Here is a transcript of Bruce Bochy’s news conference just concluded leading into Game 5. It is courtesy of MLB:

An interview with:

BRUCE BOCHY

Q.         Not just in this series, but why is home field advantage so insignificant during the postseason so far?

BRUCE BOCHY:  Well, I think in the postseason you really can throw a lot of things out, whether it’s numbers against a pitcher or how pitchers have done against hitters, home field advantage, they’re intense games.

It’s a little different ballgame.  I know if you look at recent history there has been a lot of teams that have played well on the road and you have to.  Some things are hard to explain, but it’s just a little different game is how I look at it and you still have to win on the road.  Our guys have done a great job.

We had our backs to the wall and to get to this point, I’m proud of ’em and obviously it’s the game that we wanted to get to and it should be a great ballgame.

Q.  Can you give us a sense of how your team is doing this morning coming in two games down and now it’s a win or go home situation?  Can you give you the feeling of your team?

BRUCE BOCHY:  The mood, the tempo, the spirit of the club is great.  They’re excited about just having a chance, like we have today.

Again, coming in here with our backs to the wall, down 0‑2, they fought hard to get to this point.  So they’re, again, excited about having a Game 5 which wasn’t looking good.  We obviously didn’t like the way it went inSan Francisco, but it is the best of five and they have done a great job of getting into this game.

Q.  Motivation factor, are you aware that no team has ever gone on the road to win three straight after being down 0‑2 and is that a motivation for the team that today would be history?

BRUCE BOCHY:  I don’t know if it’s motivation.  You can’t look at what’s ahead of you.  You got to look at that game.  That’s where your focus has to be.

The first game here we weren’t thinking, well, we have to win three here, it was more, we got to win tonight’s game.  That’s the way you have to look at it and that’s the way you have to play.  You have to play like it’s your last game and keep that maniacal focus on what you have to do tonight and you worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.

Q.  Did you talk to Timmy today?  How is he feeling, and is he available today?

BRUCE BOCHY:  I have not talked to Timmy.  I’m sure he’s doing fine, and if I did talk to him I’m sure he would say, “I can give you an inning.” But I don’t see that happening.  Doesn’t mean that something couldn’t happen, extra innings, where I change my mind, but he’s carried a pretty good workload.  He went two innings that second game, two days off and pitched quite a bit yesterday.

So right now no plans to use him, but he is resilient and he’s one of those, as we call him, he’s a “freak.” He will be out there throwing hard and saying his arm feels great, but as of right now we have no plans of using him.

Q.  Angel Pagan, you saw him in Spring Training, did you see this coming or has his performance exceeded your expectations?

BRUCE BOCHY:  We wanted Angel because we thought a lot of him.  We saw a lot of talent.  Great athlete.  He can run, switch‑hitter, he can do a lot things, so we saw him helping this ball club become more athletic, giving us speed and dimension that really we didn’t have last year.

I can’t say I’m surprised.  He’s had some ups‑and‑downs at times but he’s handled it approximately.  Spring Training he was trying to find his swing and one little stretch there he was struggling, but once he assumed that lead‑off role he’s been a different player.  August and September he helped carry us and helped us win the Division.  We knew we were getting a good player, but to see him day‑in, day‑out, you really get to appreciate him.

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