NL DIVISION SERIES: GIANTS VS DODGERS

October 9, 2021

Gabe Kapler

Oracle Park

San Francisco Giants

Postgame 2 Press Conference

Q. First of all, what are your thoughts on going to Los Angeles now with the series tied up 2-2. You played very well at Los Angeles this year. And do you have a Game 3 starter for us?

GABE KAPLER: Yeah, Alex Wood will start our Game 3 for us. Obviously looking forward to turning the page on tonight's game and getting ready for Los Angeles. It wasn't our best effort tonight. The Dodgers just swung the bats better than us, made more pitches than us, made more plays than us.

So as we've done all season long we'll turn the page and get ready for an off-day, an off-day of preparation, and get ready for Game 3.

Q. We were thinking it was going to be Alex Wood, but can you go a little bit into what the thinking was to put him in that Game 3 slot?

GABE KAPLER: First and foremost, he's just pitched really well for us and in particular he's pitched well for us late. So that's the main consideration. He's one of our best three pitchers right now.

Q. What did you see from Leone tonight and did you feel like command was an issue for him coming out of the bullpen?

GABE KAPLER: First control and then command, but he's been so good for us all season long, felt really good about bringing him into that game because of the success that he's had in those situations, and he's got the cutter to get some swings and misses. And if he's able to execute his fastball with the command that you mentioned, he's as good a weapon as we have in those types of situations. It didn't work out tonight.

Q. We have seen what this lineup can go against lefties, especially given some of the guys like Ruf and Slater. What have you seen out of your hitters going against left-handed pitching in recent games?

GABE KAPLER: I think it's interesting. First, you have to give some credit to Julio Urías who continues to throw the ball well and continues to be tough out there on the mound.

And second, every time we've put our right-handed hitting lineup out there against a left-handed starter, we always feel really good about it because if you go man-for-man up and down our lineup, we just have good numbers, particularly against lefties.

So you kind of think that's going to show up in games against left-handed starters, but it really hasn't happened for us consistently throughout the season. It's been one of the areas that we sort of struggled. And last year it was these types of lineups just produced so much.

So it is something that we have to continue to think about. But, again, felt good going into this game against a left-handed starter. Lineup gets really deep there at the end with is Evan Longoria who's been so good against lefties throughout his career, and Donovan Solano, a Silver Slugger winner last year and a guy who really does have great at-bats against lefties and top of the lineup.

Between Ruf and KB and Austin Slater, we just feel really good about that group. And obviously Buster has always swung the bat against lefties. Craw's swinging the bat against lefties right now.

It's tough to really get a handle on why we're not scoring more runs in these games and something for us to keep thinking about.

Q. We know there are an awful lot of factors that go into your in-game decision-making. One thing you guys didn't necessarily do a ton of during the season was intentional walks, but obviously there with first base open and the pitcher coming up, it's a fairly standard thing, but it isn't something that you guys do. What went into that specifically tonight?

GABE KAPLER: First, AJ Pollock's a pretty good hitter. And, as always, there's a pretty big difference between an 8-hole hitter who is a very good hitter and a pitcher, no matter how good they are at the plate, they're still not as good as an All Star-caliber player like AJ Pollock.

Beyond that, once you get into a 1-0, 2-0, 3-1 count, and we've sort of talked about this during the season, dangerous hitters become even more dangerous. They become elite. So kind of pick your poison there.

Prefer to face Julio Urías. He got a big hit against us. Obviously we would like to have that one back, probably would make the same decision, but would like to record an out there, of course.

Q. Gausman had I think recorded 10 outs in a row when his turn came up to hit in the 5th. Did you considerate at all potentially pinch hitting for him there with a one-run difference?

GABE KAPLER: I think that's probably the biggest decision point in the game, from my perspective. There's a couple of things at play there. Number one, as you mentioned, he was starting to find his rhythm and his groove, so we were seeing that with our eyes. He was reporting that. Buster was confirming it. The swings were kind of confirming it.

Still, at that point, you may choose to use a pinch hitter and see if you can get a base runner on for the top of the lineup. One thing that's sort of unfortunate in that situation is you have all lefties to run up there against Urías. But it is an important decision point and perhaps you say in a clean inning for Dom Leone, maybe things go a little bit different.

We felt really good about Gausman getting the next three hitters out. Obviously sometimes that works out and sometimes it doesn't and tonight it didn't.

Q. You had mentioned Longoria in terms of hitting against left-handed hitters, but he hasn't had his struggles these last couple games. What have you seen from him and how do his struggles kind of factor in how you go about constructing lineups once you go to Los Angeles?

GABE KAPLER: I thought his swings were better tonight even though he didn't have much to show for them. He was up underneath the ball, which is, for Longo, usually a good sign when you're not seeing ground balls to the left side, but you're seeing balls elevated in the air. I thought his swing looked a little bit better tonight. I really have a ton of trust in Evan. He's just a professional hitter who has done it very successfully for a very long time, had an excellent year for us, and is going through a period of time and a stretch of at-bats that aren't going his way.

Q. Bottom of the 6th after they scored their four runs you got some guys on base and then obviously Trea Turner make that's diving stop. The throw by Betts to end the inning. I know you guys kind of ride, you're one of those teams that makes those plays defensively. How deflating is it from the other side when a team does that?

GABE KAPLER: Obviously excellent play by Trea and then an additional great throw by Mookie, and we tend to expect those.

Look, I mean, I think if Wilmer was sitting here he would tell you that it's really difficult to make an out like that on the bases and take that sort of risk when you have a little bit of momentum. Wilmer's as professional as they come, as experienced as they come. I think he probably understands it that that's one that he would like to have back. And with respect to the defensive plays that the Dodgers made, they were both excellent, and you have to give them some credit for that.

Q. You guys have been doing a good job against Bellinger's approach all season long, but going into that spot, how much are you factoring in his track record and that sort of spot compared with how he's been going lately?

GABE KAPLER: What do you mean how much does his track record factor in? We expect that Cody is capable of putting together a good at-bat and capable of driving the baseball, if that's what you're asking. Is there anything else to that?

Q. Approach. Like sort of like how much like fear factor compared to like maybe if didn't have the track record, but had been hitting, performing the way he had been obviously?

GABE KAPLER: Yeah, I mean, I think Cody Bellinger has not, he hasn't been at his best, I think I'm sure he's acknowledged that, at the same time he's incredibly talented and gifted as an athlete and you know that he's always dangerous. Not sure if there's anything more specific there, but I hope that helps.