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AL DIVISION SERIES: YANKEES VS INDIANS

October 7, 2017

Joe Girardi

New York, New York - Workout Day, Canada

Q. Joe, with a loss that tough and such extraordinary circumstances, with the replay, such an unusual thing, do you feel like there needs to be any air clearing with the team as opposed to a normal, tough loss?
JOE GIRARDI: No. I believe our team will be ready to go tomorrow. And that's who this team is. Obviously, we checked the temperature of our players last night. Obviously, I take responsibility for everything, and I feel horrible about it.

Does it change the complexion of the game? Yeah, it sure could have. Do we know that for sure? No. But I've always taken responsibilities for loss and I take them hard, too.

So the guys know that. We've had our backs, each other's backs all year long. We'll continue to have it and we'll go out and play hard tomorrow and go out and try to win one game.

Q. You said you took their temperature last night.
JOE GIRARDI: Well, you just kind of see, you know, my coaches do it too. It's a tough loss. It's a tough situation. It really is. We had an 8-3 lead and we weren't able to hold it. And it's frustrating.

I felt I kind of used the formula I had been using the last two or three months. And last night, it doesn't work. So I take responsibility for that. I mean, that's just who I am, and I did it as a player. And whenever we lose, I take it hard, and this one was really hard.

Q. Joe, when you say you feel horrible about it, having slept on it, do you now think that it was a mistake not to challenge the call?
JOE GIRARDI: Yeah. I mean, I think you can second guess yourself. But here's the process that I go through. Brett Weber has been so good at what he does that when he tells me that something's not inconclusive, I believe him, because he's been so good.

Now, knowing that I had two challenges, in hindsight, yeah, I wish I would have challenged it. But he never -- he never got that video clip that -- he never got that angle. He never got that super slow-mo. And, yeah, I should have challenged it, now that I think about it.

But here's the thing. If it isn't overturned and we're wrong and then Chad struggles after that, do you feel like I screwed him up? You know, those are the things that you have to go through.

Now, I wish I would have challenged it.

Q. But knowing how good Brett Weber is at his job, that overrode what Gary told you?
JOE GIRARDI: Well, there's a lot of players that tell you to challenge things a lot of times. That's the one thing we don't get caught up, when a player tells you to challenge something, because it's not always the case. And Brett has the video of it and that's what we go by.

Q. Would it be fair to interpret that as a lack of trust in Gary?
JOE GIRARDI: No, no, no. I mean, how many times have you seen a player, say check, check, check, and it ends up being the call that they called?

Again, I screwed up. And it's hard. It's a hard day for me. But I got to move forward and we'll be ready to go tomorrow.

Q. Joe, you had mentioned that you guys had been very good with the video review stuff with Brett and the connection with you. Just how the chain of command works with that, as soon as that play happens, Brett looks at whatever he's got in front of him and he gives you a yes or a no?
JOE GIRARDI: Basically, yes.

Q. So, in this case, he just said no because --
JOE GIRARDI: He felt that the ball changed directions and there's nothing saying that it didn't hit his hand.

Q. Joe, you talked about disrupting the rhythm of the pitcher. Yet when you guys have mound visits, you can argue that that disrupts the pitcher, too.
JOE GIRARDI: Correct.

Q. What is the difference in your mind? Is there a difference?
JOE GIRARDI: Well, I think a lot of times, when you have a mound visit, in a sense, you're going to try to get him back in rhythm, to get him to throw strikes or whatever they're doing. Or you see a hitter he hasn't faced, in a sense.

So Larry had made a mound visit, I think, before. And sometimes it can take two or three minutes, you know. That's the difference to me.

Q. Joe, if Gary was a more experienced catcher, might you have --
JOE GIRARDI: No. It would have been the same. Any time a player tells me to check something, I don't automatically check it. I just, you know, Brett -- Gardy got hit in the foot, I don't know, maybe a week ago and he kind of went like that. We checked on video to make sure that there was evidence that he was hit in the foot.

And that's the one thing that you have to be careful about is players telling -- if you just challenge as soon as a player tells you to challenge, you might be wrong.

Q. Joe, you said you felt horribly. How does Brett feel?
JOE GIRARDI: Oh, I know he feels bad, too. You know, we really care. Again, I take full responsibility. It's not Brett's fault. It's my fault.

Q. Joe, in this case, we got it in you, you don't make believe, like you don't trust him. And when it's happening, you don't challenge the play, but when it does happen, Robertson, it wasn't read that way, you don't bring it over and take over for Green?
JOE GIRARDI: Say that again about the Robertson and Green.

Q. Robertson, it was in red, so you can bring --
JOE GIRARDI: No, Greeny had had success against Lindor and thrown well against Lindor and that's why I left him in there.

Q. Yeah, but that was only two times. This guy, being so --
JOE GIRARDI: You know, I have a formula. You know, we've kind of had a formula, who's going to face which guys, who are comfortable doing it.

