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AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: TIGERS v RED SOXOctober 17, 2013Jim LeylandDETROIT, MICHIGAN: Game Five Boston – 4 Q. You talked before the game about the difficulty your team would face if you lost this game. Having Scherzer and Verlander lined up for the next two, does it give you the feeling there is still a chance? JIM LEYLAND: I think it's like Mattingly said the other day, we have to win one game. That's obvious. We have to win one game and then take it from there. We've got to win one game. Q. How is Alex Avila? Did he get shaken up on the play with Ross? JIM LEYLAND: Yes, the left knee was pretty rough, pretty bad. I'm not really sure of the significance. Got hit with a foul ball. The knee was pretty bad. I don't want to sound like some emergency situation, because I don't know that. But we felt like the best thing to do would be to get him out of there and hopefully be ready to play two days from now in Boston. I'm not really sure about that at this point. Q. What did you see on the play, looked like he waved him in and then held him up, what was your view? JIM LEYLAND: I think what happens with two outs sometimes, you're thinking you've got to score with two outs, that's the old baseball thing. But in this particular case with Miggy you've got to hold him up right away. He was waving, and it probably stopped him a little late. With Miggy right now, you've got to stop him. And there was nothing Miggy could do, he saw him waving and Brookey held him up a little late. Like I said, with him right now it's pretty rough for him. So it was just one of those unfortunate things. But in saying that, everybody just assumes the next guy is going to get a hit. That doesn't always hold true. But he made a mistake. Q. With all we've wrote about concussions, what do you feel about the rules about collisions at home plate? JIM LEYLAND: In this particular case I'm not going to whine about it. I think there should be changes made, I think there should be changes made at some point. It has nothing to do with tonight because the rules are what they are still. David really did the only thing he could do. I have absolutely no problem with that. It's a tough play for a catcher. Basically, if you've got time, you hope you can sometimes step off to the side and tag him as he's going by, if you can kind of step off to the side and tag him as he's going by, it's probably a little better. But sometimes you just don't think about that. Q. Can you talk about Tazawa, Breslow, and Uehara, please. JIM LEYLAND: They're obviously very good. I thought our bullpen did a tremendous job, as well. We dodged a couple of bullets. We held it there. Sanchez ‑‑ their guys are very good, to answer your question, we know that. And I tip my cap to them. In our case tonight Sanchez was one of those tease outings, because sometimes really good and other times not so good tonight, a little bit of inconsistency. But gave us a shot. And we had a shot. It was another really good game. We just couldn't quite get over the hump, we had a little opportunity there, and we couldn't quite get over the hump. But our pitchers did a good job of keeping it there for us, including Sanchez. Q. With Fielder will you consider moving him around in the lineup hoping that takes some pressure off him, like Jackson? JIM LEYLAND: I don't think so. Like I said, he's had some good at‑bats, doesn't have a lot to show for it and some not so good at‑bats. But I don't think so. When he steps in the box, like I say, I know people say, well, you keep waiting for it. I still feel good something big could happen at any time. He's one of those electric guys that, you know, right now, is getting thrown a base hit here and there. But I don't think so. I think we'll just pretty much leave it the way it is. I thought Austin Jackson had another good night. He actually hit that ball good on the double play. We'll probably leave it just the way it is. Q. On the play where you tried sending Cabrera home, are you saying because of his physical state right now he was incapable of stopping quickly? JIM LEYLAND: No, what I'm saying is you've got to hold him up right away. Tommy was waving. And in defense of him, the natural instincts is to wave right away. You don't want to stop him too quick in case something happened in the outfield. It's hard to get him going again. But he held him too late. With Cabrera right now you have to be cautious, you can see that. And like I say, he probably made a mistake by just not holding him a little quicker. But like I said, in defense a little bit if the guy bobbled the ball and it rolls away a little bit, and you stop him too quickly, then you can't get him going again. It was a touchy one, but with Miguel's status right now, you pretty much almost have to play safety first, you can't really take any chances. Q. I know you don't want to make excuses for Cabrera, and it is a known quantity what he's dealing with. But when you see him lunge at some pitches or extend on some pitches that you don't see at other points in the season, is that not a testament to what he's dealing with? JIM LEYLAND: Well, I think everybody knows, as you said, that he's playing under some really, really tough conditions right now. We did get the one run in there, it was a double play, but he still got the one run in and got us to within one. And I think you see a little bit of that at the plate for him. It's tough for him on certain pitches and I think you obviously see it on the bases, which was part of the play tonight that happened. It is what it is. But he's certainly not a guy that I'm going to move around or take out of the lineup. He's a threat, particularly going to the Boston with the Green Monster. He's a threat to hit one. He's already hit one there. It is what it is. We're playing under a few little tough conditions, particularly maybe now with Alex. But no excuses. Been good games, and so far they got the best of it. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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