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JASON VARITEK: You know, it literally is behind us. We have to adjust from it. There's a lot of things we could have done different. It's an easy game to look back in hindsight. They are doing the job and we're not right now.

Q. You're considered a leader on this team, and in this situation here, what do you tell guys in a situation like this?

We have to outplay them, period.

Q. Is it easier to come back from a loss if it's 5-4 vs. the way it was last night, does it make any difference?

JASON VARITEK: I think sometimes a closer loss, depending on how you lost it, it grabs you a little bit more because usually in close games, there's usually one play or one incident or one thing that happens that changes that game.

Last night we were swinging the bats for a little while but they just basically annihilated us. Either way, we've just got to get it done.

Q. Assuming you win the next four games, of course, but from up until this point backwards, Schilling, and you said all of the right things about how you had to overcome it and everything, but do you think his injury somehow did maybe bum some of the guys out?

JASON VARITEK: No. I don't think so. I think guys are too professional for that to happen. I think obviously his turn has not come to be on the mound yet again, so I don't think that that has had that much impact.

Now, if he wins Game 1 and his ankle is not bothering him, it may be a different story. But we have got to execute it on both sides of the field and we've just got to get it done.

Q. Francona said that he thinks Derek feels like he has something to prove because he was not in the rotation in the postseason. What do you expect from him tonight?

JASON VARITEK: I just hope that we're able to get a quality outing out of him. We've got to be able to utilize our fastball on both sides of the plate and we've got to get a lot of these guys to get the ball in, and we have to execute our pitches to allow our offense to get going. He has that ability.

Q. The way Matsui is hitting the wall, is it getting frustrating trying to call pitches to get him out?

JASON VARITEK: He, like a lot of that lineup, you can't rest from one guy to the next. You cannot mentally rest on anybody. Sheff has been swinging the bat real well in front of him, Alex has been swinging the bat well in front of Sheff and there's no relaxation. There's really no time. You have to concentrate on executing each pitch, pitch to pitch.

Guys make their living more off of not having that ability. He has hit some very quality pitches. He's swinging the bat extremely well, and we've got to just execute our pitches.

Courtesy of FastScripts by ASAP Sports. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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