat, actually I was trying to get a good pitch to hit. I know Jansen is a good closer, and I know he's capable of making a lot of pitches for strikes. He made a good pitch, back door cutter for a strike, and after that he tried to make me chase for some cutters on the dirt, and I was able to let those go and put myself into a hitter's count. Once I put myself into a hitter's count, I was looking for a pitch to hit, because I knew he was going to throw a pitch that I was going to be able to hit. Q. You mentioned the sequence there, the 3‑1 pitch you got from Jansen. Was it in the spot you were looking for? CARLOS BELTRAN: Right down the middle. To me, it was a pitch right down the middle. I don't blame him, because he's trying to make a pitch. He's behind in the count and he's trying to make a pitch. But in that case, like I said, I was trying to hit the ball hard. I wasn't really looking for anything else more than a hit. Q. Will you take us through the ninth inning, the catch and the throw? Pretty medium right field. What was going through your mind when you knew Ellis was the guy tagging and just take us through that whole play, if you would? CARLOS BELTRAN: Well, as well as Michael Young hit the baseball, I felt that I was going to have a better angle than Jon Jay. So I called the ball about five or six times, and Jon Jay was able to hear me and leave it up to me. Once I caught it, I was hoping to make a good throw to home. Thank God I did that. And I saw Yadier kind of like in the crouch waiting for the ball, and I thought we were going to have a chance. And thank God we did. Q. In roughly the same number of at‑bats as Babe Ruth had in his pro season career, you've put up virtually identical numbers to what Babe Ruth did. I'm just curious about the numbers you're putting up and the legacy there, and whether your teammates are aware that you're there and if they're talking about how you focus in the postseason? CARLOS BELTRAN: Well, for me, it's just I try not to keep up with the numbers because when you try to keep up with the numbers, you could get caught out there trying to do a lot of bad things and trying to look for homers and trying to change your approach. I know that. I'm aware of what I have done. Like I say, I give the glory and the honor to God, because He's the one that's allowed me to put myself in this type of situation. It's always great to be able to come through as a ballplayer. When you come through and you're able to help the team win, that's what it's all about. At the end of the day, understand this is not about me. This is about the team. In order for a team to win a ballgame, a lot of things need to happen right, the right way. We have to pitch, we have to play defense, and we have to come through offensively. Thank God it seems like I've been able to do that too. Q. As tough as all the pitching was tonight, can you talk about the first two RBIs you hit off Greinke? CARLOS BELTRAN: Well, I know that today was going to be a very difficult day because Greinke is a good pitcher. After my first at‑bat, I went to the video room and looking where were the pitches. Because to me they felt like they were outside and right on the edges for strikes. So in my second at‑bat, I had a little bit of an idea of how they were trying to pitch me. So I kind of like was looking for a pitch out there. Once again, I got to a 3‑1 count and he threw a changeup on one of the few mistakes that he made today right there, and I was able to hit it good. Once I hit it, I didn't know it was going to‑‑ I know for sure it wasn't going to leave the ballpark, but I was hoping that it was going to be enough to fall for a hit. Almost Ethier made a good play there. Q. How important‑‑ obviously, all wins are important, but how important was this win against Greinke knowing that tomorrow is Clayton Kershaw? CARLOS BELTRAN: Yeah, it's going to be tough. Today was tough, and tomorrow's going to be another good game. Today is kind of a preview of how bad they want to win and how bad we want to win. You've got to give credit to them. They played good baseball today. At the end of the day, I thank God that we were able to come out with the win. But they showed that they're not going to give up, and we're not going to give up. Tomorrow's going to be a good, fun day for us. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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