He's an accomplished, veteran hitter who has had big hits through the years as a pinch-hitter, including some in the postseason. That's something we had targeted.

[It's a little bit like using a pinch-hitter or DH, but only superficially. The shooter isn't a specialty team of one.] A .300 hitter is considered tremendously successful, ... There's a lot more failure than there is success. In the shootout, at some point, there has to be a winner.

It's going to be a big deal to try and get this accomplished,

We picked each other up with big two-out hits and we answered immediately after Connecticut put up some runs.

Vlad has had some stretches occasionally where hits haven't fallen in. But he's the type of hitter that takes one swing to get him locked in seeing the ball again, and he can go crazy. That's a dangerous player, and they have done a good job with him so far.

It's tough to stay sharp getting one at-bat as a pinch-hitter. It's a totally different approach when you start.