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AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: INDIANS v RED SOX

October 20, 2007

J. D. Drew

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: Game Six

Q. Given the way this year went, how gratifying for you to be able to come through in that situation?
J.D. DREW: Well, you need a big hit in that situation where you have the bases loaded and nobody out. You expect to push a couple runs across. We had that situation the other night and weren't able to do it.
Yeah, it was a great feeling. More than anything, just trying to hit a ball hard up the middle, get a pitch out over the plate that I could handle. He's got a really nasty sinker, so you want to stay off the ball that falls off the edge of the plate, try to get something on the plate to handle. You know, luckily it ends up out of the park, worked out great.

Q. These fans have been pretty tough on you all year. First of all, the curtain call, were you almost a little confused as to what to do there (laughter)?
J.D. DREW: I've had a few of those in my career. None here so far, but no, it was great. I think the atmosphere was great. It has been a tough year, I think. One of those situations is my expectations are high, I didn't have the year I would have liked to have, but I feel like I had a good September and started getting things turned around. Just wanted to go into the playoffs and have good at-bats.
In that situation right there you couldn't have asked for anything any better, it just was one of them situations where I was very relaxed going into the at-bat, realized we had two outs, didn't really want to walk off the field without any runs, so was trying to hit a ball hard. Worked out great.

Q. Could you talk about your approach, just one pitch, the difference between a 3-1 count and a 2-2 count, and just how that approach changes had that been a 2-2 count?
J.D. DREW: Well, like I said, the whole situation with the way he throws, if you can not swing at a sinker that's just off the plate, then you've got a good chance. He pitched effectively to me the first game that we faced him. So I knew what I was looking for, and just really trying to get a pitch that I could handle and hit hard. I think everybody grounded out at-bats. Everybody that went up to the plate really seemed to have a game plan and kind of stuck to it. Realizing that we kind of had our backs against the wall, you want to get some guys on base and get some timely hits and we were able to do that tonight.

Q. After pounding these guys the last two games, how high is the team's confidence right now?
J.D. DREW: I think it's going to kind of stay where it's been. We've been very confident, but I think realizing you've still got to get good pitching, good defense and the hits in the right situation. It allows you to win ballgames, and hopefully we can come out here tomorrow and execute, get some good pitching, good defense and hits when we need them, and see how it goes.

Q. Can you talk about Westbrook and Daisuke tomorrow.
J.D. DREW: I think it's going to be a good match-up. You know, it's still a matter of us playing good defense behind Daisuke, him working ahead and throwing strikes.
And then as far as facing Westbrook, he kind of had us off balance in the first game. We'll have to kind of make some adjustments and maybe watch a little videotape and be ready to go.

Q. I want to go back to the fans because not only with your grand slam, but it seems like the cheers were louder with every put-out you had in the outfield, and there were a lot of spontaneous shouts of "J.D. Drew, J.D. Drew." How in the zone are you and does it affect you during the game?
J.D. DREW: I think you hear it. The effect is uplifting but I think minimal from the standpoint if you get too high, you're going to find yourself in a bad situation out there listening to the fans versus catching fly balls. First priority is to play defense, and it does kind of put an inward smile on you, I guess.

Q. In run-producing situations, have you found yourself being any more aggressive later in the year than in the beginning?
J.D. DREW: I don't know. I mean, I haven't looked at the numbers or anything like that. I'm sure you guys have crunched everything. You know, it's just been a matter of trying to get a pitch that I could handle and trying to put a swing on it, and if that's early, then I'm going to make a pass. If it's not where I want it, I'm not afraid to take a pitch. It's just a matter of trying to isolate my zone and do what I want to do up there at the plate.

Q. Coming into the series the teams did look even on paper. The one thing was I think that the Red Sox had was experience. Can you talk about just looking around the experience of Beckett and Martinez and all these guys.
J.D. DREW: Yeah, I think it all plays out. You've got guys that have been in this situation. You had Beckett and Lowell down 3-1. You had some guys on the Red Sox that were down. You know, those kind of experiences you can't -- as far as paper, you don't really look at as far as going out there and executing and realizing what it takes to advance when you are down is the experience that you need. We've got some guys that can pitch well in big games with Beckett and Schill, and hopefully Daisuke goes out tomorrow and really throws one of his best games, and we get the hits when we need them.

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