Q. I know last night, just how you spoke to the media, but there's a lot of talk about the defense you guys showed at the end of the game, of course, the wheel that was executed perfectly. When you look at how you guys are coming together right now, does it feel like this is the peak for you guys or the best you've all been playing getting to this point right now?
MOOKIE BETTS: Sure. I think it's more of this is just the time that we have just kind of locked on together and just kind of been on the same page, moving the same direction. It's hard to do during a regular season. It's really hard to just focus on only winning when stats do matter, especially for some guys.
So I think now, throwing those stats out the window, you really get to see some good, just fun baseball, some good backyard baseball. I think that's what making us good right now.
Q. You recently talked about you moving to shortstop and feeling confident, comfortable in that position; you don't have to think about it anymore. Was a play like that or the defense performance you've had so far in the postseason, is that an example of where you're feeling and not having to think about these things and just being able to execute as you go?
MOOKIE BETTS: Yeah, I mean, you know, I feel pretty good about it. I ran that play before. That play, it's not like it's a special play or anything. That's been around for forever. We just decided to run it in a big spot, and we did a good job with it.
But, I mean, I think the group of guys, we just believe in each other, we trust each other. And it's real easy to communicate. It's really easy to know and believe that your brother's going to do the right thing. So if you're in the right spot, he's going to put you in the best spot to succeed. So I think that's just kind of what's been shown out there.
Q. You have been here before in the past. How important is it to set the tone early in a potential clincher like this?
MOOKIE BETTS: It's very important. We know that they're here. They got on the plane with full intentions of going back for a Game 5. We know, we understand that. We know what's in their locker room. We know what they're capable of.
So, we've got to come out ready to go. We've got to be able to withstand the punches that they're going to throw and be able to throw some back.
But by no means is it going to be easy. We just have to make sure we just play good, clean baseball.
Q. Obviously the environment in Philly and the fans was unbelievable. What do you say to Dodger fans ahead of Game 3 tomorrow?
MOOKIE BETTS: We've got to bring it. Those guys definitely did. It was loud. My ears were ringing a couple times. A really good atmosphere to play baseball in. Really fun. You really felt the love for the Phillies. You felt the love for the city.
So I expect Dodger Nation to come and show the love for us as a team and us as a city. So I'm expecting it to be really loud.
Q. You've been kind of a leader on this team for a couple of years now, but do you think that growing into kind of the leadership role that comes with being an everyday shortstop has been something that you have grown into this season?
MOOKIE BETTS: I'm not going to say I've grown into it. I think I've grown an understanding of it. I think playing all year there and really having Miggy -- really having Miggy has been like one of the biggest blessings in disguise I've ever had. He is so knowledgeable of baseball in general but especially the position of shortstop.
Having a teammate like that -- it's different when you have a coach, but when you have a teammate that's actually out there, I can ask him questions during the game, in between pitches, somebody who always has an answer, always gives you his best every day.
I couldn't ask for anything better than having Miggy Ross. And he's really responsible for a lot of my mental successes this year, for sure.
Q. Harper and Schwarber have started this series 1-for-15 with eight strikeouts. You and Freddie had a series like that a couple years ago. What's the frustration like when you're in a position where you know how much the team is counting on you and yet you struggle?
MOOKIE BETTS: Yeah, I mean, it's tough. It's tough. Like you said, I've been there. I remember feeling like, no matter what, no matter how bad you want to say it's a team thing at this point, we've all got to band together, like, where you are and what you mean to the team never really goes away. We're the Dodgers because me and Freddie, we're doing our thing. That's what made us tough.
When you get in that rut and it seems like it's quicksand. No matter what you do you just can't get out of it. It's tough. Hell, I didn't get out of it. So I have no advice or anything. I mean, shoot, I would have if I knew what to do. Good luck to those guys and we'll see if they have the answer.
Q. Going back last night to the wheel play, when was the last time you had that kind of reaction after the game from friends, players around the league and just talking about that?
MOOKIE BETTS: Never. I've never had -- especially for such -- I think it's such a basic play. There's only, like, two or three ways, and that's one of them. It would be like the Lakers -- they won the NBA Championship running the 2-3 zone. That's how I view it.
It's just we ran it in a big spot and we were able to do it right. I think we executed it really perfectly myself, just the timing of it, I think.
Q. With your baseball intellect, everything else, people in Game 1, when you're finally done playing, whenever that time is, will you ever want to become a manager or go into the front office?
MOOKIE BETTS: Man, I never thought I'd have this kind of conversation. (Laughter). Yeah, it's coming. It's coming. I don't know. We'll see. We'll see what the wife, the kids, we'll see when that time comes. But I've got a while. We'll turn that part of the brain off.
Q. Considering some of the struggles that you endured during the regular season, along with some of your teammates and along with the entire team at times, how gratifying is it now for so many things to seemingly be coming together at the perfect time of the season?
MOOKIE BETTS: It feels great. It feels great. But we use all those situations early in the year to kind of build us for now. I mean, there's not a whole lot that the game can throw us that we haven't already went through, especially as a lot of us, we won the World Series together last year. We went through a lot. We went through a lot. A lot of struggles this year, like you mentioned.
So we've really kind of seen everything and we kind of know what it takes. It's just fun when you get to get a group of guys that just love each other and just want to win. A lot of good things happen.
Q. I know that you mentioned that the wheel's a basic play. We were all excited to see how it all played out, the moment of the game, things like that. When you look at that compared to, I guess, Freddie's pick and how he closed out the game yesterday, just what is your reaction to that?
MOOKIE BETTS: Freddie's play was way harder than the wheel play. That was a tough situation. But, I mean, sometimes you just, like I said, you get a group of guys together and you just figure out ways to win. It's not always going to look pretty, but you just figure it out.
Sometimes you've got to go rogue. Sometimes you've got to do things that aren't normal. But that's just the beauty of the knowledge that we have on this team, the talent we have on the team and the love for each other.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports