CLEVELAND -- Torey Lovullo wants a chance to manage the Cleveland Indians after spending the past eight seasons working in the club's minor league system.

"I'm familiar with the setting," Lovullo said yesterday, after interviewing a second time with general manager Mark Shapiro. "This team is a lot further along than some might believe."

Dodgers hitting coach Don Mattingly and Angels bench coach Ron Roenicke are expected to be brought in next week for interviews. Former managers Manny Acta and Bobby Valentine also have been interviewed, and Shapiro hopes to finish his search by the end of the World Series.

Unlike Valentine, fresh from a six-year stint managing in Japan, Lovullo emphasized his desire to take the job if it's offered to him.

"I have prepared for this and am ready," he said, adding that playing for seven different managers in eight seasons, including Terry Francona, helped mold his managerial philosophies.

"I like to get a lineup and try not to change it," Lovullo said. "I'm big on team chemistry. I want players to know I have their back, that they can play relaxed and comfortable. ... But I expect an effort every day. This team can look different, act different and play different."

Nick Swisher had the same cocky grin he wore for much of the season as he walked into the clubhouse. The way he sees it, the end of his postseason slump is right around the corner.

"One swing, back on track," he said. Swisher went 0 for 5 in New York's 7-6 loss to the Angels in Game 5 of the ALCS, including a game-ending popup on a full-count pitch from Brian Fuentes with the bases loaded.

The rough night dropped Swisher's postseason average to .103 (3 for 29) with 10 strikeouts. "It's just one of those things where you want to do so well," Swisher said. "It just hasn't happened but it's all right because right now we're sitting 3-2. I mean we've got other guys on the team that are banging, driving in runs, picking us up. It's all right. We'll be where we need to get."

Andre Ethier let himself look ahead to the day the Dodgers reach the World Series. What Ethier imagined was the same cast of players, only older. What he imagined was a team resembling the Phillies club that eliminated them from the playoffs in back-to-back seasons.

"They have a whole different identity than us," Ethier said. "They're built around that core lineup that has a lot of power. It's tough to try to duplicate that. But I think we're developing guys here that can become those guys that they have over there."

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