Offday chatter

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Both the Red Sox and Rays held Q&A's with the media today at Tropicana Field in advance of Game 6 of the American League Championship Series. Check out the links below to watch video highlights from the press conferences, or read the transcripts from each session, as provided by ASAP Sports.

Manager Terry Francona and Game 6 starter Josh Beckett talked for the Red Sox, while manager Joe Maddon and projected starters James Shields (Game 6) and Matt Garza (Game 7) chatted for the Rays.

VIDEO: Beckett | Francona | Shields | Maddon
TRANSCRIPTS: Beckett | Francona | Shields & Garza | Maddon

Videos

Red Sox manager Terry Francona talks about how he's excited to turn the ball over to Josh Beckett for Saturday's Game 6 and says, despite his recent struggles, there's no one the Sox would rather have on the hill. Beckett brushed off questions about whether his oblique injury has forced him to change any of his mechanics and talked about pitching in pressure situations.

Francona excited to give the ball to Beckett

Beckett ready for Game 6 start

Rays manager Joe Maddon and projected starters James Shields (Game 6) and Matt Garza (Game 7) took the podium first Friday. Not surprisingly, the Rays tried to put the focus on trying to close out the Red Sox in Game 6 instead of harping on Thursday's meltdown in which Boston rallied from seven runs down for an 8-7 triumph.

Maddon on starting Shields in Game 6

Shields on taking the ball in Game 6

Transcripts

Josh Beckett

Q: Following last night's game, your teammates really made it a point to say how much confidence they have in you in Game 6. What does that mean to you going forward?

Josh Beckett: That's awesome. I mean, that's the biggest compliment I think you can get. I think that's something that we all strive for is for your teammates to believe in you. I don't think it really matters what anybody else thinks, but if your teammates believe in you and have respect for you, then that's what you're striving for.

Q: You've been in this kind of do-or-die situation probably a lot more than some other starting pitchers out there. I mean, how much can that help you leading into tomorrow night?

Josh Beckett: Well, I think it helps that I kind of know what I have to do. It's really no different than any other start. I don't generally try to do too much in these games. Like I say, you've got to go out there and just take it pitch to pitch and worry about execution and get some outs.

Q: How much do you take away from the last game in terms of anything you learned, anything you can just take away from it?

Josh Beckett: I don't think you take too many positives away from it, obviously, with the outcome being what it is. I don't know, I think you have a lot of examples of adjustments that you need to make. I think that that's what you take from it.

Q: After what you saw last night, and you get the ball tomorrow, what makes this team so special to have the ability to do it time and time again to come back with your backs against the wall?

Josh Beckett: Well, we haven't done anything yet. I mean, last night was really, really special, one way or the other. But the big picture is still out there. We're trying to do something better than what we did last night.
Obviously for one day, that's about as good as it can get. But as far as an eight-month season, the only thing that would make us happy right now is for us to win our last game.

Q: At the end of last night's game, you personally, how did you feel knowing your team had just earned you the right to extend this series?

Josh Beckett: I don't know, I wasn't too wrapped up in that. It was just so exciting to be in that dugout and be a part of that. I really wasn't too focused on that. Obviously I wanted to get back out there and extend this thing, and obviously our big thing is happy flight, and the only way we were going to make that flight last night was for it to be a happy one. That's the only way that we're going to have a happy flight for the rest of this series.

Q: Because of the oblique, have you had to adjust the way you approach pitching at all or make any changes or do anything differently?

Josh Beckett: No.

Q: Same guy, approaching things the same way?

Josh Beckett: Same.

Q: This team was able to draw on what they did against the Yankees and Cleveland. How much are you able to draw on what you've done in past postseasons?

Josh Beckett: I don't know. I don't really focus on the last postseason or 2003. I'm just out there trying to win games. Like I said earlier, it comes down to executing pitches and not making mistakes because during this time of year, everybody is locked in. There's not an easy game out there. Everybody is locked in this time of year, otherwise they wouldn't be here. So it comes down to really simplifying it.

Terry Francona

Q: How happy are you to be back in Tampa?

Terry Francona: Well, it beats the alternative. Yeah, as long as we're playing baseball, something is going right. So we're thrilled to be here. Now, saying that, we have a job to do.

Q: Can you talk a little bit about Coco? It seemed like last year -- we had a reverse situation where Ellsbury took Coco's job and how Coco is coming in and becoming the starter.

Terry Francona: Yeah, it's kind of weird sometimes the way things work. We tried all year not to let one of them sit very long because both of them are too valuable to ever have somebody sit for a very long time. The at-bats they ended up both having are actually -- both of them wanted to play every day; that wasn't possible. But we didn't ever sit one of them too long and we tried to keep them both sharp, and they have both helped us win a lot of ballgames, none more than the other night.

Q: Somewhat related to that, do you have your lineup ready to be announced? Do you feel like sharing that?

Terry Francona: I actually don't have it ready yet. I want to look at a couple things. Again, because of our either late arrival or early arrival, however you look at it, I just need to look at a few more things. I didn't have a chance to -- I was having some printer problems. We'll get it figured out.

Q: With your team, does your history create the confidence, or does your confidence create the history?

Terry Francona: My IQ doesn't allow me to understand that question (laughter). I think anything that we can draw on, we will. Any team does. You know, that's your responsibility. How many times do you hear the us-against-the-world mentality? If it works, go for it.

You know, this is a different team, though, than -- every team is different, but there are guys in that clubhouse that have done it, which I think we will try to draw upon. The other thing is that regardless of what this team has done, because this team has only really been together for two and a half months, the guys that are together -- and I made sure we told them before the game, not after, how much we appreciate what they do, how much we enjoy the way they play, and we reminded them how good we think they are. And now we'll go see if we can keep playing.

Q: Could you talk about what J.D. did last night and what he's meant to the team this season?

Terry Francona: Early in May when David got hurt, that was probably J.D.'s best month as a Major League player. Now, I might be exaggerating, but I think he was Player of the Month, and he hit 3rd and he carried us, and we really needed it. Then he went down for about six weeks, and it was kind of iffy if he was even going to come back. Not only has he come back, but he's gotten huge hits. The more he keeps playing and the more he gets his legs under him, he's obviously a very dangerous hitter, and he's been able to show that.

Q: The players in the clubhouse last night made it a point to really point to the fact that Josh is going Game 6 and they have a lot of confidence in him. What can you expect from him tomorrow, just being the kind of competitor that he is?

Terry Francona: Yeah, I think we're all excited about Josh pitching. You know, his season has been interrupted, I think, four times this year. He's not been able to get on that run. That doesn't mean he won't.
You know, I know he's been banged up at various junctures this year for different things, but I think the hope is that he goes out -- the other day, I know -- he goes out and plays catch during the day, he always does, and Cashy came in and said, he's going to throw 1,000 tonight. That was fun to hear. The ball was obviously coming out of his hand very well, and he felt good, and then it didn't carry over into the game as well as he wanted it to. That doesn't mean it won't.
He's not going to forget how to compete. So even if he's going out there with maybe close to what he -- maybe it's not 96, maybe it's 92, 93, but he's still Beckett, and that doesn't mean he can't win. That doesn't mean he can't dominate.
But their guy is good, too. This is set up to be exciting. That's the way it's supposed to be.

Q: Again, on Beckett, he's been taking it from all angles about this postseason, he's not on his game and this and that.

Terry Francona: He's not what?

Q: He hasn't been on his game this postseason. Knowing the pride he takes in his postseason success in the past, how much do you expect him to summon everything he has and rebound tomorrow night?

