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AL DIVISION SERIES: TIGERS v YANKEES

October 1, 2011

Joe Girardi

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Game One

Q. Joe, do you have an update on your rotation starting tomorrow?
JOE GIRARDI: No. I'm going to pitch Freddy tomorrow, then we'll go from there. I'll check with CC as I said, each day to see how he feels. It's very possible CC would pitch on Monday. But I still want to check with him.
I mean, right now we look at it, it could be A.J., it could be Hughes.

Q. I know you said last night not a lot of concern about Alex physically, going a couple of days in a row. At this point, is that just your hopefulness or do you really think physically he's strong enough to play a lot of back-to-backs?
JOE GIRARDI: I really think if it wasn't New York and it wasn't Alex, this wouldn't have been such a big deal, that a guy was a little cranky; he played on turf a couple of days. I think you probably could have asked about ten of our players in Tampa on Wednesday if any of their knees were a little cranky from playing on the turf, and you probably would have gotten about seven yeses. Because it's Alex it's a big deal.
Physically he's doing well. He was out early yesterday. He's going out early today. I wouldn't make too much of it.

Q. When the playoffs began it was about streamlining the rotation, but now it's about depth in some ways. Are you comfortable with the depth, and you feel good about what you have if you have to go that route here?
JOE GIRARDI: Yes, I am. Obviously our rotation was talked about all year long. I mean, from the day I got in Spring Training, that's all we talked about was our rotation, our rotation, our rotation. Our rotation did okay. We won a lot of games this year. So I believe in these guys. Now we'll probably use four starters, as opposed to three. But that's okay.

Q. Given what happened last night, would you be more hesitant to start up if there's rain in the forecast for 9:30 or 10:00?
JOE GIRARDI: Unfortunately, I don't get to make that decision. That's in MLB's hands. I would recommend that we don't start if it's going to rain half an hour, 45 minutes, an hour. But I'm not making the decisions.

Q. Did CC try to convince you that he should get the ball tomorrow? And what kind of conversation and what goes into making the ultimate determination on when he gets the ball?
JOE GIRARDI: We talked a little bit last night. I told him what I was thinking. I was thinking, let's look at Monday, and if you're not ready to go on Monday, you can go on Tuesday. Let's physically see how you are. Ask him to go Sunday, he threw pitches, he warmed up. Yes, guys will do a bullpen and then start two days later, but it will be a light bullpen. That's much more than a light bullpen.
He's only going to start one more game anyway. So I would rather have him rested than maybe a little bit fatigued. If I need him out of the bullpen later on in the series, he'll be able to go.

Q. Joe, what do you know about Scherzer?
JOE GIRARDI: Well, we know he's -- about Scherzer?

Q. Yes.
JOE GIRARDI: He's got a great arm. He's got a good slider. He's pitched well for them. He's pitched pretty well against us. But he's got a big arm. He's got some run on his ball as well. You think about it goes back to that three-way trade. Here's another guy that was involved in it. It's worked out well for everyone.

Q. Joe, since you have some uncertainty for your Game 4 starter, how does that affect you if you do need a long man tonight?
JOE GIRARDI: I think you have to worry about today, kind of. Obviously, our bullpen is well rested in a sense. So the only way you kind of need a long man is if you got in some crazy game, probably. It's something we'll have to manage every day.

Q. Did today seem odd to you? This is such an unusual situation, starting a game, not finishing it, picking it up from where it was. How did you pass your day? Waiting?
JOE GIRARDI: No, kind of like I passed the day yesterday. Except I got a chance to take my daughter to Starbucks this morning and I got a chance -- Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts. We hit both. I got a chance to see my son play a little football. It was a very good day.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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