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AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: TIGERS v RED SOXOctober 13, 2013David OrtizBOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: Game Two Boston – 6 Q. Facing Benoit, what was your game plan and how aggressive were you swinging at that first pitch? DAVID ORTIZ: Well, I know facing him a couple of times and during the regular season, and he kind of started slow and then go back to the heat, which pretty much all of them have a good fastball. Q. John said you've done extra work on Benoit because you hadn't faced him that much. How much work did you do to be prepared for that sort of moment? DAVID ORTIZ: I watch everybody. I watch every single pitcher, what they're trying to do against me, especially. I know they try to approach me better than anyone else. They don't want to make a mistake. So try to work hard on that. And that guy has good stuff. And we got the history for things to happen before. And you make up your mind. After you see that, I pretty much tell all the guys, especially the young hitters, you can't go to the plate trying to hit everything. That's what we've been trying to do the last couple of days, plus their pitching being outstanding. Like Sanchez last night, he pretty much had everybody guessing, Scherzer tonight was outstanding. He have everything going on. And these guys, they haven't give in. Like you saw Scherzer up by four runs, 3‑2 throw a slider, overpowering with his fastball. We know we are a dangerous hitting team. So they pitching careful to everybody. Q. You've had some pretty big moments in October. How high up do you rank this one, considering how bleak things looked for a while tonight? DAVID ORTIZ: We need it, man. We need start some momentum going on. And I think going back to Detroit 1‑1 is ‑‑ 2‑0, I'm pretty sure that that game that we're going to have on Tuesday against Verlander I'm pretty sure you're going to see guys having better at‑bats. I think that, like I say, they have an outstanding pitching and we are the kind of team that we try to take advantage of mistake. And the past couple of days, I mean, see the whole regular season you haven't seen a team shutting us down for 14, 15 straight innings like they have the past couple of days. If you look at the way we've been pitching, unbelievable. We play those guys seven times during the season, they have a totally different approach, the way they've been pitching these past couple of days. It's up to us make an adjustment. Q. How much does your vast postseason experience help your comfort level as you step up there? DAVID ORTIZ: I tell you what, man, postseason is something that it can work both way for you. It can go well, if you stay calm. Or it can go bad if you try to overdo things. Like last night, pretty much all we were trying to overdo things. I was trying to produce for the team when the opposition is pitching me very careful. I was chasing a lot of bad pitches, I feel like I was jumping a little bit. In my first couple of at‑bat I feel like I was doing some funny things. We've had four days off and sometime it can go against you, when you're not facing pitching. And it happens. It happen to all of us. So we pretty much need the momentum going on. And I think winning this game is going to tell a lot. Q. How were you able to calm down? DAVID ORTIZ: You know, I just tried not to do too much, man. I try to put a good swing on the ball. My idea at‑bat wasn't to go out and hit a grand slam. We've been struggling, when it comes down to put a good swing on the ball. Those guys have been doing an outstanding job hitting the spot and keeping ‑‑ keeping us off balance. If I was telling you about thinking about hitting a gland slam, I'd be lying to you now. You try to put a good swing on the ball and that happens. Q. Were you surprised they didn't bring in Coke, a lefty? DAVID ORTIZ: What can I tell you? Playoff is playoff, and you've got to make your pitches. You've got to do what you've got to do. As a hitter you are more on top of your toes in a playoff game what you normally do in the regular season, adrenaline is going all over the place. And there's a reason why Leyland did what he did. He's been doing good for them. When you need four outs, how many times do you see that? You see that all the time. So what they see is the situation that they go into, when you go down with your closer. Q. When you saw Jonny Gomes go on to second base, did you have any doubt somebody was going to try to get him in? DAVID ORTIZ: I'm telling you, playoff situation like that, pretty much most of the time you see hitter executing. And especially tie game, late in the game, and we have a lot of guys capable of doing that. Q. How much were you able to watch the flight of the ball and did you think at any point that Hunter had a good shot at it? DAVID ORTIZ: I tell you, Torii always scare me. I grow up playing with Torii. He's one of the best outfielder I ever saw in my life. Torii can chase balls out there. This guy went from playing centerfield to right field, and I wouldn't be surprised if he get a Gold Glove again this year. I saw on the video and the reason why I think he didn't catch that ball is because the ball take like a left turn when he was going right. And, looked to me like he kind of touched it. But that's Torii. Torii is a trooper out there, man. And he's fun to watch. Q. The pitch that you hit, it was a change‑up, I think? DAVID ORTIZ: Yep. Q. Were you looking for a change‑up? It was outside. You were able to pull it. Oftentimes you'll take that off the wall if you have a good bead on it. But this one you pulled. DAVID ORTIZ: I know they not going to let me beat them with a fastball in that situation. Plus I know that my boy, Benoit, he had a good splitter. And I take my chances in the situation. But that pitch was pretty much hittable. It was on the plate. And put a good swing on it. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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