MLB WORLD SERIES: GIANTS v ANGELS

MIKE SCIOSCIA: Our play last night, we changed it from optional. We thought it was better for the guys to take a day, if they needed treatment, to come in, and if they wanted to do a little work, it was fine. But we felt it was much more important for these guys to mentally get a rest. We altered the plans a little bit. I don't know if anybody got the e-mails I sent out (laughter). I don't know whether you got them in time.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: I think we're running into a couple things. I think it's been a long year. I think both pitching staffs are terrific, especially the bullpens. Offensively, in the games that we've had success in, we've been able to bring our game to the field and pressure them the way we need to. And in the games they've had success, they've done what they've needed to do. So, I think you have a combination of things going on. I think the hitting in this series has probably exceeded what I imagined coming in because of I think the type of pitching staffs that both clubs have. That's baseball. You're going to find stretches like that. So, not so much going into the Giants, microanalyzing their staff, I know our staff, there have been a couple keys that have not fallen into place for us. Particularly, it's easy to see where our starting pitching has been. Our starters have been terrific all year. They haven't pitched deep enough into a game. If they don't do that, your bullpen is taxed a little bit more. Things can get thin. We'll be okay after this day off. We're going to have our pitching lined up as we move forward this weekend.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: The only job security in this position is job performance. I think if you do well and you get a team to play to its potential, you keep a team moving forward, that's going to lead to job security. Dusty's situation, I don't know the ins-and-outs of the workings of the Giants organization to really comment on it. I can just tell you what I feel about Dusty Baker. This guy, he's an incredible manager. He's an incredible communicator. I think his record speaks for itself of what he's accomplished. As far as I understand, his status is maybe up in the air there. You know, I don't know that much about it to really comment or reflect on some of the ins and outs or the political environment, what's happening in the organization, that would have Dusty's status up in the air. I don't know that much about it.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, a couple things with Lofton we haven't done, when we've gotten ahead, we haven't been able to put him away. At times, we're getting behind in the count and coming back, giving some pitches to hit. I don't think it's just Kenny Lofton. If you look at what Jeff Kent has done, Rich Aurilia, JT, you know, the guys that maybe weren't swinging the bats as well as they can, that have really come to life. It's really probably more on our side, us not executing the pitches we need to execute in particular counts. Those guys are terrific hitters. If you continuously give them the advantage, then they're going to hurt you. They certainly did in a couple games.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: I think Appier needs to get more into his game a little bit and maybe block out a little bit, as much as he can, hitters' tendencies. I think you're at a point where a pitcher starts to pitch too much to an opposing ballclub, sometimes it takes him out of his strength. I think Kevin fell victim a little bit to that. This happens during the season occasionally, where a pitcher will go through a stretch, he'll be pitching to a scouting report, pitching to other club's weaknesses, going away from his strengths. Kevin has an uncanny knack of being able to move the ball around, change speeds, use his breaking ball at any count. I think he got away from that a little bit. I think he needs to go out and pitch his ballgame, and not worry about as much of what the Giants' scouting report is, as to what his strengths are. Obviously, you get into situations where you want to back off a little bit, bend, not challenge a guy. He has that ability, too. Kevin needs to go out and pitch his game. Hopefully, we'll see a good start from him tomorrow.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, I don't think they're approaching a World Series game any differently than they have in any other game during a regular season. These guys have pitched in what you might call pressure situations already. The pennant race, as we were trying to get into the playoffs, I think these guys, there was a little learning curve there because they had a couple rough starts when they were trying to do too much. But I think as we moved on to the series against the Yankees, then Minnesota, these guys really settled in, and I thought threw the ball very well. Can't ask for a better game than John Lackey threw against Minnesota. Can't ask for a better game than Ramon Ortiz threw in. Those games are packed with every bit of what you might consider magnification or pressure than any World Series game is. If these guys aren't getting their pitches in a location - I know the makeup of these guys, I know what their heart is, the level of competitiveness they have - it's not because it's a so-called World Series game that these guys aren't executing.