Cincinnati Reds Manager Terry Francona Reacts to Huge Win Over Milwaukee Brewers on Friday

Cincinnati Reds Manager Terry Francona Reacts to Huge Win Over Milwaukee Brewers on Friday

pitching staff able to stare down that lineup tonight. Oh boy, they did a really good job. I mean, started with Latell. He he he pitched and he really pitched cuz you know, he’s not a power guy in to kind of navigate through and he did a really good job. And again, he would have got through five. We had the air and I just, you know, if I if I managed with my heart, I’d left him in. Just don’t think this is the right time to do that. With that in mind, when you shorten games at this time of the year, how much has Connor Phillips and even adding Burns down there changed the entire complexion of the bullpen? Connor Phillips has been a game changer for us. I mean, you know, I mean, we’re dying for our young guys to do good, but then to see it right in the middle of a pen race, um, that that’s exciting. That that that kind of kind of gets your heart pumping a little bit. Did you see an extra look in their eye tonight that we are primed to take this tonight? I don’t know. I don’t want to get too philosophical cuz cuz I can’t. But we just wanted to win and we did. We beat a really good team and now we we’ll enjoy it for a few minutes and when the song’s over then we’ll see if we can beat them again tomorrow. The last two weeks your your bullpen in general has just been shut down. How how do you think they just kind of turned the corner like that? Well, it’s deeper. That’s one thing. I mean, you put Burns out there and you have Nick Martinez out there and then you have Phillips added him into it. So, it’s not just them getting outs, but it’s times when other guys don’t have to pitch that maybe cuz they’re already, you know, I mean, Tony and Pagan have pitched a ton, but it’s taken a little bit of the load off where, you know, you give get them healthy and feeling good. They they they’re good pitchers. the decision obviously worked. You had Lux in left field for the first time in a few weeks getting Andar in kind of what was the thinking in that decision and what did you see from it pan off? Well, we wanted when I was talking to Freddy and Millsy last night about the lineup, we wanted to get Andrew Har in there today. Um, and you never want to give them extra opportunities. So, defensively is important. Um just thought putting Mack at second was really important and what the hope was we’d get the lead and then we could put Benson in for lock and it worked out fortunately. I know you were locked into the game but were you aware that the Mets had lost as the game went on? Um I was aware they were losing and then I kind of lost track of everything. What’s kind of a game like that like for you? Are you able to kind of I don’t know. You describe the feelings in your stomach in moments like that. Um it it would be really hard to um I get so nervous that it’s hard to explain. And I don’t mean a nervous where you can’t do your job. I just mean like I just get like like I looked down. If you saw where I stood and you saw the mess that was in front of me, that’s what my stomach felt like. It’s just it’s it’s a disaster just just this time of year and everything just with what’s at stake this last weekend in terms of in terms of the nervousness that that comes from just knowing I get nervous every every game. I mean I I do I get nervous every game even every once in a while in spring training but you know I mean this is we got two games left. Are you kidding me? This is what we we live live for the I mean hopefully we live for this. That’s That’s as exciting as it gets, man. But to say to not admit that you’re nervous, I think that will be wrong. Nervous as hell. When you know, you guys have had some balls not bounce your way. Did it almost feel like when that ball bounced, Ellie’s ball bounced off the base, it’s like, oh, something’s going, you know? It it it felt good to have something, you know, it did it did feel good. I I admit that. It’ be nice if we could ever spread a game out where it didn’t matter, but that’s probably not going to happen. In that regard, the way that yesterday’s game ended, didn’t end, but that that huge catch in the ninth inning, how much of a does that give you an emotional lift coming in here or is it totally fleshed out once you start the next game? Oh, it it it you we move on. I mean, I think justifiably I think everybody enjoyed it. You know, they had fun with it as they should, but that had nothing to do with today’s game.

Cincinnati Reds Manager Terry Francona Reacts to Huge Win Over Milwaukee Brewers on Friday