Oct. 3 Jake Peavy and Joe Panik postgame interview

Q. Jake, what does it mean to have this big of an effort in this situation?

JAKE PEAVY:  It means the world for us to come in here, against the best team in the National League, to get Game 1, we feel really good. We understand it is just one game and we have an uphill battle still; Zimmerman going tomorrow night. Not an easy challenge. The boys will come out. We will fight as we did today. We feel very fortunate and blessed to come away with this win.

Q. Joe, did the first two postseason games feel any different to you when the games start?

JOE PANIK:  It gets a little louder and stuff. When it comes down to it, it is the same game. You have to be more fine with the little things. When the pressure gets on you, tell yourself to stay within yourself. All the work in the offseason comes down to this point.

Q. Jake, given your post-season struggles, how sweet was this tonight? What was working for you?

JAKE PEAVY:  You know, any time you win in the postseason, it is sweet. You know, any time you get beat, it makes it sweeter when you do win. So it was a nice victory.

What was the second part of your question?

Q. What was working for you?

JAKE PEAVY:  For the most part, we just threw the ball where we'd need to throw it to try to keep it off the barrel. That lineup is a really good lineup, a deep lineup. You're talking about Asdrubal Cabrera, hitting eighth. I faced Cleveland before many times, and he's hit second or third. This guy is an All-Star, hitting eighth.

Such a deep lineup. Right, left-handed balance. We just had to execute for the most part, and try to keep them from rallying and keep them in the ballpark, as you saw, is a big part of their game.

So, just used everything I had, honestly. You have to against teams this good.

Q. You talked about it a bit there, it seemed you moved the ball around, kept it out of the middle of the plate. How difficult is that to execute a game plan against a lineup so deep?

JAKE PEAVY:  You can't take a batter off. I think that is the attitude. That's what makes this team as special as we are. We understand that we may not be the favorites, but we play every pitch, on every side of the ball. I think you saw that come to fruition today with the way we grind it out, the defensive side of the ball, the way we grind it out on the offensive side of the ball. We could have gotten some big hits that pushed some runs across.

At the end of the day against teams like this, when you talk about facing the best, you can't take a pitch off. It may cost you the game. Fortunately, we were able to execute for the most part today.

Q. Joe, how was Strasburg tonight?

JOE PANIK:  He threw well. He mixed up his pitches. He had some hard outs early on. He kept grinding. Like Jake said, put together good at-bats, able to strike through in the fourth and fifth. Did our job, pushing the some runs across. Jake did a heck of a job keeping them off the board. Without him getting off to a good start like that, the place would get crazy and stuff, Jake did a heck of a job.

Q. Joe, to be able to make the impact on this team that you have, like you are in the middle of anything and Bruce earlier was singing your praises, what does it mean to you to be able to make that kind of impact?

JOE PANIK:  As a competitor, you always want to help the team win. Since I came up, I wanted to be another link in the chain. That is how this team is. There is not one guy that we have to rely on; it is the entire team. To be able to be another link in the chain, that is special because, that is what, as a competitor, that is what you want to do.

Q. Can you talk about Strickland and his performance, what you might have said to him afterwards?

JAKE PEAVY:  I haven't had a chance to speak to Strick after the game. I did tell him what a big job he did in the sixth. He saved the game. I want to make sure he understands that it, even giving up the homers. He probably has a bad taste in his mouth. He saved the game with that big out against Desmond there.

Strick is another kid we are asking a lot of. These guys don't have a ton of Major League experience. For these guys to come in in big situations and play the way they are playing, speaks volumes to who they are as men, as ballplayers as competitors and to the Giants organization for getting them ready for these moments. It doesn't get any bigger than this, really. Trying to win games on the road. Coming up with big hits and big plays, and you've got guys coming out of the bullpen making pitches when they need to. It is fun to watch it, it really is.

Q. Jake, I know are you a relative newcomer to the Giants. The Giants' stats are unbelievable, nine post-season games in a row. Is there any sense that you have that there is another notch that you have when you are going to the post-season?

JAKE PEAVY:  I don't know if there is another gear, other than, you know this team has got a lot of experience in the post-season, with Buster Posey and Hunter and Pablo, and these guys, and guys in the bullpen, the starters. We have experience in the bullpen. I think these guys see that nobody is scared of the moment. We are going to go out, play the game that we know how to play it. We are going to grind it out. In the post-season, you really, really have to grind out every pitch to have a chance to win. If you don't do it, the other team will do it and beat you.

So, I think it comes down to that. We understand that we might not be man for man, you know, the favorites. We are not given a lot of credit. We take a lot of pride, like he said, being chained together. Our strength is in who we are as a team. It is not any individual. We have great individual players, but we have to play to the game as a team. We have to be on the same page defensively. Offensively, we have to put at-bats together and get guys over.

And I think that is what -- that type of baseball is who we try to be in the regular season. I think it really translates in the post-season, because you have to play that way.

Q. Joe, can you talk about that the impact of the younger guys on the team, in this game specifically. Two, what were you thinking going through your conversion to second base?

JOE PANIK:  First part of the question, with the young guys, it is pretty good to see. Duff has been coming up with big hits for us. Susac does a great job behind Buster, and Strick out of the bullpen, he's been great. It has been good to see the young guys stepping in and helping out. Everybody is up here to win. These guys, are they are winners.

What was the second part of the question?

Q. Your conversion to second base. 

JOE PANIK:  Anything you can do to get up to the Major Leagues and make an impact, I was willing to do it. As a competitor, you just want to be in that situation. Going through that conversion, I had no problem with it.

I worked really hard with the infield guys. They did a great job with me. Helping me out with the footwork, here I am now. Everything is pretty good.

Q. Bochy has a reputation as one of the great post-season managers. This was a typical Bochy game, with using everybody in the bullpen. Can you talk a bit about what you see from him, and how he helps everyone come together in the postseason.

JAKE PEAVY:  Skipper, he's is an amazing man, amazing manager. In the postseason you get to see the way he maneuvers his roster, the way he puts, seemingly time and time again, people in the right position, right spot to succeed. And guys, who may not be thought of or heard of, they seem always at the right spot at the right time to be able to contribute.

That gives us a lot of confidence. When you care about somebody the way we care about Bochy, you want to win for him and our coaching staff. There is nobody who cares as much as this coaching staff cares. They care as much as we do. When you know that, it makes you fight like heck, for lack of a better word, to want to win for those guys. You know on their end, they are doing everything that they can possibly do to put us in a situation to succeed.

Q. Jake, what does "outsider" mean? I noticed it two days now.

JAKE PEAVY:  "Outsider" is kind of something that hit home, and with me, over the last few years. You know, because I have been -- I felt like I have been in situations throughout life since I was been 20, since I first signed, even before that 17, I didn't leave the South much. I was in a lot of situations where I was uncomfortable, in fancy hotels, maybe speaking to people maybe I didn't have the education to speak to. "Outsider" is a way to find a way to be comfortable when you are uncomfortable, if that makes sense at all. There have been a few songs written that stand for --

I love people who do it their way. It is something that I have taken pride in over the years, I have tried to do it. I haven't tried to be anybody else. I tried to be true to myself and my family and do it my way. It is a good reminder that you don't have to be like everybody else to be right.