NL WILD CARD SERIES: DIAMONDBACKS VS BREWERS

October 4, 2023

Alek Thomas

Zac Gallen

American Family Field

Arizona Diamondbacks

Postgame Press Conference

Arizona Diamondbacks 5, Milwaukee Brewers 2

Q. Alek, people have talked about the age of this team as a collective and what you guys may or may not be able to do. Do you feel like that's been overblown, or do you feel like that youthful energy has been able to help you guys take high pressure moments like this and be able to play your game?

ALEK THOMAS: Yeah, I mean, definitely have some younger guys in the group, but I don't think that really matters. I think the guys that we have are built for the moment, and it showed the past two days.

Q. Zac, obviously the Brewers ran up your pitch count there in the first inning, and Torey was just telling us that at some point you had a moment where you said to him I'm giving you seven or something along those lines. Do you recall that moment, and what did you do to settle into your start?

ZAC GALLEN: Yeah, I came in after the first, and I said if you give me 110, I'll get you seven. I lied. I only gave him six.

But, yeah, they did a good job running the pitch count up, and I knew going into this game that we used a lot of the bullpen last night, so if I didn't go deep, it was going to put us in a hole for potentially tomorrow.

So I just really tried to stay in attack mode and just tried to make pitches. I mean, unfortunately I was letting the lead-off batter on a lot of those innings, but just tried to make pitches when I had to and just keep us in it, keep the offense in it, give us a chance to win the game.

Q. Zac, you've had a front row seat to the development of this team throughout the year. As one of the veterans of this group, what has this team proven to you over the course of 162 and now these two Wild Card games?

ZAC GALLEN: Yeah, I think twofold; one, age doesn't really matter. I think we had our ebbs and flows in the season. That kind of battle-tested us quicker than maybe we thought.

But, at the same time, the second part of that would be if you got 26, 28 guys, however many are on the roster, that show up and care about each other and love each other and just want to grind it out and be a tough out and be a tough inning on the mound, can do some serious damage for sure.

Q. For Alek, Peralta was shutting you all down for the first four and two-thirds innings up to your swing. What kind of changed there? How were you able to get to him in the middle innings there?

ALEK THOMAS: I think maybe my at-bat maybe changed a little bit of his flow. I mean, together collectively after me, I think we definitely put together some great at-bats and ultimately took the lead.

It was pretty cool to see Corbin get that double down the line and our guys drive him in. I think once we put together some great at-bats, things turned our way.

Q. Zac, we've seen throughout this postseason and postseasons past that managers get a quicker trigger for starters when they find themselves in a rough patch. For you to have Torey's trust to be able to get out of a lot of those jams early, what does that mean to you to have the confidence of your manager that you can get out of any situation?

ZAC GALLEN: Yeah, for sure. I think that kind of is just a credit to Torey and I having trust in each other throughout the season and even the last couple of years of times where I have to be honest with him and say, hey, I'm running out of gas here, but also at the same time when I tell him, I got it, stay out of my way, he tends to kind of take that and he is okay with it.

I think that was kind of my thought when I told him I'll get you seven. So, yeah, it's just having a good relationship with Torey really for sure. I think that's what it boils down to.

Q. For Zac. Just what does it say for the bullpen the way they've pitched the last two nights? I don't think they gave up a run in six innings last night and then backing you up tonight.

ZAC GALLEN: I think the bullpen has been our MVP the last month or so, and I think it's the part of our team that's kept us in a lot of games. I mean, it's not like a secret that they had their struggles in the middle of the year. You know, the bullpen, when you watch these teams that go deep in the postseason, the bullpen is usually the one that kind of prevails a lot. That's what keeps you in games.

So it's been awesome to watch. We've got guys like Paul Sewald and we add Ryan Thompson and then you get a rookie like Saalfrank comes up and Ginkel is coming into his own, and everyone just falling into place and doing their job. I think it's been awesome to watch.

It's been awesome as a starter knowing, all right, get through six, seven, eight, nine is going to be a lockdown. Sure enough tonight, they did their job again. It's amazing.

Q. Zac, how long did it take your heart rate to get back to normal after that double play to end the third and the more conventional one in the fourth that helped you out too?

ZAC GALLEN: I would like to think that I had any sort of -- that was such a look what I found catch in the third inning. I usually get beat by balls that get past me just how I finish. Just try to make a play. I talked with Fitzy. We're playing with house money. Nobody expects us to be here. Just try to make a play, keep us in the game.

Thankfully I guess it fell out of my glove, and we could turn two, and I think that kind of settled the momentum on their side and kind of gave us a little -- we could take a deep breath, and then the offense did what they had to do.

Q. For either or both of you guys, standard in your division for a long time has been the Dodgers. How exciting is it to have the opportunity that that's the team that's your next challenge?

ZAC GALLEN: Yeah. I don't think it's any secret that the Dodgers have for sure had the division's number, had our number. I think that we've also showed a growth in the sense of the mindset and the culture change here of being able to go into Dodgers stadium and hang with them.

I think it's in our favor that we're going to a familiar place. We play them six, seven games there a year. It's an opponent we're familiar with. So it's going to be a good test for sure, but everybody in that locker room is excited to get there and see what we're made of.