Again, I used the formula the other day. It worked. I used it yesterday, it didn't work. That's part of my job, right?

So, again, it wasn't like I'd come up with something completely different to do. I mean, this is kind of how we've been doing it, and it didn't work.

Q. What about the trust between you and Gary at this moment? Did he say you don't trust me when I tell you something?
JOE GIRARDI: It has nothing to do with me trusting a player. It's having video evidence to make sure the call will be overturned before you use it. I mean, there's a lot of times that there are calls that I trust my player, and it's not overturned, and I still think the player's right.

It has nothing to do with trust. It's having -- that's why we have the replay, so you have conclusive evidence to change something. It has nothing to do with trust.

Q. Can you talk about your expectations with Masahiro tomorrow? Obviously, this is the biggest start of his career.
JOE GIRARDI: We need him to pitch like he pitched the other day, where he was -- I think he had 15 strikeouts in the game. This is a team that's going to grind out at-bats, and he needs to grind out at-bats with them.

Q. Joe, considering how long the game went last night and how many pitchers you had to use, how compromised is your bull pen tomorrow?
JOE GIRARDI: That's I'll have to see. After a day off, we'll have to see. My guess is Dellin won't be available and I'll have to check with the other guys.

Q. Joe, who is catching tomorrow?
JOE GIRARDI: I mean, probably going to go with Sanchez.

Q. Joe, I know it's one game at a time thing, but how hard is it not to have that backs-to-the-wall mentality and take it just one game at a time?
JOE GIRARDI: Well, I don't think that's always the worst mentality to have. I don't.

I think sometimes that can be a good mentality to have. So we will preach to them, just win one game. Win one game tomorrow and let's see where we're at and we'll go from there.

Q. Any chance Holliday plays tomorrow?
JOE GIRARDI: We'll continue to look at things and we'll see.

Q. You've got to win three straight now against a team that's gone, I think, 34-4. What is the added challenge against a team that's on that much of a roll?
JOE GIRARDI: We know they're really good. We knew that going in, they're really good. The way I look at it, you have to win one in a row.

Q. I know you have to try to have a short memory with these type of decisions that you make. Where does this one kind of sit as one that's going to bother you for a little while? I mean, it seems like it got a lot of attention, obviously, and it was a big part of the game. Is this going to be one of those that is going to stick and it's going to be harder to get past?
JOE GIRARDI: Let's just see what happens tomorrow and as we move forward. That will probably determine the severity of it.

Q. Joe, how does the injury to Edwin Encarnacion change the way that you maybe attack the Cleveland lineup?
JOE GIRARDI: Obviously, he's a very productive hitter and he's been a productive home run hitter for a long, long time. He hits right handers and left-handers. We're probably going to see Brantley tomorrow, who is a very good hitter in his own right.

So, yeah, it's going to change their lineup, but they're putting in a very good hitter to replace him, I'm sure.

Q. Tanaka has had varying degrees of success, depending on how much rest he has. Has he done anything to alter his preparation, given how much time off he's had?
JOE GIRARDI: Yeah. He does his side work. He does what he needs to do in between, and he was in there working today, which is normal for him if we are off on a day before he pitches. He comes in and does his stuff.

Q. Joe, when you say you have a formula, going with Green and then going with Robertson, how malleable do you consider that formula on a nightly basis? Just reading CC's body language and then reading Green's body language?
JOE GIRARDI: I think you watch how guys are doing. And I think that at times, when CC's got in trouble, his pitch count has gotten up there a little bit, and we get somewhat concerned and we know that and we've looked at that.

We looked at -- you know, I looked at it in the scenario, we needed two more outs in the sixth inning, right? I knew at some point he was possibly going to use Chisenhall. So I knew he had three right handers in a row. He could only pinch-hit for one of them, so I looked at that saying that Green was going to get two right handers for sure, at some point.

And that's what I looked at. Now, if I wait one more hitter, the guy makes an out, maybe do I leave CC in still? Maybe. If he gets a hit, then it's maybe only one-hitter that he sees that's right-handed and there's two outs to get.

Q. Obviously, it's only two games, but do you see Judge and Gregorius pressing at all in the post season here against the Indians?
JOE GIRARDI: No, I don't necessarily think so. It's two games. I think that's the key point there. I mean, if you look at the game they had against Minnesota, it was tremendous, and that was an elimination game. There was as much pressure in that game as the first two of these, obviously. So I don't think so.

Q. Joe, just to clarify in my own mind, you had the two challenges. So the down side --
JOE GIRARDI: I screwed up.

Q. Let me finish the question. The downside was upsetting the pitcher's rhythm. You weren't worried about losing the challenge, right?
JOE GIRARDI: No, you worry about wasting the challenge because -- I understand that, but you don't know what's going to happen in the next two and two-thirds innings. You don't. So very seldom have I ever wasted a challenge when it wasn't conclusive. That's just what I've done, you know. Maybe that's the wrong way. But that's the way I've been. And we've been successful with our challenge system.

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