AL WILD CARD SERIES: MARINERS VS BLUE JAYS

October 7, 2022

John Schneider

Rogers Centre

Toronto Blue Jays

Postgame Press Conference

Seattle Mariners - 4, Toronto Blue Jays - 0

THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up for John Schneider.

Q. John, why was Luis Castillo so effective against your lineup?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Throwing 100-mile-an-hour sinkers. He had really good stuff today. We managed our hits and at-bats were decent and couldn't get the big hit when we got guys on base.

His stuff was good. You have to give him credit. Flush it and move on to Robbie tomorrow.

Q. Turning to Alek Manoah, it looked like he had trouble finding the strike zone early, but what did you see from him from there?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Settled in great after the first inning. I don't know if he was a little bit fired up, but had some velo and just a couple of bad pitches. 0-2 to Julio and the 3-2 heater to Raleigh. Retired 12 out of the next 14 after that.

I think he did a really good job. The other run was kind of a weak ground ball, and he did what he's been doing all year. It was tough to take him out at that point and down by four. We're trying to just match up accordingly with their lineup.

It was a good job by him and uncharacteristic first inning, for sure.

Q. Are you ready to say who will start game 2 for you guys?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Yeah. Kevin Gausman will start tomorrow.

Q. Following up, before the game Bo talked to us a little bit about the fight that your team has had, going through ups and downs and everything and kind of responding. What's your expectation for tomorrow from this lineup, from this club?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: More of the same what we've been doing the last month, I think. Guys are up for the challenge, and we've been saying it the whole year, the whole second half, that you're trying to win every series. You've got to win two in a row to win it.

You expect them to come out with the same energy, the same mentality, the same focus, and just understand that you ran into a really good pitcher today for seven-plus innings and a really good one after that in Muñoz.

Flush it and move on. They're going to be ready to go.

Q. There were two moments, I guess, offensively for you guys where you had chances to come back. Two on and two out with Vladdy up. Two on and two out with Bo up. How did you view those circumstances in the first and sixth inning?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Those are big spots when you're facing a pitcher like that. When you get traffic on the bases, you want to come through with a big hit. It's tough to do against a guy like that. Really tough with two outs.

You kind of just take that for what it is today. You move on, knowing that you're going to be in those situations again tomorrow against another good pitcher and probably another couple of relievers.

Yeah, I think more so than anything from those at-bats from Bo and Vlad is you have to give credit to Castillo today.

Q. First of all, I know it's almost impossible to get Springer out of a game, but how is the wrist?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: He's okay. X-rays are negative for a fracture. He's feeling all right, and we'll see how he feels tomorrow, but hoping he's good to go.

Q. As far as the team goes, we haven't seen them yet have a must-win game, haven't seen the whole backs-to-the-wall thing. How do you expect that they'll respond when we've heard a few times this year where maybe some guys are trying to be the hero a little too much?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: I think it's going to be exciting to see them come out for sure. I think the way that they've grown as a unit over the last month especially will be key to how they come out and play together tomorrow. I'm excited to see how they respond.

I hope the goal is for not any one person to try to do too much, and understand that we have a very good lineup and a very good team. So, I'm excited for tomorrow, and you try to win two in a row to win a series.

But this group is ready for it. They're up for the challenge. I'm looking forward to it tomorrow.

Q. Hey, John, you mentioned that Gausman will be starting tomorrow. What are you looking for him to do?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: More of the same of what he's been doing all year; quality outing, get deep into the game, line up our bullpen appropriately. But turning to a guy like him in a must-win game is something we feel really good about. We feel really good about a lot of guys in that situation, and especially good about Kevin.

He's been a leader in the clubhouse, a leader of the staff. He has had an amazing year, so we're looking for just another quality outing from him.

Q. Given how well Castillo was throwing, did you sense that perhaps the early deficit changed or had some impact on the at-bats and sort of I guess the need to deliver and to play for a certain amount of runs instead of just trying to scratch one out here and there?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: No, I don't think so. Especially early, I think both teams are coming in with a lot of emotion -- right? -- and they're coming in after a really long playoff drought, over 20 years, whatever it was. I'm sure they were excited. That first inning probably gave them a little bit more momentum.

The conversation and the approach in the dugout, you know, throughout Castillo's entire outing was good. We knew it was going to be a tough battle with what he was featuring, but I think guys were trying to go about it as business as usual, and it didn't work out.