AL DIVISION SERIES: MARINERS VS ASTROS

October 15, 2022

Jeremy Peña

Luis Garcia

T-Mobile Park

Houston Astros

Postgame 3 Press Conference

Houston Astros - 1, Seattle Mariners - 0

THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up to questions for Jeremy Peña.

Q. Can you describe that moment and what you were looking for in that situation?

JEREMY PEÑA: I mean, that was a long game. That was a long game, but you still got to lock in, try to put together good at-bats. Yeah, I was just trying to stay inside the baseball, thought I drove it in the gap, but it just happened to leave the ball field.

Q. Can you talk about the performance of your pitching staff there, throwing a shutout and over 20 strikeouts tonight.

JEREMY PEÑA: We just talked about that in the clubhouse. This at-bat was not going to be possible if our pitching staff didn't keep us in the ball game. They dominated all game. Their pitching staff dominated all game. Yeah, these guys have done it all year. So shoutout to them. This guy's a dog, man.

THE MODERATOR: We've added Luis Garcia, so if anyone has anything for him, fire away.

Q. Jeremy, as someone who was out there for all 18 innings, can you describe how physically and mentally exhausting that whole game was?

JEREMY PEÑA: I'm tired (laughing). That was a long game. But in the playoffs, the crowd was into it the whole game and shoutout to their fans and their team. They put up a great fight. Not one fan left the stadium. That's pretty cool to see.

But, yeah, we tried to stay locked in all game and come out on top.

Q. Luis, what was your mindset going in and just how you had to focus the whole time in terms of when you're pitching with the crowd going out there and an important game for you guys to close it out?

LUIS GARCIA: Yeah, I was trying to stay in the game as it was going. So I was trying to go pitch by pitch, out by out, inning by inning, and I'm really happy that I did the work that the team needed.

Q. Was there anything specific from Mariners hitters that you guys were trying to exploit or anything that you think really led to the success that you guys had tonight?

LUIS GARCIA: No, no. As a pitching staff we were trying to do our work that we were doing all season long. And I think we are improving what we've been doing this whole time. So we're trying to do the same. Yeah, attack and try to make outs.

Q. Luis, from when you were watching those first 13 innings or whatever it was before you came in, what was it like watching your pitching staff put up that kind of performance? And did you have the feeling of feeling like you needed to try and match that when you came in?

LUIS GARCIA: I mean, no. I mean, watching the bullpen going in, like the guys are doing a really good job and I'm really proud of them. And I think I'm there to help them too. So I was just trying to help. And like Urquidy too. He will help when he has the chance. So we were just trying to help the team to win.

Q. Jeremy, you talked about grinding through at-bats just staying consistent in your approach. As that game goes on how difficult is it not to just say, You know what, I want to just end this on one swing of the bat, or try to. How were you able to stay focused on what you were trying to do?

JEREMY PEÑA: Feel like in the playoffs you can't try to do too much. Especially as the later the game goes. You just got to get on base and pass it off to the next hitter. Base, base, hitter, hitter, and good things will happen.