Q. Freddy, you've faced these guys more than any other team this year when you've pitched and we've seen in the past when you faced guys a couple times you might change things up. How does the familiarity that they might have with you impact the way you're going into a start like this?
FREDDY PERALTA: I think that they know me really well and I know them too, and I know how special they are.
I know what my answer for your question I think is simple. It's just I think that I've just got to go out there and compete because I know who we're facing and they know who I am on the mound too, as well.
It's going to be competition on both sides.
Q. Jackson, obviously you had a really successful playoff run last year. What did you learn from that taste of the postseason last year that you can carry into this one? Just how different is it playing now versus the regular season?
JACKSON CHOURIO: Yeah, I think the difference in the postseason is that you definitely have more adrenaline in the games. You feel that for sure. But at the end of the day, it's the same game.
I'm going to go out there and try to do what I always say and give the best version of myself possible and do what I can to help the team win.
Q. Freddy, I'm just wondering, watching yesterday, if you did watch, and what you thought when it was the Cubs and all that goes with a Cubs-Brewers series?
FREDDY PERALTA: I think it was great. Great game. Awesome like from the beginning to the end.
What I saw is just what they do always: Just compete. Outside they try their best, and I think that's what makes everything better for our series all the time that we face each other, because they are a really good team and they compete all the time, and we do the same thing.
It don't matter if we're in Milwaukee or in Chicago, you're going to always see that competition between us. And I saw that they were very cool yesterday.
Q. Freddy, in the last few playoff starts, what have you learned about managing your emotions on the mound and controlling the moment, and how do you feel like you've done in that area in the last few playoff starts?
FREDDY PERALTA: Yeah, I think that I've been learning from the past, and I remember back in 2018 it was the first time, and I was nervous - I can't lie. But then when I get to that point again, when you have the opportunity to be in postseason games, I was just trying to control myself and be myself without thinking too much. Just do what I need to do, do my work outside.
That's what I've been doing. I learned, too, that even if you are in a tough situation, you have to control yourself and breathe around, think about how special is the game and compete outside, because even if you are doing great, everything can change that quick.
It's just control your emotion and stay focused all the time until your job is done.
Q. Freddy, what do you think of when Craig Counsell gets booed by the Milwaukee fans here? Are you entertained by it? What goes through your mind?
FREDDY PERALTA: I don't know. You mean how it's going to be or how it was --
Q. How it was.
FREDDY PERALTA: How it was? I took it -- I don't even know how to say because I was laughing at the moment and all that, but I kind of know him, how special he is. He's a great man, a great manager. He knows that I love him.
But at the same time, after all those years here and when you come back, that's what you get. But it is what it is. It's part of the game. It's the feeling that the fans are having. Probably tomorrow it's going to happen again, probably louder than normal.
But it's part of the game. It is what it is. At the end of the day, this is the game that we love, and everything can happen in this game.
Q. Freddy, is there any Cubs in that lineup that you would pitch around if the circumstance was game on the line, inning on the line? Any inning can be the game on the line during the playoffs. Is there somebody like Tucker that you would be more careful with in those situations?
FREDDY PERALTA: Man, I think that we're all big leaguers here and they have the talent to do anything in any moment. It don't matter if you're hitting in the 9 or 8 spot. It doesn't matter for me.
I think that I have to compete and treat everybody the same because they're all professionals and they all can do damage at any moment.
Q. Freddy, I'm wondering what you remember about game 163, your rookie season. Were you in the bullpen for that game? And what do you remember about the atmosphere, the energy, the stakes of that day?
FREDDY PERALTA: The energy of the day, it was crazy. We knew that we were going to have a big fight, and I remember Quintana pitching the game, and for us it was Chacin, right? It was great from the beginning, from the first pitch.
We took advantage. I can't remember the inning, but it was a homer, I think, and then we were ahead until the last out.
But even the last out, it was Rizzo, and we got a little bit scared because he hit the ball -- I don't know, for some reason he knew it was going to be a home run. But we got the out, and we won the game. It was difficult to us to get out from Chicago that day because all the fans, they were waiting for us outside.
But it was fun at the same time. But that's what I remember because it was like eight years ago. But it was fun.
Like I said earlier, that's what you're going to get when we face each other, Chicago and us. It's always going to be fun.
Q. Jackson, how do you feel today after a few days off? You've had workouts, probably had some treatments. How do you and your teammates feel physically going into tomorrow's game?
JACKSON CHOURIO: We feel prepared and ready. I think each of my teammates have done what each person needs to do themselves to physically prepare their bodies, and I think mentally, as well, to get ready for what tomorrow brings. I think we're ready for it.
Q. Jackson, what have you learned from Freddy?
JACKSON CHOURIO: Freddy is a great person, and he's a great person to learn from. He's an incredible competitor. He's someone that doesn't back down from competition and he's someone that is ready for the moment.
Just as a person himself, he's an incredible leader, an incredible friend and just someone that in the game and outside of the game, someone that I can learn a lot of things from and someone that I have learned a lot from.
Q. Vice versa, what about the other way? What have you learned from Jackson?
FREDDY PERALTA: I told him that before, that the way that he looks in the game, especially being only for two seasons, and what he does is impressive. Like how he's able to get his pitches in the game, to make adjustments and to learn from mistakes that quick, too. It's awesome, and I'm very proud of him.
But the difference is that I let him know all that, and whatever he say about me, he never told me that before. You know what I'm saying?
But I'm proud of him. He's become a very good player, and I know that he has way more to give to the game.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports