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NL DIVISION SERIES: DIAMONDBACKS VS DODGERS

October 7, 2017

Torey Lovullo

Los Angeles, California - postgame 2

Dodgers - 8, Diamondbacks - 5

Q. Could you just talk about the general game, did you feel like the team got overwhelmed early? Did Robbie struggling influence the team's confidence? Just your thought on the way the whole night transpired?
TOREY LOVULLO: Yeah, you know, we never really got grounded, got into a flow or rhythm throughout the entire game. You know, pitching sets a tone. I thought Robbie was doing an adequate job early. He wiggled out of some tough situations in the second inning and walked off the mound with the lead. And I feel like we were starting to reach that moment where we could start to take off a little bit, but we just couldn't take advantage of some situations, and the Dodgers played catch up, and they eventually made plays, made pitches and got big hits at the right time and did their job.

Q. What did you see from Robbie? It seemed like he was having trouble throwing strikes?
TOREY LOVULLO: Yeah, I thought the fastball velocity was exactly what we thought it would be. He was just spraying it around a little bit and never found a rhythm where he could attack with that pitch and work off a breaking ball. I thought there were some quality breaking balls thrown at times. But I thought a few pitches just lacked the consistency that we've seen from Robbie.

Like I said, our pitching has been so good all year long and it's set a tone for us. It's allowed us to play downhill baseball, and we did. We kind of paced ourselves a little bit early, but we couldn't really get into a rhythm. The Dodgers were starting to maneuver with their bullpen. We couldn't really get into a flow against any one particular pitcher, and just didn't go in our favor.

Q. You guys were down 7-1 last night and 7-2 tonight, but both games you were able to battle back. What can you say about your team to not give up?
TOREY LOVULLO: You know, that's one of the great characteristics of this team. We're a smart, tough baseball team. We feel like we can strike at any time offensively. We were just always looking for that moment and that edge. And that's what leads me to think we're going to be okay getting home, kind of regrouping the troops a little bit, and getting ready for a tough battle on Monday. I know these guys are going to challenge themselves. I know these guys are going to be ready for that, and we'll see where that lands us.

Q. I know it's difficult when you don't have the constant of the starting pitching that you've had all year long. But can you take us through your bullpen deployment tonight, bringing Jimmie back again tonight when maybe you could have brought in Archie earlier or maybe used Patrick? Just how did you go through this tonight and how did you structure your strategy?
TOREY LOVULLO: Yeah, well, some time when I'm sitting down before the game I piece some thoughts together and I thought we were one inning away from being able to use Archie. If it was the six the inning instead of the fifth, I probably would have brought him in to stop that momentum. But I felt like Jimmie was ready for that challenge. He's been very good in that situation throughout the course of the back end of the year. And I felt like there were some other pieces that I want to hang on to based on how their lineup was starting to structure itself. I liked David Hernandez and Andrew Chafin later in the game. That's just my mindset walking through it. And unfortunately it didn't work out. Jimmie was making quality pitches to get to two strikes, and he just didn't throw the pitches good enough to finish off some good hitters, and you've got to give him some credit.

Q. The Dodgers did a lot of damage with the bottom of their lineup, and they can bring in a guy like Granderson, Utley, what kind of challenge does it present when you're facing a team with that kind of depth?
TOREY LOVULLO: Well, they grind out their at-bats. No matter who is at the plate. There is a lot of versatility that they have. They have some good left-right match-ups, and they do a good job of structuring their roster for this series. It presents some unique challenges for bullpen usage. But it's on both sides. I know the Dodgers will probably be saying the same thing. It's more about executing. It's more about making pitches when you're supposed to to get the out when's you need to. They just beat us to the punch tonight.

Q. Obviously Monday coming up is a must-win game. But can you talk about the confidence that you and the club will have knowing that it's Game 3 and you have your number one starter going?
TOREY LOVULLO: Yeah, we have our guy. Zack Greinke going. He's been that guy for us all year long. We've built around him. He set the pace for the entire pitching staff all year long. I know he loves challenges like this. Nobody prepares better. Nobody is going to work to make sure that on that day when he takes the mound that he's going to be comfortable, confident and ready. So if you've got to pick one guy to stop this situation that we're in, I think we've found the right guy in Zack Greinke.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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