Oct. 24 Jeremy Guthrie, Alex Gordon postgame interview

Q. Jeremy, you've been with different teams, you've struggled over the years. You had the Mother's Day game at Fenway back in '07. Any of this on your mind tonight or is all of that a million years away as you win this first World Series game?

JEREMY GUTHRIE:  No, the Mother's Day game from '07 did not cross my mind at any point. Very focused on tonight's game and pleased to be here and compete out there with great guys, getting big hits like Gordo and making great plays.

Q. Any particular emotions though just winning a World Series game in this fashion?

JEREMY GUTHRIE:  Happiness, excitement, gratitude. I think those describe it as best I can do it. It's something to have this chance, this opportunity is a tremendous blessing. To see a number of guys play a long time and don't get a chance to do this. So I'm very, very grateful for what the other 24 guys have done to put us in this position, and what the other eight guys did tonight, plus the bullpen to help us win this one.

Q. Alex, when were you told you're going to hit 2nd, and what was your reaction?

ALEX GORDON:  Yesterday Ned came up to me during the workout and mentioned that Dyson might be out in centerfield and I might bat two hole. He came up to me and told me not to change anything, stick with my approach and what I've been doing. And it was kind of nice to hear that from him.

So it gave me a good head's up and I knew before the game today, yeah.

Q. Alex, I think you may have just answered some of that, but your first World Series hit, take us through the at‑bat. It was pretty big.

ALEX GORDON:  It took a while, but it felt good. With Esky getting on base, just trying to get a good pitch to hit. Knowing if I hit it in the gap, with Esky's speed, he's more than likely to score. So it was a good at‑bat by Esky, and he got things rolling. Then obviously Hosmer with that great at‑bat after me, so it was a big inning for us.

Q. You walk out to warm up in the first to face Blanco. Are you thinking, hey, I finally made it to the World Series, this is what it's like? Or are you able to bore in right away on this is what I want to do on pitch 1, 2, and 3?

JEREMY GUTHRIE:  Yeah, I did. I got back behind the mound and looked around at the sea of orange that was throughout AT&T Stadium. And I did, I took a moment to try to soak in the moment as best I could before focusing on the first hitter.

I've tried to do that throughout these playoffs, knowing that you'll probably get another chance. Who knows how many more chances I'll have both by how long I'll play, plus the teams. You've got to get this far. So I tried to take the moment to do that, and then separate and get back to the focus moment.

Q. When you soaked in the moment, what did you think and feel?

JEREMY GUTHRIE:  It felt like I was doing something that I didn't even dream of. A lot of people say they dreamed of playing in the World Series. I don't think I had that dream. But now to live it, it feels right, and it feels like a moment that I'll never forget.

Q. You ended up having no strikeouts and no walks, which was interesting. With this defense behind you, there is a whole cliché about pitching to contact. Is that a concerted goal rather than trying to miss bats, specifically go for weak contact or if you had your druthers would you try to blow guys away?

JEREMY GUTHRIE:  No, I tried to strike guys out. I thought I made a couple of good pitches with two strikes. A few of them were reached for, and they did a good job to get their bat on it, which is what they're supposed to do. On the flip side, I probably could have punched out twice, but I hit a couple of weak balls myself.

Would have loved to get more strikeouts, but pleased I was able to throw strikes for the most part, and stay ahead of the hitters and make them hit my pitch.

Q. Other than the ballpark, are there familiar surroundings? At one point it even looked like you tried to bunt for a hit. Did the familiarity of the area help you at all?

JEREMY GUTHRIE:  No, I don't think that factored in. Just going out there, for the most part I felt I've treated these games like any other game. And I think that's has really helped me to be able to not get too excited. Not get too into it, but just do what I've been able to do throughout the regular season and games where there's either 20,000 or like tonight, 50,000.

Q. For both of you gentlemen: Talk about winning a close game. The first two games, of course, were one‑sided. Does it speak to the strength of your team that you were able to play a National League style of baseball, especially in a situation where the Giants seemingly have the advantage because you guys couldn't use the DH?

ALEX GORDON:  Yeah, it was a great game tonight. Both sides, great pitching, great defense. Every pitch mattered tonight, where maybe the first two games it wasn't like that.

Jeremy did a great job, and obviously our bullpen doing it all year. So it was just a great game by both sides.

JEREMY GUTHRIE:  I'll just say when you have great defense and you have lock‑down bullpen pitching, you have a tendency to be in those types of games, and that's what we've had throughout the season. And fortunately for us right now, we've got guys throwing the ball great in the back end of the bullpen, and able to hold on to these small leads.

Q. Alex, the first two games of this series were really the polar opposite of this ballgame. This is more the type of game you guys have been used to in this postseason. Do you see the other two games in this ballpark playing out more like this one or maybe reverting to like Game 1 or 2?

ALEX GORDON:  You know, I don't really know. Hopefully we can get a big lead and have a comfortable game. But it's probably not going to happen with these two teams. We kind of match up the same. Like Jeremy was saying, great bullpens, great pitching, and great defense. So I don't see why the other two, three, four games are going to be any different.