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AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: BLUE JAYS VS ROYALS

October 17, 2015

Ned Yost

Kansas City, Missouri - Postgame two

Royals - 6 Blue Jays - 3

Q. Do these comebacks even surprise you anymore?
NED YOST: No. You knew somewhere over the course of the game that we were going to mount some type of challenge there. Seriously, the first six innings was really tough to see. The glare off the backdrop made it tough. And as soon as the seventh inning came we started to get the shadow back there, I don't know if it's coincidence or not, but that's when we started to get a nice run going.

Q. Was there something you guys were seeing in Price on that seventh inning that they were able to hone in on?
NED YOST: No. We got one hit on the first pitch and didn't get another hit through the first six innings. Benny got that little hit down the right field line and the floodgates just kind of opened.

But the key to that whole inning, believe it or not, was Hosmer stealing second base. That was a double play ball. That allowed us to get to a point we could score five runs, that was huge.

Q. Even though there was only one hit in the first six innings, it looked like they were coming back in this.
NED YOST: Well, our guys, they never quit. They keep going. Even when I went to get Ventura, I told Yordano he was frustrated with himself. I'm like, Look, we're going to get you off the hook here. Hoch, you hold them right here. We're going to score some runs. We're going to make this game really, really interesting. Hoch came in and did a great job, bases loaded, one out, got out of it unscathed, Duffy with a great inning and put us in a position to get to Wade and Herrera to close it out.

Q. After Moustakas recovered last year, when he struggled early in the Postseason this year, are you a lot more confident he can come out of it now than you would have felt two years ago?
NED YOST: No doubt, no doubt. He wasn't the only one that's been kind of struggling a little bit. Hos has been struggling a little bit. Both of those guys got key hits today; Mous with two of them.

But, yeah, those guys, the thing about it, before they would struggle and start to press, and now they struggle and continue to stay focused on getting out of it. They don't press anymore. They've got enough confidence in their abilities that they know they're just one good swing away from getting hot again.

Q. What did you see from Yordano?
NED YOST: I thought he threw the ball great. We stayed with him in the sixth inning because we felt like his stuff was good, but he battled his command. He kind of abandoned his fastball a little bit in that inning, facing the meat of the order, started going a little bit soft.

When Yordano is going really, really well, it's because he's commanding his secondary pitches. And today he was kind of battling that a little bit. The fastball was extremely good, with good command on it. And kind of got in trouble there with his off-speed stuff and struggled to command it.

Outside of that I thought he pitched great.

Q. Rios, who is playing in his first Postseason, he had two RBIs in that game against the Astros, he had another RBI in that big inning. Can you talk about his contributions to the Royals?
NED YOST: Today was another big hit. That gave us a two-run lead going to Herrera in the eighth inning, a little bit of breathing room. He almost made a great play on Pillar's ball when they scored the first time, and tried to make a great play on the double down the right field line.

But he's done a great job for us. He's been getting some key hits here lately, swinging the bat really well. And we're all happy for him.

Q. We talked about Herrera and Davis a lot. With Hochevar's contributions, how crucial was that, what he did today?
NED YOST: That was huge. There's two or three things that you can look at that really helped us win that game. And Hoch's contribution was one of them. They're a hit away from breaking that game open at that point, 5-0. If it's 3-0 you still feel you've got a shot to mount an attack. 5-0 is a little more daunting, because now you've got to score six to win.

When Hoch came in and faced a tough hitter in Pillar and got Goins out, then it's like, okay, we're still right in the middle of this game right here. We can put together a little bit of a rally and score a couple of runs and get right back in it.

So what Hochevar did last night closing out the game to allow us to give Wade the night off so he could come in today and close out Game 2 was big.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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