Terry Francona: Oh, he'll give everything he has. That's never been an issue. Regardless of the outcome of the game, nobody in our clubhouse will ever second-guess his effort, his will to -- for him to pitch out in Anaheim, that took a lot to get himself ready to pitch. It wasn't easy. And again, we didn't see his best stuff. I think we all hope you're going to, but I don't know if that was realistic or not. But again, the more he pitches -- I mean, we love this guy. He's one of the best competitors in the game. So whatever he can give us, we'll take. And hopefully it's good enough to win.

Q: When Josh went to see Dr. Andrews, you talked about how he couldn't go out on the mound now with a clear head, clear mind, whatever. He had those three starts in early September that really looked like he was tuning up for October. Then the oblique happens. Can he go out there now with a clear head? Not that an oblique is going to be on your mind the way a shoulder issue or elbow issue might, but is he pitching without having to think about whatever might be restricting him physically?

Terry Francona: Wedgie would have your head (laughter). You know what, that's the whole idea of going clear back to the long side session in Anaheim. I think he threw, what, 67 pitches, is so he could pitch without trying to think it through. When it first happened, when he was feeling it, was when the ball was like halfway to the plate. That was -- which from a medical standpoint, that was good. But from a I'm going to make my pitch and then feel it, I think we can all understand, if it's in the back of your head, it can play with you a little bit. That's why he needed that long session, because with his personality, once he knows he's okay, he -- it's like you alluded to, coming back from Birmingham, there was one day in between. His elbow or shoulder didn't get miraculously, he just got the go-ahead and it was fine. It meant a lot to him, and I understand that.

Q: Because he is a guy who wants to go out there all the time, healthy or not, whatever the case may be, do you feel like that increases the responsibility on you a little bit to handle him with care, if need be, and try and monitor him more than you usually would?

Terry Francona: We certainly do. We also have a very good relationship where he will tell -- he communicates very well. He doesn't necessarily communicate during the game very well, which not a lot of pitchers do. But in between starts, he does a very good job. He has grown into that. There's a lot of trust on our part with him.

Q: During the game, though?

Terry Francona: I don't know that I want to communicate -- have you ever seen him during the game? I don't want to communicate with him. He's throwing (expletive) and... just want him to get outs (laughter).

Q: Last night you said Coco's at-bat may have been his best as a Red Sox. Obviously the result was key to that, but was there something else in the at-bat that you saw, the process of it or...

Terry Francona: Was it a 10, 12, 13-pitch at-bat, whatever it was, it was a long at-bat, and under the circumstances, we get a hit there, we're still playing. He fouled off a lot of pitches, and you could tell as he got into that count, he was feeling good about himself. And then he got a pitch he could handle and he rifled it into right.
I mean off the bat, my concern was that Kotsay wasn't going to score. We thought about running Ellsbury. We also -- and our thinking is the only ball they're going to throw him out is a ball that's rifled into right, and there we have it. But if we use Ellsbury, then we're done doing anything. We think Kotsay is a good runner. But there was a gasp when that ball went out there. I was glad to see that ball come in with not as much on it as it could.

Q: Going back to Beckett, is there any one thing or things that he has to do differently or better this time to get better results than the last two times? Anything you can put your finger on?

Terry Francona: I think the biggest thing he needs to do is just go pitch to pitch. I think he was trying to -- he was getting a little frustrated the other day, and not second-guessing the game plan, but trying to think it through too much. When he is relaxed and comfortable and just executing pitches, there may not be a better pitcher in the game. Even when he's not throwing 97. Again, there's been some things he's fighting. I mean, and some of it is inconsistency because of work, and it was hard for him. But again, if you have to give a ball to somebody in Game 6, I can't imagine not being excited to give him the ball.

James Shields & Matt Garza

Q: For James, does facing the same team in consecutive starts have any effect upon your approach?

James Shields: I don't think it has. We're going to prepare the same way. We're going to try to make adjustments as we go and do what we've been doing all season long, so no, I don't think it has.

Q: James, how much are you looking forward to getting the ball tomorrow night?

