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Oct. 18 Hyun Jin Ryu pregame interview

Q. I'm just wondering how you go about preparing for a team you faced just a couple days ago, and how that's different than the first time you faced them?

HYUN JIN RYU: Well, you obviously don't do anything too different. If you have success against a team, then you go back and prepare the same exact way.

More importantly, tomorrow, for me, could potentially be the last time I throw a baseball this year. So I'm going to go out there with the mentality that we're going to win.

Q. You've had pretty good success against this team going back to the regular season, including the last game you pitched at home. What do you think it is about this team that makes you confident that you can take on the challenge?

HYUN JIN RYU: It's difficult to say that my success is specifically for this one team. I think I'm just fortunate that the last two times I've pitched against this team, I was able to control my pitches and not make many mistakes.

Q. I've seen some stories on the internet, I'm not sure if this is true or not, at some point in your career, in your international career, you pitched with military exemption on the line. I think it was the Olympics or the World Baseball Classic. Is that true? If it is true, how much more pressure is there pitching under those circumstances than it is in a game like this?

HYUN JIN RYU: Yes, there is a lot of pressure obviously in a game like tomorrow and those past games that I pitched. I wouldn't really call it a lot of pressure, but more so like an anxiety or bit of nervousness, which is I think normal and necessary for you to step up to big games.

Q. Is that true though?

HYUN JIN RYU: There were two times that I had to pitch with that condition, and it was the Olympic Games and Asian Series games as well.

Q. I think you said after your Atlanta start that you were a little nervous in that game. How were you able in your last start to slow the game down and just feel more comfortable?

HYUN JIN RYU: I wouldn't say I did anything to change anything. It was just the fact that Atlanta was the first postseason game that I pitched. So when I went back on the mound knowing that I had one game under my belt, I felt much more comfortable.

And preparing for tomorrow, I'm not even going to think about the game against Atlanta. I'll just go back there as a brand new game against St. Louis.

Q. If there is a Game 7 tomorrow night, will that be the biggest game of your career? What would you compare it to?

HYUN JIN RYU: It's obviously one of the biggest games of my career. It's really tough to say, but I'd definitely have to put it in the top three of the most important games I've pitched.

Tomorrow, winning is the only option for me.

Q. The Cardinals are known to be a weak team against lefties. What do you think the reason for that is?

HYUN JIN RYU: It's hard to really analyze something like that only facing them twice in a year. I just think for me personally, the days that I pitched I just was able to limit the mistakes and just execute my pitches.