Oct. 12 LaTroy Hawkins pregame interview

Q. LaTroy, how much does one win in a series when you're down 0-2 change the mood inside that clubhouse?

LaTROY HAWKINS: I don't think our mood in the clubhouse ever wavered from how we normally are. Was there a sense of urgency? Yes. So that win yesterday was crucial. Win or go home, and we were able to put a W on the board for us and we've got a tall task today to go out and get another W and extend the series to north of the border.

Q. Can you describe the feeling in the dugout when Tulo hit the homer?

LaTROY HAWKINS: In the dugout? I don't know, I was in the bullpen. We had some runners on base throughout the first couple innings when they would get that big hit. So once Tulo hit the home run, we were pretty excited. We got to saying now we go. And every guy in the bullpen was saying now we go. That's what we needed to get us going.

Q. A sense of relief?

LaTROY HAWKINS: I don't know about relief, but we were pretty happy to see it.

Q. LaTroy, I know you spent a lot of time with the younger guys in that bullpen, Osuna and Sanchez, they've both have pitched in this series and they've both shown a lot of composure. Can you just speak of what they've done in probably the highest stakes they've ever pitched in before?

LaTROY HAWKINS: Well, we've talked about Sanchez and Osuna a lot since I've been here, they were already pretty much mature once I got here. Seeing the way they're throwing the ball in the playoffs just let me know they've definitely matured and come into their own. Good to see, and you see young guys that can go out there and command their pitches, and control the moment and not let the moment control them.

Q. LaTroy, what was it like having David Price out there in the bullpen last night and getting so close to coming into that game in a few spots?

LaTROY HAWKINS: Was he close?

Q. Yeah, there were situations in the seventh, and eight and ninth where Gibby was thinking about bringing him in?

LaTROY HAWKINS: It's cool. It's always cool to have David in the bullpen. He's a good character. I asked him when I got down in the second inning, I said, are you live? He said, damn right, I'm live. I'm like all-righty then. That's cool. I'm like Stroh, you live also? He's like, oh, yeah. We're in it to win it. I'm like, all right, let's have some fun, boys.

Q. How much do you think of your own situation with each game? I mean, the team facing elimination, you're facing retirement, I assume you still have that planned?

LaTROY HAWKINS: (Nods head.)

Q. Do you think about that during the game as the series goes on?

LaTROY HAWKINS: You know what, I made it a point to me not to think about it. I want to stay focused on the task at hand and not focus on whether I'm playing next year or not. A lot of people ask me, well, have you started to have those moments yet? I've made sure, I made it a point not to have those moments because there's a lot of baseball today, especially after I got traded. So also I'll have that moment probably when Winter Meetings come around and guys are starting to get deals and have another moment, once February the 20th rolls around when all my buddies are starting to go to Spring Training. I think I'll have a moment then but now I'm trying to stay in the moment and enjoy it.

Q. How is the pressure on the team right now? It looks like a bunch of players that are having fun. Your manager was just talking about that and I wonder what your take on that is, and how that factors into how things play out on the field?

LaTROY HAWKINS: We're not doing anything we haven't done since I've been here for sure. You lose a game, go about your business and we'll get them tomorrow. This is a very high energy bunch of guys. You guys understand, very high energy, so after the first game in Toronto, I turned on the music instantly right after the game. Most clubhouses you go in, you lose a game, it's dead silence but I cut the music on that's part of us. That's part of the team, that's what gets these guys going, and they're unbelievable. I've been on a lot of teams but not teams with this much energy. And particularly Josh Donaldson, a lot of energy.

Q. Have you heard from Torii Hunter or any other old teammates as this has gone along, talking about them following you and pulling for you? I know Torii was kind of in a similar situation as the Twins went along down the stretch. How much have you guys kept in touch? And do you feel at all like you're going through this a little bit for those guys as well?

LaTROY HAWKINS: Torii's my neighbor here in Prosper, but we texted two days ago. He was in South Bend, watching his son play at Notre Dame. I heard AJ made a comment on TV a couple nights ago. Those guys are like family. We text message all through the year, we've got a group text message going, that's been going on forever. We keep in contact, we might not talk on the phone but we're always texting each other. You see somebody do something good, you shoot him a text message, let him know that you're watching, and things like that. I was pretty happy for Torii, for what he did for the organization. The leadership that they needed, they played some meaningful games in September. Torii's that type of guy. So birds of a feather have to flock together.