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NL DIVISION SERIES: DIAMONDBACKS v BREWERS

October 3, 2011

Kirk Gibson

PHOENIX, ARIZONA: Workout Day

Q. You guys obviously come from behind in plenty of games this year. Are there any similarities to the situations you guys were in in those games and the situation you find yourselves in now?
KIRK GIBSON: I think when you're behind, you're behind. We're behind by two games right now. We need to win the next three. We've won three games or more 12 times this season. We won 9 games in a row. We won 7 in a row twice, 6 in a row once. And all those streaks came after bad play.
So we're aware that we have the ability to play better and execute better and stop giving the Brewers additional opportunities to put us away.
So we had a little chat about that today. We understand what we're up against and we cherish the opportunity to be here.

Q. Did you cite those stats to your team today in your chat?
KIRK GIBSON: We talked about it, yeah. We remember, trust me. We're going to focus on the positive things that we've accomplished, and keep our good attitude. We've prospered together, we've failed together. And that's the way it will remain. And we're not going to start blaming people.
We understand people are going to have opinions on why things are happening. It's not over yet. So it's almost amusing. We're still competing. We're still in the middle of the series. We have our backs up against the wall. And we have the "Ferris wheel," Josh Collmenter, going tomorrow. We have Joe Saunders going into the next game and Ian Kennedy in for Game 5. That's the way we look at it.

Q. Collmenter has had astounding success against the Brewers. Can you keep doing that or will they become accustomed to him?
KIRK GIBSON: We hope so. Certainly one of the things that we thought about by going with Josh is that he has done a good job. He is different. He's different than Ian and Huddy [Hudson]. A lot different angle. And he's had great composure throughout the year.
So we're going to find out tomorrow. And obviously we're going to have to play it tight. We can't let the game get away from ourselves.
Last night, the game, we knew going in they liked the big inning, and they can have big innings. And we made some mistakes in the 6th inning, and allowed them to have a big inning after we crawled back into it. We're going to have to really buckle down on that.

Q. Talking about Josh, you just mentioned the word "composure." Could you go a little bit more about the makeup. He's a rookie and he's got the ball for the big game in his hand tomorrow.
KIRK GIBSON: Last year at this time he was in fall ball. And Kevin Towers started talking about him and he had great success at fall ball. And Kevin, really, when he said that he liked the deception, the difference, and he saw some composure there, he realized he'd done well all the way through really the minor leagues. And then we watched him in Spring Training. And he was much the same.
And KT told me then, he believed in Collie. So he has all year. And there's, I guess, a look about people when they get in certain situations that we've watched him throughout the year that leads us to believe he'll be fine in this environment.

Q. Talk about Aaron Hill. He obviously had some great at-bats Sunday, but what he's meant to your team since you acquired him?
KIRK GIBSON: Been better than we could have hoped for. You always look at change in environment when you look at players that have struggled in, I guess, their current situation. And we looked at all of our scouting reports and certainly called around and did as much background on him as we could.
We knew John McDonald, very good defensively. He's made all the plays. He moves around a lot. He's brought a lot to our infield defense. He gets dirty. He's a baseball player. He's happy to be here. He's got a great attitude. He played every day until we clinched. And he likes to play. Offensively he's been great. I've pretty much had him plugged in No. 2 and he's done well for us so far in the first two games of this series.

Q. All the guys were talking today in the clubhouse about just treating this just like any other game, staying relaxed and keeping their composure. Is there a balance between treating it like any other game and a sense of urgency?
KIRK GIBSON: First of all, we're in a different environment. We're in our home field and it will be different for us. It will be in our favor. They did a good defense. They did a good job in Milwaukee. They played well there all year, as it is. And they were very supportive in them. That's where home field advantage can help you.
So we're going to be here, we're going to be much more comfortable. When guys are trying to communicate, it will be easier for them to do so. We're very familiar with the surface and the dimensions and how to utilize them. Hopefully we'll use it to our advantage.
They're fine. They're good. They have great spirits today.

Q. Are you surprised there's been so much made of scrutiny with moves and strategy or is that just part of the game, being postseason?
KIRK GIBSON: Isn't that what you guys do? What do you call that?

Q. Second-guessing?
KIRK GIBSON: You said it. I like first guessing. I'd respect that more, I think.
But I understand it goes with that. I accept full responsibility what goes on in this club. Anything bad, I take full responsibility. When I was a player I got second-guessed, as well. We go for it. I prepare. We prepare. We decide to play the way we play. And if you don't get executed you get second-guessed. It will never change.
We're where we're at. And I'm responsible. I'm the manager of the team. I have no problem with that. But I do find it amusing in that the series isn't over yet. And there's probably many that wrote us off before the series started and certainly have now. But we don't subscribe to that. But I understand it, and have no problem with it.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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