AL WILD CARD SERIES: MARINERS VS BLUE JAYS

October 8, 2022

John Schneider

Rogers Centre

Toronto Blue Jays

Pregame Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We'll get started with John Schneider.

Q. Obviously, when you took this job, you had big visions for what this ball club could accomplish. What's it like to kind of have that do-or-die moment ahead of you today?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: It's exciting. I think you know what's at stake. Excited to see how the guys come out today.

Our goal has been to win a series every time out, and you have to win two in a row, which is what we've done quite a bit this year.

Just happy to be part of it, for one, with this group, and excited to see how they come out today, and have all the confidence in the world in them.

Q. Do you feel like your team was maybe chasing a little bit too much yesterday trying to be the heroes, get the big hit? How do you think in a do-or-die moment like this today that they haven't faced yet they're going to fare?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: I don't think they were chasing too much. I think Castillo's stuff was that good yesterday, and it was starting in the zone and running out of the zone.

I don't think the moment will be too big for them today. I think if we play our game we're as good as anybody in the league. That's kind of the mentality today.

Yesterday, being an extreme example of a really good pitcher with electric stuff. Approach will be the same against a different type of pitcher today.

Q. What we were hearing from Danny earlier was about laying it all out on the field. You already said you're proud of these guys, but is there time when you're in the moment and in the game do you think about all that they accomplished to get here, or do you have to sort of let yesterday and also all the successes from the season before just fall by the wayside and just make sure that the guys are playing the game?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: I think you want to stay as present as you possibly can. We've talked as the season has gone on about the accomplishments this group has made, winning more games this year than we did last year.

You always kind of have that in your mind, but I think when you're in the postseason, you're trying to stay as present as you can. In a do-or-die game everyone knows what's at stake. The more present you can be, the better off you're going to be.

Q. With that in mind, sort of staying present, with how things went yesterday, how do you expect Alek Manoah to be in that dugout and supporting his teammates in this do-or-die moment?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: The same as he has been all year. He has been such a big part of what we've done to get to this point. He's a tremendous teammate, so he's going to be right there cheering on everybody.

What happened last night, he was frustrated. He's over it. He's on to the next day just like everybody else is.