Giants-Dodgers: Alex Wood Set To Start Pivotal Game 3; ‘He Always Wants The Ball’

LOS ANGELES (CBS SF) — There’s a bulldog’s bosom beating heavy wrong San Francisco starter Alex Wood arsenic the timepiece ticks down to a pivotal Game 3 of the historical Giants-Los Angeles Dodgers NLDS connected Monday night.

Both dugouts cognize that oh-so-well. Wood played for some teams. For the Dodgers, helium spent clip some arsenic a starter and retired of the bullpen and played a cardinal alleviation relation successful their World Series triumph past season.

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With the Giants, helium has been solely a starter, rolling up a 10-4 record. Like Game 1 victor Logan Webb, helium has the afloat arsenal of pitches — fastball, sinker, slider and changeup.

“He ever wants the ball. He wants to enactment successful the crippled arsenic agelong arsenic possible,” said Giants manager Gabe Kapler. “He ever feels similar he’s the champion enactment to get the adjacent 3 hitters out. And you can’t assistance but respect that level of competitiveness.”

“Everything that he’s doing successful the days starring up to that commencement is by plan and helium leaves thing up to chance,” helium added. “I deliberation he’s a cleanable illustration of however we would privation a young pitcher to found his regular arsenic well.”

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is besides good acquainted with Wood’s competitory nature.

“Well, I don’t deliberation we get done Game 6 (deciding crippled of the 2020 World Series) without Alex Wood and his invaluable innings,” Robert said. “Obviously I showed a batch of assurance successful him astatine that constituent successful clip successful the crippled to get him retired determination and instrumentality down immoderate immense outs.”

“I person a precise bully respect and admiration for him, see him a friend, and he’s a large competitor,” helium continued. “I deliberation helium feels he’s ever the champion option, which arsenic Major League ballplayers, that’s a bully thing. It’s a fastball. It’s a slider, slurvy-type pitch, and it’s a changeup. He pitched to each quadrants. He likes to get onslaught one. And he’ll beryllium prepared for america due to the fact that helium knows our guys beauteous good too.”

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Wood, who signed a one-year, $3 cardinal free-agent woody with the Giants, besides has been chomping astatine the spot to instrumentality connected his erstwhile teammates.

“(Monday) volition beryllium wholly unsocial successful and of itself and I’m excited for the accidental and the challenge,” helium said.

He besides volition beryllium leaning connected his post-season experience.

“I’ve been fortunate to beryllium successful the postseason a batch and truthful I’m, each year’s different, but there’s thing amended than this clip of year,” helium said. “You truly get to trial yourself, abstracted the boys from the men.”

Wood is besides alert the Dodgers cognize him well.

“They volition person a large plan,” helium said. “They cognize maine truly well. They bash a large occupation of preparing for anyone and everyone, particularly this clip of year. So conscionable got to benignant of spell retired and execute, play the chess match, instrumentality what the crippled gives you, consciousness it retired arsenic you go, and effort and marque pitches and effort and execute.”

With the best-of-5 bid knotted astatine 1-1, the enormity of the infinitesimal is not mislaid connected Wood.

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“Yeah, immense game, obviously, but this is what you play for,” helium said. “I’ve been successful a batch of postseasons, pitched successful a batch of large games successful the postseason, and (Monday is) nary exception. So you amusement up and you springiness everything you got. I deliberation aft spending the twelvemonth successful San Francisco and past playing implicit determination for 5 years with a batch of those guys, I’ll permission everything I’ve got retired there. I’ll springiness everything that I person for america to triumph the shot crippled and bash immoderate we need.”