James Shields: I'm looking forward to it. I definitely didn't want it under the circumstances that happened last night, but Kaz pitched a great game last night. For him to go on short days and be able to do what he did last night was a great job, and hopefully I can do the same tomorrow.

Q: James, what were your thoughts when the winning run crossed the plate last night and it was inevitable?

James Shields: I was disappointed. I was disappointed. I think we did a great job of holding them for the first six, seven innings -- first six innings, excuse me, and you know, sometimes that happens. That's baseball. That's the way it works. We're going to move on. We're feeling pretty confident, and we're still up 3-2 and we're going to go from there, so I'm ready to go tomorrow.

Q: This is for both guys. This team was very resilient this season and you had to withstand a lot of charges. How important will that experience be tomorrow night, putting what happened last night behind you?

James Shields: Well, as far as I'm concerned, our team has been wonderful all year. You know, we've dealt with adversity all year long. This is the first time that our starting lineup is healthy. We've dealt with a bunch of adversity all year long, and the way we've come back from each time has been impeccable. I don't think we have anything to worry about.

Matt Garza: Kind of just like what he did. We just keep fighting. We had a feeling that they were going to make a push like this. This Red Sox team doesn't go down quietly. So we're going to just come out and keep fighting like we've done all year, play hard for nine and see what happens at the end.

Q: Matt, in the event that you do pitch Sunday, you'll be pitching at home for the first time in the postseason. Talk about controlling the energy that's going to be inside this building and focusing on the effort.

Matt Garza: Well, right now I'm just focusing on Game 6. I'm obviously preparing for Game 7, but I have a lot of confidence that the guy next to me is going to get the job done tomorrow. So I'm not really looking to prepare mentally yet for Game 7.

Q: What's the attitude in the clubhouse right now, and what do you do specifically? Where do you eat? What kind of music do you listen to? How do you stay loose before what's the most important game in franchise history?

James Shields: It's the same way it's been all year. We're relaxed, having fun, enjoying the moment, and taking every single game as is. You know, last night's game was a wash-out as far as we're concerned. We're still up 3-2. We're still in good shape. We've got a couple veteran guys that are keeping us loose in there, and we're just doing the same thing we've been doing all year long. It hasn't changed.

Q: How do you pitch in this park that would explain your positive numbers here?

James Shields: I think it's just being comfortable and pitching more times here than I do in other parks. I think I pitched in Fenway a couple times this year, and it's just pitching here more times than not. I feel comfortable here. I think having the crowds that we've been having lately is definitely a key factor, and our record is really, really good at home. You know, I think that's pretty much it. It's not -- whether or not it's this ballpark, something special, or nothing like that. I just seem to be doing really well this year.

Q: Obviously nobody wanted to lose last night on the Rays team, but can you talk a little bit about the possibility of clinching in front of the home crowd, how much more sweeter that will be?

James Shields: I think it would definitely be sweet, definitely. This crowd has really shown up the last month and a half and two months of the season. For us to do it in front of them, I mean, we clinched the ALDS in Chicago, and now we have a chance to clinch the ALCS here, and I think that's great for the city.

Q: Matt, can you describe the guy next to you? What makes him a good pitcher to face the pressure and moment of tomorrow night?

Matt Garza: He thrives on this type of moment, you know? He's the guy -- that's why his nickname is Big Game. He is the guy that steps up and takes the energy and uses it towards his pitches. It really doesn't affect his outside emotion. It doesn't affect his game plan. He just uses it in a positive manner and takes it in the direction of home plate. He throws a lot of strikes, and he keeps them off-balance with his change-up. What more can you ask for from a guy?

Q: This is for both of you guys. This morning hearing from a lot of Rays fans here in town, they were really upset after last night's game. What was it like on the plane ride back and what do you remember from last night?

