AL WILD CARD SERIES: MARINERS VS BLUE JAYS

October 8, 2022

Matt Chapman

Rogers Centre

Toronto Blue Jays

Pregame Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We'll get started with Matt Chapman.

Q. You've been in these spots before. Just what type of mentality works in a game like this?

MATT CHAPMAN: Well, luckily, you know, I think just the fact that we have another opportunity today is what the focus is.

Excited that it's not a one-game Wild Card. It's a series, and we have another opportunity today. We believe in our group, and I think it's just don't look too far ahead, don't dwell too much on yesterday, and just try and be in the moment and prepare yourself as best you can to win a ball game today.

Q. Having played in the one-game Wild Cards before, how did you find those experiences? Coming into this series, how did that maybe change your thinking or impact sort of the way you viewed the series?

MATT CHAPMAN: I think for me it just gave me the experience. I've played in the playoffs before. I've been there before.

I think it's nice to have those two experiences to help me out. I felt comfortable yesterday. I was excited to play. I was excited to be able to share that moment with my teammates.

I'm glad all the guys on our team that didn't have experience in the playoffs got that experience yesterday, and they get to regroup and come back today and have another crack at it.

My first experience I lost, and I had to wait a whole other year to play. So, these guys get to play today. I think that maybe some of those nerves and things we can shake off and just go out there and play our game of baseball today.

Q. You guys have Kevin Gausman going today. He has been huge for you guys all year. How do you expect him to set the tone for you guys in this game?

MATT CHAPMAN: Gaus has been setting the tone for us all year for sure. I think today just expect him to come out and do what he does; throw a hard fastball and play a split off that, mix in some sliders. I think for Gaus, just command the zone.

Obviously, yesterday didn't start off the way we did, but Manoah battled and gave us an opportunity to stay in that game. I was super proud of the way he battled and bounced back.

I think Gaus today is going to do the same thing. He's going to give us an opportunity to win the game. For us as a defense, it's up to us to play a good defense behind him and then find ways to score runs.

Q. One about yesterday and one about today. I know that you're a guy who circulates around the clubhouse and talks to a lot of guys. Did you talk to Manoah at all after the game? It looked like to us that he was just sitting staring at his locker and taking it pretty hard.

MATT CHAPMAN: For sure. I could tell he was pretty down on himself. I did talk to him. Just wanted to let him know that proud of the way that he battled. We all got his back, and there's nobody we would rather have out there.

Unfortunately, it didn't go his way yesterday, but he was still able to give us a chance to score runs and be in the game, and we didn't score any runs for him.

It's not like in baseball it's any one person's fault. We win as a team; we lose as a team.

We didn't get the job done on either side of the baseball yesterday, but we got a new opportunity today. He seems like he's in a better mood today. It's just good to see him bounce back.

The goal is to win today and worry about tomorrow then. But hopefully he's got a lot more opportunities to pitch. We've got to just take advantage of what we can.

Q. As far as today when you circulate around the clubhouse, is there something you're looking for from your teammates just attitudinally or whatever, the way they come in today?

MATT CHAPMAN: Nothing in general. Just hopefully being themselves. I think yesterday, first time home playoff game, I think for a lot of these guys they played in the playoffs in 2020, but hadn't played in front of real fans.

I think for us as a team we got that experience yesterday, and today just hopefully come out here and have fun and be ourselves, and not worry about the moment and just try and play baseball.

Not that we didn't do that yesterday, but I just think that the more opportunities you get, the more comfortable you're going to be.

Q. Just wondering, outside looking in, it almost seems like you guys could use a release, like a big moment, like for Vlad bases-clearing double or big home run. Is that fair to say that you could almost use with the crowd here in anticipation, a kind of moment where things go right for you guys after what happened yesterday?

MATT CHAPMAN: I don't think that we have to have a moment like that. I think we just need to get a win. But I also think that it would be nice to jump out, get a lead or have something big happen because then we can give the fans something to get behind.

Yesterday it felt like, obviously, we got behind early and then we couldn't really get anything going offensively. It was hard.

The fans, they hung in there with us. They were still loud. Any time we got a hit or something good happened, they were loud. It would be awesome to get a few runs in or have a big moment where the crowd can really get into it.

Then once you get something like that, it seems like the momentum builds. For sure we would like to get some momentum today, but it's not something that we have to have. Just what we have to have is a win.