AL DIVISION SERIES: ASTROS VS WHITE SOX

October 11, 2021

Aaron Bummer

Yoán Moncada

Guaranteed Rate Field

Chicago White Sox

Pregame 4 Press Conference

Q. Hey, Aaron, what did you think of the way the team played last night and given the situation what do you think the way that you guys played kind of said about what you guys are as a team and what you can do moving forward?

AARON BUMMER: I think it showed a lot of the fight that we had all year. You know, we went through some injuries and a little bit of rough patches and being able to come back after 5-1 being down and kind of make the noise that we were able to and being able to go shut the door in the back end of the bullpen, I think that's the way that we want to be able to play games. And that's the way that we're going to have to win games. It's not always going to be easy, but we have to go out there and keep fighting and keep going.

Q. Aaron, what are your sentiments about the sketchy stuff that Ryan talked about last night post-game?

AARON BUMMER: I mean, I don't really concern myself with what they're doing. You know, I think if we go out there and execute pitches, you know, we're going to be successful, so I really try not to get into that. You know, are we aware that there are certain teams out there that are better at relaying signs at second base? Yeah, absolutely. But does that change anything to say it's sketchy too much, whatever? Maybe. I have no idea. We're going to go out there and do our business and change up the signs and do the things we need to do that we do with every team, not just them. It doesn't really necessarily concern me too much.

Q. Hey, guys. What did you think of Ryan Tepera's comments last night about the Astros inferring that there's something fishy going on at Minute Maid Park that they played different here in that Game 3 last night? Both of you guys, if you could react to that.

YOÁN MONCADA: I didn't hear what he said, and I can't comment on that.

Q. And Aaron?

AARON BUMMER: I think I just kind of answered the same question. I don't really have too many comments on that. We play really well at home. They play well at home. You know, if there's -- that's pretty much all that I have to say about that.

Q. Aaron, when you go to Minute Maid Park, though, are you on higher alert for that stuff just because of their history?

AARON BUMMER: I think that there's -- you know, I think any time that you go into any road park, you are on higher alert and making sure that you're working on not tipping your pitches, whether it's out of your hand or through catcher signs or things like that, but to say that it's anything absurd or something that's different in my mind, no, but I feel like some people may have some other opinions, but, you know, that's -- you know, that's their own.

Q. Aaron, what's kind of the vibe in the bullpen in a night like last night when you know that so much of the game is going to be your responsibility and you have a performance like you did?

AARON BUMMER: You know, it's awesome. It's a brotherhood out there. You know, every guy is pulling for each other. You know, playoffs come around. The end of the season came around, the egos went out the window, and we're all pulling for the same common goal to go out and throw up zeros.

To see the guys go out there and do their thing the way they did last night, that's definitely a boost moving forward, and hopefully we can continue to do that tomorrow. And then when we get to Game 5, we'll get to Game 5, and hopefully do the same thing there.

Q. Aaron, Liam was excited to tell me about how you got the gauntlet yesterday. Can you just tell the world what that's all about, what it was like to get it afterwards?

AARON BUMMER: Well, the dude hid it for -- we couldn't find it for about the first couple of innings after I came in, and then it all of a sudden disappeared out of -- it appeared out of nowhere once Liam got back inside, so I don't know necessarily where he was hiding it.

You know, it's just another thing that we can add to our brotherhood in the bullpen. It's something that we can -- that we're all pulling for each other to go out there and take the gauntlet from somebody else, and it's just a little thing that -- that's something that we can do that's a little competition amongst ourselves, and, you know, being able to carry it, you know, hopefully somebody steals it from me tomorrow. That's kind of the goal.

Q. And just one rule of clarification; what if two people do what the gauntlet requires to do? Is there a tiebreaker?

AARON BUMMER: I believe it's the last man standing. If Liam would have gotten the save in the ninth, he would have been able to take the gauntlet back, and he would have been a very happy man about that.

Q. Tony talked about how impressed he was and you guys were about the fans being around in a relatively blow-out type game at the end and that no one had left. What impact did it have on you two, and what do you think it had on the rest of the team?

YOÁN MONCADA: It was an exciting atmosphere, the one that we experienced last night. It was definitely way different compared to what we experienced last year with no fans in the stands. It was important for us to have our fan support and, you know, that was an extra motivation for us, and I think we took it to our advantage, and hopefully we can do the same tomorrow and keep going.

Q. It's a similar, but separate question for each of you. When you are playing a game like that and there's so much momentum and you are feeding off the energy in the crowd, Yoán, when the home run happens from Leury, how does the lineup respond and feed off of that?

And then, Aaron, separately for you guys, when you see Michael come in followed by Tepera, how do you guys feed off of what the other guys are doing in the bullpen and trying to feed off that energy?

YOÁN MONCADA: Honestly, yes, it was an extra motivation, and, you know, once Leury hit that homer, you know, that was electric, and that, again, gave us an extra motivation to keep going and trying to do best and, you know, like I said before, hopefully we get that kind of same support tomorrow.

Q. Aaron, did you feel like you threw the ball differently last night compared to Friday, or did you feel like you kind of made your pitches on Friday and just didn't have the results in that situation?

AARON BUMMER: No, I felt like -- I felt like for the past month, my stuff has been pretty similar. You know, I've been able to execute pitches the way I've wanted to execute them. You know, that day the ball just didn't roll my way. A couple of balls found some holes. Yesterday we were able to mix in a few more breaking balls, and I think that definitely -- you know, that definitely helped. So in reality, I think that's just kind of -- to say that there's anything different, I think we just mixed things up a little bit more, and I think that definitely helped.

Q. You know, pretty similar vein. Astros worked counts first two games really well. It seemed like the last five innings you guys really found something. Yasmani said you really threw two good strike pitches. It looks like you threw more breaking balls. They're a good fastball hitting team. What do you feel like was the adjustment against them?

AARON BUMMER: That was just kind of exactly that. You know, we know that they're an extremely good fastball hitting team, and being able to mix in pitches, and I'm so sink or dominant for the most part anyway, but being able to throw breaking balls for strikes, that's huge for me. And when I'm able to do that, I'm able to have more success.

Yaz is the right, man. From start to finish, we were able to execute two strike pitches. We were just executing pitches, period, at a higher clip yesterday than we were the first two games of the series. So, you know, if that's something that we've unlocked, whatever it may be, you know, that's something that we're going to strive to continue into Game 4.

Q. Aaron, I'm guessing you would have just preferred to play today, but does the rain-out help your bullpen in any way, or do you see it as a plus?

AARON BUMMER: Yeah. You know, I think we all wanted -- we all wanted to play today to keep this thing rolling and keep momentum, but, yeah, the extra day off definitely helps our bullpen. We used a lot of guys yesterday, a couple guys longer than what they're supposed -- longer than what we're used to. So definitely, you know, we're all ready to go today. I think everyone was available. Everyone was going to be able to go out there and do what we needed to get done today, but having the extra day off, you know, definitely is going to be a little bit of deep breath and a breather for us and to be able to go back out for Game 4.