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: Yes. Uncertain. We'll see (smiling). Ramon got treatment today. His wrist feels much better. We're exploring a bunch of options. To lay them out for you, we have an option of pitching Ramon in Game 7. We have an option of using Ramon in the bullpen tomorrow and pitching John Lackey in Game 7. We're going to look and see where Ramon is as we move into tomorrow, see how Kevin Appier is doing. I think you're right about Schoeneweis, he's a guy that can become very prominent in these next two days if we need him, whether it's out of the bullpen or considering to start him one game, which is more unlikely. But he could have a role early in a game if that situation would come up.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: Yeah. I think Jarrod would be a longshot Sunday. If you asked Jarrod Washburn, he would say, "Yes, I'll pitch, I'll take the ball." He'll go out there. It's just, we're not going to put anyone's career at risk for this. We'll stretch guys where we feel our comfort level is because we understand the magnitude of these games. We're not going to put a guy's career at risk to come back and do something totally irrational; not to minimize our understanding of the magnitude of these games. You always say, "Game 7 of the World Series, you'll play with a bone sticking out of your leg." But I think these circumstances, we have arms, we can get it done without putting somebody's career at risk.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: Yes. I'm surprised just because of the arms that are in this series. If you go down our pitching staff, our starters have been incredible all year. They've done a terrific job. They have the arms that have gone in and pitched well against good clubs, whether it's home or on the road. I think the Giants can say the same thing. Maybe if you're comparing this year's -- the starting pitchers in this year's World Series with last year's, obviously, last year's was special when you have guys like Schilling and Johnson. You can pick any Yankee starter and see the way they were throwing the ball last year. I feel our guys, although maybe there might have been -- they raised the bar last year with some of the performances, the pitching performances, I think our guys would have and can pitch better than they have. I think the Giants can probably say the same thing on their side.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: I think it's going to be important that we keep our perspective and go out and play our game. I think when our club has tried to step up and said, "We're going to bull our way across this goal," whatever it is, we haven't had the success that we've needed. I think as we move down, I'm just referring to when we were clinching a playoff spot, these guys got so close to it, tried to bull their way through a wall, really spun wheels for three, four, five games. I think it's important for us to go out there and play our game. I think -- I know you're going to see it. You're going to see us aggressive, you're going to see us battle the same way. I don't think anyone's going to take it on their shoulders to say, "Follow me, I'm going to lead you to victory in these two games." That's not the composition of our club. I think it's important for us to keep perspective and go out there and play our game. As we've talked about, if you win or lose on that merit, you can have peace. Our guys are confident. I mean, I think anyone writing us off in this series is a little premature. You need four wins to clinch this series. I would hope the Giants feel they have an advantage, but I know Dusty won't let them feel they have an advantage. Our perspective is, we know the challenge ahead of us, we're going to take it one game at a time, go out there tomorrow and play our game.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: I think, you can go on the other side too. I think Nenn is in two games. We haven't had a chance to get to Percy, other than Game 2. I think if we need Percy for a limited amount tomorrow, maybe it's a tied game a little earlier, the situation is hot, possibly the eighth inning. We will consider that, but I think it's unrealistic to look at Percy to come in and throw two and two-thirds innings. I hope it wouldn't come down to that. I don't think you can force a role on saying, "We haven't used this guy, let's bring him in in the sixth inning to get this arm out there to try to minimize damage." That's not the way our staff works. That's not the way you're going to win ballgames. That being said, we will consider an expanded role for Percy, particularly if we have a lead tomorrow. I think it would, depending on how our game is going, we would have him available possibly in the eighth inning.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: I think, if you look at the Giants' pitchers, they're faced with the same scenario. As the season goes on, I don't know any pitcher's stuff that gets better. Most guys that are having success will maintain their stuff, some guys will lose a little stuff, but understand with their location and command, they still go out and pitch good ballgames. It's not just our staff. I think it's every staff in baseball goes through this. Certainly, the Giants have gone through it. Their staff is doing a fine job. I've got all the confidence in the world in our staff, that they're going to be able to give us the production on the mound we need to get these two games. I don't think it's anything unique to our guys, if you look at their age, you look at their experience. Some of these guys are on unchartered waters, but, Nenn, Hernandez, who else has pitched in playoffs for the Giants this long, in a World Series? I think those guys are setting probably records for innings pitched in a lot of their guys, too. I think everybody's got the same level at this time of the year.