Matt Garza: Just like every other plane ride at 1:00 in the morning, a lot of quiet. It wasn't anything to do with the game; it was just late. We knew going in that we were just trying to sneak one out. We were just trying to sneak one out. For us to take two in Fenway and put ourselves in the driver's seat, that's all we could ask for. Winning last night would have been great, but we knew this Red Sox team wasn't going to go quiet, so we said, we've got two. We're still in the driver's seat. We've got six and seven at home, and we like our chances.

James Shields: We were just any normal loss going home to Tampa. I mean, everyone was kind of just sleeping. Like he said, it was 2:00, 3:00 in the morning. We got home at 5:30, 6:00, and we were all just trying to get our rest.

Q: For James, the seven days' rest at this time of year, does that give you an extra boost, or is it a detriment?

James Shields: You know, I've thrown a lot of innings this year, so I don't think it's definitely harmful. But you know, it's playoff time. No matter if it's four-day rest, three-day rest, seven-day rest or 12-day rest, I'm ready to go whenever.

Joe Maddon

Q: People are already talking, this is one of the most extraordinary games in postseason history. How is your team handling it right now?

Joe Maddon: Great. You know, they came back and beat us last night. I think that the thing that's been overlooked is we played really well last night. We played well for three games in Fenway under very difficult circumstances, and furthermore, won two out of three games. So all of that I really think is the positive.
The negative is for our bullpen, which has been one of the strongest aspects of our team all year, had a tough night, and that's going to happen on occasion.

They're defending champs, they've got the heart of a champion, and they came back last night and they beat us. But that's where it's got to end. We have a game to play tomorrow night. We have a very good pitcher pitching for us tomorrow night, we're looking forward to the game.

Q: What time did you get to sleep, and how well did you sleep?

Joe Maddon: 7:00, and slept really well actually. Just had to set the alarm to get up to here. Got up about 1:15, was not able to get the bike ride in yet. Hopefully will get that done when we get back up on the bay shore and then go out for a good dinner tonight. Maybe if there's any college football games on TV, might catch one of those. But yeah, I slept -- you can't not sleep well. You get on the plane at 2:00 in the morning, you land at 5:00, and then to get back and just get some sleep was kind of nice.

Q: Would you talk about how you feel the image in your mind of Shields going out to pitch in what we would agree would be the biggest game this franchise has ever played?

Joe Maddon: First of all, nobody is talking about how well Kaz pitched yesterday. That was a great performance by Kaz. It's unfortunate the way the game played out, but Kaz did a great job with the two hits over six, and that permits Shieldsy to come back today. Just talking to him or just listening to him post game yesterday, I know he's eager to get out there. I feel very good about him being out there. Again, I know he's up for the challenge.
Possibly -- obviously possibly the biggest game in the history of this franchise, that's great, but it's nice having Shieldsy out there with the appropriate amount of rest, and we'll see what happens.

Q: Shields is going on seven days. Did you guys change his between-starts routine to compensate for that?

Joe Maddon: Yeah, once we were going through this whole process, he -- I had been talking to him and Kaz about the potential of switching them up so their throwing was monitored by Hick. And yeah, he's fine.
Actually I like him getting a little extra rest right now. He's exceeded his number of innings last year by a bit, although I think the number of pitches are pretty close, the number of pitches he actually threw last year over the course of the season. So I kind of like where he's at right now. My experience with him more recently is that even when he gets a couple extra days, it doesn't impact his command at all. He's all about his command. I think the velocity will be there, and he's going to be fine. That's -- I like him actually with a day or possibly two extra days' rest right now. I know he might tell you otherwise, but I know he's going to be strong.

Q: You mentioned the tough and abnormal night last night by the bullpen. What issues did you see why they weren't as effective?

