NL WILD CARD SERIES: PHILLIES VS CARDINALS

October 7, 2022

Rob Thomson

Busch Stadium

Philadelphia Phillies

Postgame Press Conference

Cardinals 3 - Phillies 6

Q. Just big picture. Do you feel like you came in here and stole one?

ROB THOMSON: Well, yeah. I mean, I thought we played well. We just didn't hit early. And then, you know, in the ninth inning, we got a rally going. Those guys are so resilient. I've been saying that all year long. But then you got kind of a blown a couple walks, hit by pitch and scratch hit. All of a sudden, all these good things are happening. So they just hung in there. Wheels did a great job. It was good to see D Rob have a clean inning. That was really good. I thought we played great defense. It was a great ballgame, and we just kept fighting.

Q. What was it like in the dugout in that ninth inning, Hels is losing the strike zone?

ROB THOMSON: Electric. Electric. Those guys were right into it. Yeah. It was great.

Q. And was Bohmer all right. That was 101 miles an hour.

ROB THOMSON: Yeah. He's fine.

Q. You gotta be glad, he didn't jump out of the way. I mean, he took it like a man.

ROB THOMSON: (Laughs). Yeah.

Q. It's hard to jump out of the way on that pitch.

ROB THOMSON: Yeah, that's right.

Q. And what did you think of Wheels?

ROB THOMSON: I thought he was great. Velocity was up. He felt fine the entire time. I thought his slider was good. He threw a couple of good hooks. Yeah, I thought he was really, really good. He was getting towards the end of his pitch count, and we were coming into a stretch of lefties. That's why I went to Alvarado, and Alvarado gives up the first home run he's given up in, what, three months or something. That's the way it is, but we fought back.

Q. In that sixth inning, it was still Wheels' game or if you had Seranthony on top of his game, would you have gone to the pocket of right-handed hitters?

ROB THOMSON: No. That was Wheels. Yeah, that was Wheels.

Q. Kind of quintessential Segura there, too, puts the bat on the ball on a tough pitch to hit and kind of punches it the other way?

ROB THOMSON: When you put the ball in play with two strikes in the ninth inning, that is what you have to do. They played the infield in to try to cut down the run or possibly double play from balls hit firm. But the ball luckily just got by the second base man, and we scored a couple runs there. Great at-bat. Just put the ball in play with two strikes and keep fighting.

Q. We talked about how long he's waited for this. What's he been like to be around the last few days just given it's been so long and he hasn't been to the postseason? Has he been, you know, any different or I mean, what's it been like being around him?

ROB THOMSON: Very happy, you know. But he usually is. But yeah, I think he's pretty much the same, but he's really happy, and he really feels fortunate to be here and wants to do well. So but for the most part, pretty much the same.