NL WILD CARD SERIES: METS VS BREWERS

October 2, 2024

Carlos Mendoza

American Family Field

New York Mets

Postgame Press Conference

Brewers - 5, Mets - 3

Q. Carlos, was Diaz available tonight?

CARLOS MENDOZA: Yeah, he was available, but we knew we had him for a few hitters. So, yeah, we just didn't get to him.

Q. When you go through that decision-making process, what is the process of deciding, okay, we want him for these three hitters versus saving him for the ninth?

CARLOS MENDOZA: Yeah. They've got good hitters, 1 through 9. It's either 1, 2, 3 or 4, 5, 6. We were just going to keep it at one inning today because of the way we use him.

So I liked the matchup, Maton to Chourio. He just left that cutter all over the plate, wanted to make him chase, and he didn't do that.

Q. What did you see overall today?

CARLOS MENDOZA: For me, left a lot of pitches in the middle of the zone. I thought overall stuff was okay, even though we asked a lot out of him. Think the cutter, too much of the plate on a good hitter, on Chourio, and then the breaking ball that got him for the two-run homer.

Q. The way Stanek's been throwing the ball, did you consider letting him continue for the eighth there?

CARLOS MENDOZA: No, because I didn't like that matchup with Chourio. Chourio is a really good fastball hitter, and Stanek, everything is hard. The whole time we were going through the situation, we wanted a Maton-Chourio matchup, and it just didn't work.

Q. In what situation would you have used Peterson in relief tonight?

CARLOS MENDOZA: None of them. I didn't have him.

Q. Prior to that inning, how did you feel about the game your team played tonight? There were some guys going from first to third, seemed like a fairly clean game.

CARLOS MENDOZA: Yeah, we played a really good game. Like you said, we put pressure on them. We took the extra base when we needed to. I think we just didn't get the big hit. We created some traffic, but that last hit there, we have bases loaded, two outs, obviously a tough matchup for Iglesias there.

We have first and third, one out, and we didn't get the big hit. Runner on second base, nobody out. We just didn't get the big hit today.

But overall, I thought we played really well. I thought Manaea did a really good job controlling the running game today. Alvarez threw a guy out. So just they got us there.

Q. What did you think of the offensive approach in some of those bigger spots?

CARLOS MENDOZA: I thought we had really good at-bats. We just didn't get the final one. You're facing an elite pitching staff, and they went to the bullpen again early. It's not going to be easy to score when you face a different arm and matchups, the way they match up, right on right, left on left, it's a playoff game, but overall I thought we had really good at-bats.

Q. Is it Quintana for Game 3?

CARLOS MENDOZA: Yeah, Quintana is going tomorrow.

Q. You touched on it earlier, but when you had some of those missed opportunities early on, knowing this is a playoff game, those are times you feel you had to cash in, did that stick with you a little bit?

CARLOS MENDOZA: Yeah, but you also understand you're facing elite pitching. That's why important for us to put pressure on the bases and take the extra base when we need to because those runs are going to be hard to come by.

We just didn't get that last one today, but overall I thought we created traffic. I thought we had really good at-bats overall.

Q. You mentioned this team's ability to counter punch as you have in the past weeks so that gives you pretty good -- not confidence, but good feeling going into the last game?

CARLOS MENDOZA: Yeah, I think we've shown it the whole year. We've been knocked down, and we have the ability to get back up. Here we are. Got punched today. We'll get right back.

They're a good ball club, man. They're a good team. We'll be ready to go.

Q. To clarify on Peterson, you indicated before the game that maybe he could be --

CARLOS MENDOZA: I'm not going to tell you who's available. I'm not going to tell them what I have.

Q. Was he never available or did something change?

CARLOS MENDOZA: He was not available. He was not available. He wasn't even in the conversation.

Q. Carlos, I know it's only two games, but you haven't hit a homer in two games. I just wonder what you think about that and the value of Pete coming up with a big at-bat here at some point here late in the year?

CARLOS MENDOZA: Yeah, look, when you're facing elite pitching staff, it's not going to be easy to hit balls out of the ballpark. We've done a good job of going the other way, take what the game is giving us, putting the ball in play. Today we didn't do that.

Pete, he's a power hitter, and he's just one swing away from hit a big one. He's got another opportunity tomorrow, and he'll step up.

Q. Carlos, you mentioned the way you guys controlled the running game. They ran wild over you during the regular season. These first two games, only one stolen base attempt, and you were able to snuff it out. What has been the biggest difference in your mind these first two games and your ability to hold runners?

CARLOS MENDOZA: Yeah, I thought Sean did a really good job of mixing his look, slide step, holding the baseball. We pick over a few times.

Yeah, I think that's where it starts, it starts on the mound, so that way we can give the catchers a chance to throw guys out. We did that today.

I thought we had a runner at second base. We also did a good job of mixing up looks, holding the baseball, being quicker to the plate because that's what they do. So we've got to continue to do that.