AL DIVISION SERIES: ANGELS v YANKEES

October 1, 2002

Mike Scioscia

MIKE SCIOSCIA: We had talked about it, but I thought that we wanted to -- if we brought -- we had Web face Jeter, we'd still have the opportunity to bring Schoeneweis in for Giambi. I think with where we were, how Web was throwing the ball, we didn't mind that matchup. If we look further down, I think if Schoeny had gotten or Giambi had gotten off with (inaudible) have Percy pitch to Bernie in that last inning to try to get out of it. But I didn't mind, Derek's tough. He worked, you know, he worked a terrific at-bat to draw that walk. So did Soriano. Obviously, two keys of that inning.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: No. I think we -- once we had gotten with Schoeny, I don't mind Schoeny against Giambi, he's done a good job the times that he's faced, you know, Jason. He made a good pitch. Jason's strong. He didn't get all of it, but he got enough of it to hit it.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: In a tie game, I think the game's already tied. If we bring in Percy, we're going to start to, you know, extend him I think running into trouble later in the series. Our bullpen has done a fine job all year. I think they understand their roles, they've been very, very good at their roles and executing pitches. I thought Schoeny did a good job; I really did. After that, we wanted to switch Bernie around to have him face -- hit from the left side. He beat us. He's, you know -- it's tough going through their line-up. They've got, you know, big guys at every turn. Brendan made a pitch he didn't quite get exactly where he wanted and Bernie hit it. I thought -- I was very comfortable with all the matchups moving forward as we got into late in that game. Those guys obviously did a good job.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: Not at all. I think if you've seen this club every day this year, they bounce back as well as any group of guys ever seen. So I felt good about us bringing our game here. I thought we pressured them, I thought we did a good job on the offensive end. I thought we did a good job on the mound outside of a couple pitches late in the game. But we're going to come out tomorrow and play our game again. I think, you know, this is, obviously, you know -- any loss at this time is tough. But if you've seen our club every day, day in and day out, they'll come out tomorrow and play a good ball game.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: We have a nice combination. Obviously, Troy gave us a big lift with hitting some -- two big home runs for us. You know, I think we have to play a -- a little ball has to be evident in our style of play, it has to be there. If we get some guys to hit the ball, drive the ball like they can, obviously, we'll have a nice combination. But I thought we ran the bases aggressively. You know, I -- you know, I thought we pressured them the way we had hoped to offensively. Clemens made some good pitches in some key situations to minimize some damage. And, you know, they've got a terrific bullpen that even though we nicked them a little bit, Troy hit the home run, they did a good job to help their team, you know, still stay within a, you know, stay within a run of us, and they broke through.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, I don't know if it's a heart-breaking loss. Any loss, you're not feeling -- you don't feel comfortable with any loss, obviously, in a playoff situation. I don't think it's heart-breaking. I think our club will rebound well. Basically, we just want to play the same style of baseball we played from spring training, on to the regular season, into the pennant race. If we can play that style of baseball, you know, that's obviously going to put us in the best light to win. We feel confident we're going to do that. Tonight, I thought, the offensive side, I thought we pressured them the way I know we can. Those guys obviously kept coming and had -- they had some terrific at-bats in that eighth inning. You know, you can't say enough about the at-bats Soriano and Jeter had, two big at-bats. Giambi a tough at-bat to get the knock. You know, two out, nobody on, all of a sudden you turn around, there's four runs. That's what that ballclub over there can do. They're extremely talented, extremely dangerous. We make some pitches, we're going to be able to shut them down. Tonight, we didn't do it in the eighth inning.