Oct. 13 Jarrod Saltalamacchia postgame interview

Q. Can you take us through that at‑bat and what were you thinking after that wild pitch?

JARROD SALTALAMACCHIA:  Well, my approach changed. At first, man on second, I was trying to get him over. After he threw that first pitch down and away, I figured that's how they were going to pitch me. I tried bunting earlier in the year against them and it didn't work out so well. I figured I'd go ahead and swing the bat. And I felt good.

Once the fastball happened, the approach changed a little bit, trying to hit the ball up the middle and take your chance.

Q. Can you describe the confidence you feel when you see David against Benoit in that situation in the eighth inning?

JARROD SALTALAMACCHIA:  David hitting in the postseason, period, you knew he was going to break out of it. Last night, Sanchez making a lot of people look pretty bad at the plate. So we knew going into tonight we had a battle and bounced back.

But coming against Benoit right there, I felt something good was going to happen. I think everyone knew something good was going to happen. He stayed on it and drove it to right center.

Q. What's it like in the dugout there in the fifth and sixth inning when you have one hit there and things aren't going your way, it's been a game and a half now, what's the emotion like in the dugout?

JARROD SALTALAMACCHIA:  It was tough. We didn't get much since last night. And tonight was going the same way. Felt that sense we were going to break out of it. We had to. It was just ‑‑ we're on a team that stays on the struggle that long.

We felt we were going to break out of it. And I think on the fifth or sixth inning is when everyone got more pumped up and excited. We were getting some opportunities, just not doing anything with it. That was a big walk by Ells, and then we were able to get the bases loaded.

Q. What did you make on that pitch that David hit, for him to hit a change‑up like that down and away?

JARROD SALTALAMACCHIA:  That's when David is on, right there. In my head, bases loaded, he had been out in front of a lot of pitches, really kind of jumping at the ball. So I thought he was probably going to take the split and hit it off the wall. I didn't think he was going to take it down and away and pull it to the right. But that's what he does.

Q. When you see the ball go off Fielder's glove, are you thinking that there's some sort of karmic thing going on?

JARROD SALTALAMACCHIA:  I was hoping so. No, I was trying to get the ball over, hit it over the right side of the field. And when I did pop it up I kind of was hoping it was getting out. And then as I saw him getting close to Carp, I didn't think he was going to catch it. And I think if you watch the replay I was fist pumping when he did drop it. That's a big difference with men on third and one out and men on second and still one out. That was a big turning point, I think.

Q. What changed for Clay in the sixth after the first five innings and what does it mean to pick him up?

JARROD SALTALAMACCHIA:  Well, I don't think Clay had his best stuff, obviously. The cutter was kind of backing up. They're an aggressive hitting team. And they didn't make any mistakes. We left some change‑ups that Cabrera hit out. And I think he was just starting to get a little tired and leaving it up a little bit.

But that's what we're about. We're about picking each other up. The starters have picked us up 12, 13 times this year, when we got shut out. It's about time we started picking stuff up for these guys and winning some games.

Q. What's it like to see the David Ortiz postseason experience live?

JARROD SALTALAMACCHIA:  It's incredible, there's no sense of ‑‑ on the bench there's nobody really surprised when he does something like he does. But it's unbelievable. You watch it on TV for so many years, and growing up watching it and then being able to be on the bench and watch that ball go out and seeing him run the bases. It's like any other day. He gets excited but you can't really tell he's any different, if he's rushed or if he's calm, he's the same every day.