NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: PHILLIES VS PADRES

October 21, 2022

Rob Thomson

Citizens Bank Park

Philadelphia Phillies

Postgame 3 Press Conference

Phillies - 4, Padres - 2

Q. Rob, the decision -- you talked, I guess, on TV a little bit about it, but can you expound on the decision to take Seranthony out, and also your bullpen --

ROB THOMSON: I didn't take Seranthony out.

Q. I'm sorry. Ranger.

ROB THOMSON: I know what you meant.

Q. Also, the way you ran your bullpen tonight, it kind of spoke of like a manager that didn't care that he's going to lean on his bullpen tomorrow, he's going to win tonight's game. Can you just talk about that strategy?

ROB THOMSON: Yeah, so taking Ranger out after the fifth, he hadn't pitched in nine days. He's had close to 70 pitches, plus we're coming through a right-handed pocket there, third time through, starting at Machado.

So I just thought it was the right time to go to a right-hander, and that was Eflin. And Ef did his job, he got four ground balls, two of them went through, and we got a big double play. But that's really the reason why.

Q. How about just the notion of who cares about tomorrow? We're going to try to nail this one.

ROB THOMSON: Yeah, for tonight for sure. As we get deeper into the five days, we're going to have to be careful.

Q. Where does that leave you for tomorrow?

ROB THOMSON: I'm sure that Alvarado will be fine. Eflin will be fine. We'll have to check in on Seranthony. That's the most pitches he's thrown all year.

We got to the point in the game where we had the lead late and we had to go for it.

Q. And who will start?

ROB THOMSON: Bailey Falter.

Q. And your goal will be one turn through?

ROB THOMSON: Probably. It will be right around there. I think he can give us three innings. It's been a while for him too. That's kind of the plan is get one time through.

Q. It has been a while. Any concern about rust there? What's he been doing to stay ready.

ROB THOMSON: There's always concern about rust, and he hasn't been able to see actual hitters, but we've had a lot of bullpens, heavy bullpens where guys have been standing in so at least he can get a visual.

Q. Rob, what did you make of Jean's game tonight? He kind of had the full gamut there. Have you ever seen emotion like that from him like he showed tonight?

ROB THOMSON: Yeah, he's an emotional guy. He made two great plays. The double play ball, he just whiffed it, and he had a huge hit for us, two-RBI base hit to right center. So he made up for the error for sure.

Yeah, he's an emotional guy, and he really wants to win.

Q. You guys have done a good job setting the tone this entire postseason, Cardinals series, last series against Atlanta, this series. I know a lot of teams guys like to say it's good to get off to a fast start, but what's it been like for your group to get off to a fast start, especially in this round?

ROB THOMSON: Talking about winning games? Yeah, it's huge. You want to get out in front, put a little pressure on people and put pressure on the club.

So it's big to get out in front in winning games. It's also big within the game to get out front, and Schwarber started that whole thing with the home run to lead off the game and got the crowd really into it.

And I thought we could have tacked on more that inning. We had two back-to-back walks after Schwarber's home run, but unfortunately, Harp hit into a double play.

But that's baseball. Move on and move on to the next inning. I thought we had pretty good at-bats tonight all the way through.

Q. Did Segura's hit there, the two-run hit, did it remind you at all of the hit he had in Game 1 at St. Louis? What is it about his ability to cover that part of the plate, put the bat on the ball that enables him to hit a pitch like that?

ROB THOMSON: Well, he's got a short stroke. He's not one of the uphill hitters, get the ball in the air. He's a line drive hitter, and he's got really good bat-to-ball skills, and he uses the field a lot, whenever he wants to. He can hit. He can really manipulate the barrel. So that's really how he can handle all those different types of pitches.

Q. Also, just curious on Falter, why you like him tomorrow rather than -- or as opposed to Syndergaard, who you went to in the last series?

ROB THOMSON: There's a few more left-handed hitters in this lineup. The right-handers, a lot of the right-handers are even split guys, so we kind of like that matchup better.

Syndergaard's not out of the question within the game.

Q. Rob, just with Seranthony, most (indiscernible) on the season, but what can you say about him locking on those last six outs for you tonight?

ROB THOMSON: Incredible. Ever since we started the playoffs, he's been locked in. He's pitched in the biggest parts of the game and done a great job. The moment doesn't get to him. Both him and Alvarado have been unbelievable throughout the entire playoffs.