In the ninth, why not (Erubiel) Durazo?

We'd anticipated Tony (La Russa) was going to bring (Jason) Isringhausen into the game. We were saving Durazo for a later spot in the inning, if it got to that. Let's just put it that way.

Neither of your aces came out of here with a win. How tough is that?

It's tough. It means you're in an 0-2 hole going back to their ballpark. It's probably the understatement of the season that our work is cut out for us now.

When you took Schilling out, was that just for the bat?

He expended an awful lot of energy to get out of that jam. The strike-out of Jim Edmonds put him at 97 pitches on the ballgame. You know, we had to score at that point. Schill does a lot of things well; hitting home runs is not one of them.

When you talked to Alex (Cintron) about that play, did he think Scott (Rolen) was not going to charge as hard? What did he say to you?

It was an instinctive play. He read the ball off the bat. I think he thought it was hit a little bit harder than it was. When Rolen came into the baseline to field it, he tried his best to get out of the way, but unfortunately made contact. Just one of those things that happens.

Thoughts on leaving (Mike) Koplove in in the ninth?

Pitcher's spot due up the next inning. At that point if we decide to go to another pitcher, most notably BK (Kim), we would have to make a double switch in the lineup. I mean, I guess we could have done it. Koplove was throwing the ball well. I felt comfortable with him starting the ninth inning, with (Mike) Myers and BK available, should anything happen in the ninth.

Would you talk about Curt's performance tonight?

It's exactly what we expected from Curt Schilling. You got to tip your cap to JD Drew, that was not your typical hanging home run pitch. It was a fast ball over the plate, down below the knees. It was a real nice piece of hitting on Drew's part to get it.

Other than, that I thought Schill was tremendous. He did exactly what we needed him to do. Offensively we couldn't get anything going against Chuck Finley.

How did you feel your hitters approached Finley today?

I thought we did all right. We had some good at-bats against him. He had a real good split-finger working for part of the game today. Got a lot of swinging strikes on pitches that were in the dirt. Probably looked bad from the stands. From our level, those were nasty pitches. Matty hit the ball well, Colby hit the ball well today. Hit a lot of balls hard. Unfortunately for us, hit them to the big part of the park.

Obviously, the toughest situation you've been in all year. What will you tell your team?

The same thing I would have told them if we won this game. Tell them to show up Saturday and be ready to play. That's all you can do. There's no pep talks, there's no magic words that are going to suddenly make everything okay. You just keep grinding. You keep playing the game. You keep doing the things you've been successful doing and hope for the best.

Curt Schilling, starting pitcher

With you and Randy going in games one and two, there had to be a confidence factor. How difficult is it you guys losing these two games?

It's tough, no question. We got outplayed, though, you know. Certainly didn't expect to leave here down 2-0. It is what it is. We're going to have to find a way to right the ship. Forty-eight hours to get this thing going. They've come out and done what they had to do.

Are you ready for Game 5?

I'll be ready for Game 5.

You look like you had everything you wanted today. Would you talk about your stuff a little bit?

Well, I felt good. Today my best wasn't good enough. You know, it's disappointing. Felt like I had all my pitches. Felt like I had good command. The ball that JD hit out was a ball I've gotten him out with quite a bit. I made the pitch I wanted to make. I still got beat.

I was talking to Koppy (Mike Koplove) in the ninth. I said, "It doesn't make it any easier, but sometimes you do your job here and still get beat."

It's part of competing at this level. You know, doesn't make you feel any better, but that's life. The bottom line for me was, you know, this came down to fundamentals. I had a chance to move a runner over, get a bunt down. They ended up driving in a run. We would have been up 2-1 going into the ninth. They got the bunt down, got the runner in.

You saw it last year in Game 7 of the World Series, fundamentals win and lose games. I thought today was an example of that.

With some of that talk about tipping pitches, the fact that (Scott) Rolen would have benefited, any intent in that pitch?

No, absolutely not.

Have you tried about everything you can with JD Drew?

I think he's like three for his last nine or 10 off me with seven strike-outs. The home run in St. Louis, I missed my pitch. The home run that he hit last year in Game 5 was a split that I left in the middle that he didn't put a great swing on. But he's got so much power. You know, I haven't seen the replay of the one today, but everybody said he was out infront. He's so strong. He's such a good hitter. He got that ball elevated. That was all he had to do with that pitch.

I mean, I made my pitches for the most part. Today, like I said, I made the pitch I wanted to make in that situation, but I got beat on it.

What is your mood, what is the mood in the clubhouse right now?

Disappointed. We're down 2-0. Our next three games, hopefully three games, will be elimination games. You certainly never want to leave home any worse than 1-1. Like I said, it is what it is. We're going to have to find a way to come out and get a game here Friday and get Randy back on the mound and go from there.

But we're down 2-0. Got to find a way.