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AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: BLUE JAYS VS ROYALSOctober 21, 2015Marco EstradaTroy TulowitzkiToronto, Ontario - Postgame five Blue Jays - 7 Royals - 1 Q. Is this a little déjàvu for you guys, going back to Game 3 in Texas? Similar situation with you, Marco, and similar situation with you, Troy, with kind of the shot that put you guys over the top near the end. TROY TULOWITZKI: We can get used to it, I tell you that. Hopefully it's not the last time we're up here. It means our ballclub is playing good. I can't say enough about this guy, he was obviously special tonight. It's the start that we needed. They're a great team over there, we know that, but this guy kept them off balance and allowed the offense to settle in and get some runs. Q. Marco, Bautista was just talking about some of the pressure that you can feel in an elimination game, even if you don't want to, you're trying not to. You've done it twice now. Is there a difference last time to this time and can you talk about any changes in your mindset or approach? MARCO ESTRADA: Obviously the only difference was that I got to pitch at home. It's been a while since I pitched here, and I forgot how great our fans were. It was pretty loud today. I had a lot of adrenaline going. That's the only difference. The last game I was pretty calm and I was just trying to do my job. This time I still had the same mindset, but the fans got me going a little bit early on, and just made it a little more fun. Q. Is that a good thing or bad thing? MARCO ESTRADA: It was great. It worked out, I guess. Q. Troy, are you feeling a little better physically or are you just still pounding through it with a little discomfort? Your game and your bat has really come alive. TROY TULOWITZKI: I'm good enough to go. I've said that all along. I wouldn't be out there if I wasn't. Anytime you're out there, do whatever you can to win. Lately I've been putting good swings. It's a tough game. Sometimes you go through some rough patches, sometimes you swing the bat well. Lately I've been putting better swings. Q. You're never a guy that's gotten headlines throughout his career, was touted coming into the draft. How does this feel that suddenly you're the star of the team? MARCO ESTRADA: I wouldn't put it that way. It's just a game. One game today was a big game, because we were down one game and elimination basically for us. I don't think about it that way, I'm just trying to do my job, help these guys win. I'm excited to be a part of this team. We've got a great team here. I've been saying it since Spring Training, and we got a little better obviously adding guys like Tulo. It's a lot of fun being a part of this team. Q. Is there any difference being in a pitching duel in the Postseason, compared to the regular season? And when you've got Volquez across the field, how much are you looking at what he's doing, getting a chance to absorb the whole scene? MARCO ESTRADA: I don't really pay attention to who is pitching for the other team. I don't have to face him, so what's the point of me looking over there. During the regular season guys would make fun, Oh, you've got this guy. I said, I don't have to worry, you guys have to worry. I don't think about what the other guy is doing, even though Volquez has been really good these last two games. I don't think about it. Q. Was there any time before the game, during, even after, where you thought that this might be your last start as a Blue Jay? MARCO ESTRADA: No, no. That hasn't crossed my mind at all. It didn't cross it in Texas when we were down 2-0. It hasn't crossed it now. Why put something like that in my head? There's no reason to. I keep thinking or telling myself you've got to go nine innings today, try to shut them out, give these guys a chance to win. That's all that's going through my mind. Q. What did you learn and change from Game 1? MARCO ESTRADA: I don't know. Nothing -- oh, you mean, from -- yeah. This time around I had a better fastball command. That was the key to this game. The first game I couldn't locate that down and away pitch. Today I threw a lot of good ones. But other than that, you know, change-up and curveball were there, threw some good cutters. But the key was for sure being able to locate that fastball. Q. You're now getting international exposure to how good your change-up is. Tons of swings and misses, very consistent, your teammates were glowing about it. I think you said you learned it in the Minor Leagues. How did that come to be your best pitch? MARCO ESTRADA: Yeah, I think it was either low A or high A, had a bad game and I told myself, Man, you're just throwing fastballs, curveballs. You need to bring out a new pitch. I went up to one of the guys that had or has a really good change-up, talked to him about it. He showed me his grip. I basically just worked on it for a day and I had to pitch the following day, took it out there, awesome swings and misses, and the rest is history. Q. Troy, as a team you guys needed the wins here, of course, to take care of business. What does it mean for a team, the kind of game you won today, returning to Kansas City? TROY TULOWITZKI: I think that's a recipe for winning, good pitching and timely hitting. That's what we did today. Obviously you try to carry this over to Kansas City. It's not going to be easy. They have home-field advantage. Our backs are going to be against the wall. But you look at it, you've got to win two games in the grand scheme of things. It's possible. And that's how we're looking at it. Win the next game. Get to Game 7 and anything can happen. Q. Marco, when Gibby came out usually the manager taps the pitcher on the shoulder. It looked like you tapped him on the shoulder. Did he say anything interesting to you? MARCO ESTRADA: I don't remember. I put my head down, walked out, and just tried to take it all in, how loud the stadium got. It was an incredible feeling walking off the mound seeing all the support that this team has gotten the entire year, not just today. But it was extremely loud and it was a great feeling just walking off the mound. Q. Troy, the two walks ahead of your hit with Bautista and then Encarnacion were probably as important as any at-bats in that inning. Can you take us through that and how important they were. TROY TULOWITZKI: In playoff games you're trying to be a tough out. Those guys are professional hitters, I see it every single game, they put together good at-bats. I can't say enough. Me being in the National League I didn't get to see Bautista and Eddie. You see some highlights of their home runs, but you didn't get to see their at-bats on a regular basis. Since I came over here, getting to watch them, they're really professional hitters and great guys to learn from, very smart. That shows off right there, playoff atmosphere, to grind out at-bats, makes them special. Q. The way that the Royals seem to pitch 2, 3, 4 really carefully, does it almost seem to you that they're challenging the rest of the lineup to beat them, avoid them doing the damage? In your at-bat today in the 6th, when you turned on 98, what does that tell you about your swing? TROY TULOWITZKI: First part of that question, I think any opposing team is going to be careful with those guys, they're so potent at times and they can really catch fire and really carry a team. So you're going to be careful with them. So for me it really puts me in good spots, RBI situations, and that's when you want to be up, when the game is on the line. Sometimes you're not going to come through, sometimes you are. Today I was fortunate enough to come through. The second part of the question, I think as of late I have been swinging the bat better. Anytime 98 you can square up, obviously you like where you're at. But tomorrow is a new day and it's a new challenge and you might not be able to square up 98. You might be fouling off pitches, that just goes to show how difficult this game is. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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