Joe Maddon: Well, you know, I thought Grant had good stuff. The part that concerned me the most was the length that he had to spend in the bullpen before coming into the game. Between the time the inning was over when Kaz left and when the next inning began for him was a lot of time. They switched pitchers when Papelbon is in there, he takes a lot of time in between pitches, and then this whole inning kind of dragged out. So that was my only concern. But looking at him when he came in, physically he was fine, and Papi just got him. It's just one of those things. But I didn't see anything wrong with him. Danny, again, his numbers on the board were appropriate regarding velocity, so I felt good about him, too. And between the two of them I was really looking to get nine outs somehow, five and four, four and five, then keep J.P. and Chad behind them, it just didn't work out.

Q: Forgive me for not looking this up ahead of time. Were you with the Angels in '86?

Joe Maddon: Yes.

Q: Can you compare the emotional jolt of last night to game 5 in '86?

Joe Maddon: In '86 I was sitting behind the first base dugout area underneath the overhang, and everything was going swimmingly, and all of a sudden the one-handed home run to left central, and things changed. I do remember that. But quite frankly, as I've said before, every situation is unique unto itself, and it always depends on how you react to the moment, always. From our perspective, I think during the course of the season we've reacted well to adversity, some difficult moments. The fact that we're coming home is a difference regarding that series compared to this one, if you want to make comparisons. But it's easy -- I understand why people do, and I get it, but I truly believe every moment is unique to your group, and for us, we feel good about coming out tomorrow. We have everything set up appropriately and we'll see what happens. It's difficult to really draw complete comparisons between something that happened over 20 years ago.

Q: It seems from what you're saying, you have no concerns about your team's psyche after such a difficult loss like that.

Joe Maddon: Agreed. I feel good. I mean, our guys -- if you walked around the clubhouse last night, for those of you that were there, you saw how they handled it. I'll tell you one thing I'm really pleased about our group is the class with which our guys have handled themselves and how they've been forthright in answering questions. The moments I've had a chance to watch our guys participate in the interviews on TV, which has been minimal, but I've seen it, I'm really proud of our guys. I know we're young, and again, I know we lack experience in a lot of ways, but we're gaining it right now. My experience with our group is that we've been very resilient all year. And furthermore, like I said, I've talked about this just being the beginning, and I'm really liking the way our guys are going about this whole process right now.

Q: Can you talk about -- I know it's kind of obvious to say it, your pitchers are better when they get ahead of hitters, but your staff has struggled at times to throw strike one. Can you talk specifically about what it means for your guys to be able to throw strike one and how that helps them to battle this lineup?

Joe Maddon: Yeah, I mean, strike one is obviously the best pitch -- there's times when strike one isn't so good, like against Papi last night, you know? Sometimes it depends on the situation. You might -- you've got somebody on deck. There's different reasons why you either flirt with the strike zone or attack it. For the most part we've had really good command all season. Again, I have no issues with that. I know Kaz probably, more than anybody, has had a little bit more difficulty. I know the last time out Garza has really pounded the zone with strike one a lot this year, so that is not an overt concern of mine at all.

I like the way we've pitched, and again, we're reducing it to three innings. Last night we played really well in Boston and we pitched really well in Boston. I was really pleased with or guys. It was unfortunate what happened last night, and from my perspective, again, I've been asked this question a lot -- I don't want to say a whole lot to our guys. I would much prefer an intuitive game tomorrow night to one that's going to be over-thought.

Q: You had a lot of success last week against Beckett. Did you notice anything different about the way he went about it that game versus other times you've seen him this year?

Joe Maddon: You know, primarily the only thing that stood out, maybe his velocity was down a bit. I still saw the tenacity. The delivery looked good. Breaking ball, et cetera, some good sink. I just thought -- if I could recognize one difference from the side only because there was a gun is that maybe the velocity was down a bit. But again, I've been talking about Papi not trusting him. This guy is one of the better big-game pitchers of recent times, and you know he's going to be up for the challenge. I'm a big fan of his, always have been, and I think it's going to be a great match-up between him and Shieldsy, but primarily if there was one difference, I would say, only because there was a gun there, I could see there was a difference in velocity possibly.