AL DIVISION SERIES: ROYALS VS YANKEES

October 7, 2024

Matt Quatraro

Yankee Stadium

Kansas City Royals

Postgame 2 Press Conference

Royals 4, Yankees 2

Q. Mission accomplished to get a split?

MATT QUATRARO: Yeah, our goal was to win them both, but to get out of here after losing the first one with a win today is huge.

Q. What did you see from Ragans tonight?

MATT QUATRARO: He just wasn't commanding the ball. His stuff was plenty good. He wasn't getting swing-and-miss on the changeup, I'm guessing, because they weren't strike-the-ball pitches. His velo was fine, he just was not able to get ahead, and they ran the pitch count up quickly.

Q. In addition to what he does at the plate and behind the plate, what kind of leadership role has Salvy played, guiding the team with a bunch of younger players?

MATT QUATRARO: Yeah, it's enormous. You cannot put a number on what he does out there for us in every aspect, whether that's in the clubhouse, on the field, clearly as a player. But yeah, he's got a great feel for the game. He understands the moment. He understands when he needs to say something, when he doesn't need to say something.

He and I have grown our relationship tremendously. It's a real joy to be around him on an everyday basis.

Q. Maikel Garcia, you mentioned pregame that you put him in the lineup because you like his at-bats that he was going to give against Carlos Rodón. What did you see from him in that situation tonight?

MATT QUATRARO: Yeah, he rose to the challenge. The first at-bat was not what we would have hoped for, but after that he was locked in. He stole a base, played really good defensively. He had a great game tonight all around. It was something that we were hoping for him and for us. He came through.

Q. With Bobby Witt, Jr. and Vinnie Pasquantino continuing to not produce like you want, just the offense coming in and picking those guys up, what did you think of them tonight?

MATT QUATRARO: Yeah, we got performances from multiple people tonight that you're hoping come up big. Hampson had good at-bats, we already talked about Maikel. Tommy's bat, Salvy's homer. It doesn't have to be from the same guys all the time. That's what makes a great team, that you're not relying on one or two people.

Q. You were able to hold Aaron Judge in check again. Why do you think you have been successful against Judge these two games?

MATT QUATRARO: Well, he's an elite player, so we're pitching him tough. We're trying to execute pitches, trying to move the ball around. It's no secret that you can't throw him the same pitch, can't throw him fastballs in the zone. You've got to move the ball around, you've got to trust your stuff, you've got to change speeds. And so far we've been able to do that. Every time he comes up there, you're in danger, but our guys have good stuff, and they are attacking and executing.

Q. After the first inning that Rodón had against you guys, just for your offense to stay with it and make the adjustments that they needed, what did you see out of that that led to the fourth inning?

MATT QUATRARO: Well, he came out on fire. He was amped up, upper 90s. At one point I think it was like 17 out of 19 strikes or something ridiculous.

Salvy's homer clearly was a big spot there, and then Yuli had a another productive at-bat, and then the pitch count got back to somewhat normal. But if I'm not mistaken, the fourth inning was somewhere around 30 pitches. That's going to take a toll on your adrenaline. He's fired up, but our guys just battled those at-bats in the fourth inning. But his stuff was electric.

Q. What led to the decision to go back to Angel Zerpa in that key spot in the game, and then also to see the rest of the bullpen bounce back from the Game 1?

MATT QUATRARO: Well, we put Zerpa in that spot the other day because we believe in him. It didn't work out that way. But today you saw more of what we would have expected.

Now, he struck out Soto. That doesn't happen all that often. We were hopeful to get him out. The double play was enormous. The defense was outstanding all the way around. Tommy made a few nice plays. The double plays were huge.

But you don't ever expect you're going to keep a team like that scoreless out of the bullpen. But to keep them in check, our guys -- that was more representative of what our guys can do than what the other night was.

Q. Were you surprised when you found out that Cole and Sam Long went to play catch in Central Park yesterday?

MATT QUATRARO: No, we encouraged it. We said if we're not coming in here to work out, if anybody needs to work out, that's what we're going to do.