Oct. 24 John Jay & Shane Robinson pregame interview
Q. Shane, I'll ask you, St. Louis has this great reputation as a baseball city, the sea of red, what's that like for a player? Are you looking forward to just projecting a day forward, taking the series back to St. Louis?
SHANE ROBINSON: It's good to have quality fans, like the ones we have, that are smart about the game of baseball, understand it. So, yeah, they've been a factor for us throughout the year, and also it will be great going back home and playing there.
Q. This is kind of a unique outfield. You haven't played here before. But can you describe just how novel it is out there. The dimensions are so weird in some ways, you have corners, you have sweeping warning tracks. How much of an adjustment is it playing here?
JON JAY: It's definitely a different ballpark, but I think when you look at every ballpark, it's different in some way. We had to play in San Francisco last year; that's a different ballpark. You adjust to them. Both teams have to go out and play on them. We definitely did our work in BP the last couple of days, just to get a feel on the field.
SHANE ROBINSON: Same thing, the fields change every time you play on the road. So just understanding what different factors are out there, and what you have to deal with throughout the game and just being aware of your surroundings.
Q. How are you approaching today's game, with the uncertainty of Carlos Beltran, and what your individual roles might be?
JON JAY: It's something we've done all year. If you look at our lineup from Spring Training, we've taken blows to our starting lineup all year. Throughout the year different guys had to step up and fill in the roles. So nothing changes now. Whoever is in there just needs to step up and keep the line moving.
SHANE ROBINSON: Yeah, I think obviously we don't know what's going on with Carlos right now. And I'm not sure what the deal is, if he's playing today or if they've ruled him out or whatnot. We haven't really heard anything. But if he can't go today, then somebody obviously will fill in and pull up the slack.
Q. Last night Shane Victorino attempted to throw a runner out at first base from right field. Is that something that you guys take umbrage with, or is that just smart baseball on his part?
JON JAY: It's just part of the game. The ball is hit hard and he wasn't the fastest runner, so he had a chance for a play at first. So he tried to get the runner out on first. We don't pay attention to those things. We've just got to go out there and play better than we did yesterday.
Q. You were both out there last night in the right-center area where Beltran was hurt. I wonder how you look at that short fence there? And if you saw earlier this season there was an injury there, obviously, in the CS, there was somebody that flipped over it. And how you think about playing and managing around that short fence there?
SHANE ROBINSON: I know for me, it didn't really do too much, because I'm not the tallest guy in the world, so I don't think I'm going to be flipping over that fence at all. It is what it is. You have a little more opportunity to catch a ball if it's hit around there, like robbing a home run or whatnot that we saw Carlos do. I'm not really worrying about it too much.
JON JAY: It's part of the element to this field. Something you just have to deal with. It's like when you're play at Wrigley, they have a brick wall behind the fence, if you run into that, it's going to hurt. It's just something you have to be aware of and make your adjustments. Carlos went all out for that ball yesterday, and he made a great play, and that's what you've got to do sometimes as a player. You're out there trying to catch everything.
Q. The Cardinals four times have been 0-2 in the World Series, and they have lost four times. How do you think this game is important to you?
JON JAY: This game is definitely important, but that's in the past. This is a whole different team. We're looking forward to playing today.
SHANE ROBINSON: The same thing, history is history. You can't really get engulfed with those stats or numbers. It is what it is. We're just going to come out and play today and we're not really focusing on anything like that.
Q. Did either of you notice the ball doing anything strange, funky, weird, out of Lester's hand last night? And if you did, either from him or another pitcher, would you say something about it to the umpire and ask to have it checked at some point?
JON JAY: We went out there and played. We didn't get some hit that we needed to get, and that's the bottom line.
SHANE ROBINSON: It wasn't anything out of the norm. From video we watched, it was the same thing; his ball had natural cut into righties and it was pretty much what was happening out there. And we just didn't put together any kind of streak of hits in a row to get any runs off of him.
So, yeah, I didn't notice anything different out there, and so in that aspect of whatever happened or whatever was going on, I couldn't tell anything was different?
Q. Has either of you, I won't say crashed into the wall but played with a rib contusion? Does it have more effect at the plate or when throwing in from the outfield? Speak about the difficulty of playing with bruised ribs.
JON JAY: It's difficult. I think in baseball you're always playing with some type of ailment. But a bruised rib is definitely affected. I've never had that personally but as an outfielder, I know Shane and myself, we've run into walls before and it bangs you up a little bit. But it's definitely -- it goes from player to player. But you could obviously tell that Carlos was in some pain. Each case it varies from individual. But hopefully he can be able to contribute.
SHANE ROBINSON: I've never really had a rib injury. I'm sure it's going to be uncomfortable for him if he does come out there. But playing in an atmosphere like this, the energy and the intensity can kind of help numb it. Like he said, I'm not sure what his status is right now or how he's feeling, because I haven't talked to him personally. We'll see what happens.
Q. Do you guys sort of take for granted, especially on a cold and windy night, that pitchers have something on their fingers? If so, does it bother you at all? Do you even care?
JON JAY: Something we don't pay attention to. We're out there trying to do a job. They're trying to do a job. Our job is to have quality at-bats and play defense, and pitchers are doing what they're trying to do.
Q. Adam has pitched so terrific throughout the postseason, how deflating is it to lose with your ace last night and also to lose in the fashion that you did?
JON JAY: It happens. It's part of the game. That's why it's baseball. You've got to play every game. You can't go from what's off paper. Adam has had games where we weren't able to win, and we certainly didn't help his cause last night.
It's one of those things we've got to bounce back. We're a team that believes in all the players, from the first man on the roster to the 25th man. We all understand that you need all 25 guys to win, especially in the World Series. So we've just got to -- everyone needs to step it up and continue to play hard and hopefully give him the opportunity to go out there again.
SHANE ROBINSON: I don't think he pitched bad last night, at all. I think there was a few plays here and there that might have affected the game and given a little bit more energy and a couple more opportunities to get some runs. So obviously having our ace out there and didn't get our win was disappointing. But I'm sure he'll be ready next time around.
Q. I know you guys are focused on tonight, so I apologize, again, for projecting forward going back to St. Louis. You had a terrific record there down the stretch over the last couple of months. And I wondered if either of you or both of you could explain that? Is there a dynamic involved there that your team or your lineup particularly fits well at that ballpark? Is it just a comfort thing or what?
JON JAY: I think when you look at every team, they play better at home than on the road. So it's one of those things where we're comfortable at home. But we also won some games on the road that we needed to win. We're focused on tonight. Tonight is the biggest game of the year for us right now. We've just got to worry about tonight, and whatever happens when we go back home is going to happen. We definitely like to play at home. It's just a thing that it's a comfort level. You have your fans and you're familiar with the routine. It's one of those things where we need to take care of business tonight.
SHANE ROBINSON: Same thing, everyone is familiar with our home stomping grounds. You get the fans cheering for you. Obviously it makes it a little bit easier to play in your hometown. I think that's a big reason why we were successful towards the end?