David Ortiz spoke after the Red Sox’ 2-0 win in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series, touching on the perception that Tampa Bay might have been a bit overwhelmed in their foray into ALCS action. Here is what he said:

(On Daisuke Matsuzaka’s performance) “I don’t know how he did it , but he did it.”

(On the Rays) “Like I said before, regular season is different than the playoffs. I kind of like to watch everybody’s faces, and I’m telling you I saw faces tonight tonight different than what we saw in the regular season. I don’t blame nobody. There’s a lot of pressure out there right now in this game because you know you have to win or you go home. That relax type of thing that you have in the regular season wasn’t there tonight.”

(On the Red Sox approach) “We’re kind of used to these things. When we play in the regular season against games like the Yankees and these guys now, it’s the type of feeling that you have, so we’re kind fo used to. You don’t see nobody panicking.”

(On the Rays again) “I don’t’ know if that was tight, but like that one situation where you come in with men on base and you get that hit or you bring that run in that you saw all year round, those guys, they are kind of like, ‘OK we’re down one run or two runs it don’t matter we’ll come in and get it done.’ It wasn’t out there tonight. I don’t think we saw that. But it’s their first time in the playoffs and things like that so who can blame them. They’ve done a hell of a job this year and it’s a different feeling … We know how to deal with situations in the playoffs. Young players and veteran players everybody around this ballclub.”

(On whether the Rays were scared) “I don’t know, you have to ask them.”

(On dealing with playoff pressure) “We try not to panic. There’s a lot of pressure out there. Sometimes you get confused the way you want to deal with it. You’ve got to figure out the way you’re going to pull yourself together and get through.”

(On difference between regular season and postseason) “If you go back to the regular season games, or you go back to the first round of the playoffs, you play like you’ve got nothing to lose. It’s a different feeling than when you play … ‘OK I’ve got to get it done right now.’ I’m not saying somebody was scared of anything, it’s just like when it’s the first time in the playoffs you put a little bit of pressure on yourself. I still do it sometimes.”