AL DIVISION SERIES: MARINERS VS ASTROS

October 11, 2022

Scott Servais

Minute Maid Park

Seattle Mariners

Postgame 1 Press Conference

Houston Astros - 8, Seattle Mariners - 7

THE MODERATOR: First question for Scott.

Q. How hard is it going to be to come back from that, just the heartbreaking loss like that?

SCOTT SERVAIS: Yeah, it's a tough one, there's no question about it I thought we played a very good ball game today. We did lot of great things offensively. Certainly we got on Verlander early in the game and did exactly what we needed to do there.

But as I talked early about it and our team about it, it's like a heavyweight fight. You're going to get punched. It's how you respond in those moments and that's a tough one. Today I thought we had it in hand. You got to give them credit. Certainly they have been in this spot many times before and you don't quit.

But they got some huge hits late in the game against some of our better guys. So we will respond. These things happen throughout the course of the year. We talked about it coming into the playoffs. You are going to have games, you're going to have moments, where it doesn't go your way, and we will respond accordingly tomorrow. We'll get after it again.

Q. Can you just walk us through going to Robbie there in it that moment and how early on did you get the sense that you were going to make that move?

SCOTT SERVAIS: It was something going into the series where we were at, looking at our rotation, where we were going to head, and talking with Robbie about using him out of the bullpen as a bullet, so to speak, for that type of scenario, you know, bringing in a lefty against Álvarez, although Álvarez is one of the better hitters in the league.

But we talked about it coming into the series. We talked about it pregame today. I looked at it in the 7th inning and said, hey, this could happen. So that was the plan going in. End of the day, you have a plan, we still got to execute it. Got to give them credit. Tip my hat. It's not easy to walk up there and do what he did today. But he's one of the best hitters in the league and he showed it today.

Q. You could probably count on one hand the number of times your bullpen has kind of scuffled like that in games before. What did you see from those guys, in particular Andrés and Paul?

SCOTT SERVAIS: I thought Andrés, quite frankly, they hit some pretty good pitches. Yordan hit the double -- or the long, hard base hit off the wall on a pretty good slider down and in. Bregman got a slider down in the middle of the plate.

Again, you have to tip your hat to those guys. Muñoz has been as good as any reliever in the league. He gave up a couple. With Paul out there, we were kind of down to our last strike. I think it's a good matchup. He wasn't able to put Peña away. You have to give him credit. He found a way to get the bat on the ball and create the situation to get Álvarez at the plate.

Again, I'm not down on our guys at all. We did a lot of good things in this game. Offensively, where we were at in the ball game, I thought Logan Gilbert handled himself very well and Brash and Diego Castillo behind him, they just got it rolling on us at the end and they got the big hit.

Q. You've managed so many games here. Just how stressful is it in this ballpark, given just the dimensions, the opposing team, and just kind of all the weird stuff that does happen?

SCOTT SERVAIS: There are some crazy things that happen here, the dimensions of the park and whatnot. And their team has a lot to do with it. They don't quit. They keep grinding. That's why they won as much as they have won. It's something that we're aware of. Again, we're ready to take the next step, but you got to finish 'em off, and we weren't able to do that today.

But the series is a long ways from over. It is a long ways from over. We run a very good pitcher out there tomorrow and, like I said, we'll be, we will get after it. The one thing about our team, very resilient. Those guys don't quit in there. They're disappointed. We know this one got away from us today, but it won't stop anything towards our effort tomorrow and getting after it, and then tying up the series before we go back home.

Q. How were you all able to attack Verlander so early?

SCOTT SERVAIS: I thought we were very aggressive, first of all. Oftentimes, pitchers, starting pitchers that have that kind of track record are most vulnerable in the first, second inning before they settle in, because once he gets settled in, he can just roll right through you.

So being aggressive early on. I thought we did a great job there. Number of guys big at-bats. We were ready to go right from the get-go. Of course we have seen him a lot this year, and he's had our number more than we've had his. So, proud of our guys. Again, great game plan. We executed it very well.