Oct. 10 Bruce Bochy postgame interview

Q. The way Tim Lincecum pitched today, if you guys go on in the playoffs, would you consider him for a start at a later date?

BRUCE BOCHY: I think you have to. He stepped up and did a terrific job. He had a great look about him, good command and pretty nice long man to have in this game, which we needed.

It's good to see him throw the ball like this and he really came through for us. When you're on a stage like this you're hoping somebody steps up and Timmy has that ability and he did tonight for us.

He's been throwing a lot here. He came in and relieved three days ago, and to do what he did was impressive. So I think, yeah, we get to that point, sure, we'll talk about it.

Q. The way you use your relievers before Lincecum, is that partly because of where you were in the batting order?

BRUCE BOCHY: Yeah, yeah, it was; and, you know, ideally when you have a starter you like to start the inning with them. They don't have that experience of coming in with men on base, but you get to the point where I had to bring them in there and Mijares got a big out there, first and second.

I knew I would bring Timmy in if it was 2 outs with 2 guys on, so we made the double switch, and Timmy made some great pitches to get out of that jam. But Kontos did a great job. Mijares got a big out there for us. Bullpen did a great job. Zito worked hard. I thought he had decent stuff; he was missing pitches and his pitch count got up there a little bit, so I had no choice but to go get him.

Q. As a follow up on Lincecum, did you understand why he has not been pitching well and all of the sudden pitches well. Sometimes I think he over thinks and when he doesn't he just throws better, any theory on that?

BRUCE BOCHY: I think his last outing coming out of the bullpen, that had to give him a lot of confidence.

He's got unbelievable talent, and I know it's been an up and down year for him and I knew he was wanting to get out there. I knew he would play a huge role in this, and I know of other situations where starters having in the pen and really did a great job to help their team win.

We knew Timmy would play a critical role in the series like he did tonight. It's great to have I love a man like this who has the talent he does and part of it was Timmy buying into what we were doing and he said, "I just want to do anything I can to help the ball club win." So he had a great attitude about it and carried that into the game.

Q. Apologize if you answered this, but obviously great to see the offense going and Pablo hit the ball well.

BRUCE BOCHY: It really was great to see our offense pick it up. They have done a great job of shutting us down and top of the order did a great job, Blanco big hit, Sandoval and that's what it takes.

That's how, really, we've been playing from August until this point. Their pitching has done a great job, but today we threw out some quality at bats, and long ball, which we're not known for, that was big for us tonight, the home runs. It's always important when they score you answer back, and the club did a great job of doing that tonight.

Q. When you come in here down 2 0 and you win two games to tie how much does that change the mood?

BRUCE BOCHY: Well, you haven't done anything yet, but we had to get to this point. I'm proud of how the guys have fought and last night was a tough game, could have gone either way and your backs are against the wall, but they have done a great job of bouncing back and getting to tomorrow's game, which, you know, the only way that happens is win the first two. These guys have found a way to do that. We're excited about being in this position when you come in here 0 2, have to play in their ballpark.