AL DIVISION SERIES: TIGERS VS GUARDIANS

October 9, 2024

Brant Hurter

Comerica Park

Detroit Tigers

Postgame 3 Press Conference

Detroit - 3, Cleveland - 0

Q. I made the mistake of suggesting to A.J. that might have been a little more scripted today, the pitching plan, and he shot me down real fast. When you go out at the beginning of the game and Keider is out there, do you have an idea, or do you just wait to see how it plays out to make sure you're warm? How do you get yourself ready for the uncertainty there when you're going to come?

BRANT HURTER: It's more gauging pitches or number of pitches in the pen. They'll give me a rough estimate, a couple of different situations on, say, like there's one guy -- one out, two guys on, like, and this hitter is up, you're going to come in 100 percent of the time. If this situation, you might come in. If not, we'll go -- then you'll start this guy.

So there's some other innings I need to get covered. So it's a little bit chaotic, but I've kind of embraced it and, yeah, it's just gauging number of pitches in the pen.

Q. Then what's the readjustment when the first two guys get on against you? You know you're coming in for that pocket and all of a sudden you're in trouble. Do you have to regather, or is it just go make the next pitch better?

BRANT HURTER: Yeah. I felt good. I left one pitch up. It was a mistake, but the other pitches I didn't feel out of sync or anything like that. So I was still pretty confident I was going to be able to get some outs.

Q. A.J. mentioned he doesn't like intentionally walking players. When you've got Ramirez, it makes sense, but it had to be tough, especially after the error to put two on. How did you handle that?

BRANT HURTER: Yeah. I mean, I wanted to face him, just being a young guy. He's a superstar. But, yeah, I mean, put us in a good scenario, and, I mean, it gives me the opportunity to face him next time through the lineup, which if he saw me then -- it didn't work out that way, but I think if he doesn't see me and then I face him for the first time, it gives A.J. a little more confidence to keep me in versus taking me out in that situation.

Q. Just like many of your teammates, spend a lot of the year in Toledo. Just kind of bigger picture, if somebody had told you back in Toledo that you would be pitching in the first playoff game in ten years, this atmosphere, what would you have said?

BRANT HURTER: I would have been shocked. It didn't seem like it was going that way, on both sides, for the Tigers and how I was throwing wasn't great. So I think, yeah, I would have been a little surprised, but also nothing is off the table in baseball.

Q. Brant, your one strikeout was pretty big there. What was your approach against Fry when he comes up there with runner on?

BRANT HURTER: We wanted sinkers in, pelt them in and then just kind of soft away. And I think we executed that pretty well.

Q. Brant, in October baseball, obviously, nothing is off the table, but to see pinch hitters in the second inning, third inning, were you surprised at that, and did you have to kind of adjust from planning for a left-handed to going to a right-handed guy?

BRANT HURTER: I was not surprised. When I saw the lineup they put out and kind of knew our plan, I kind of knew that was how it was going to unfold. And it's pretty cool that A.J. was able to make that happen and get a lot of guys out of their lineup, burn a lot of guys just by having Keider start and me coming in.

Q. Just to follow up on what you were saying about Toledo, you threw more innings there than you have in Toledo so far, and there are a lot of guys who can say something similar with the time they spent down there this season. Do you think whether it was on the way up like you or guys maybe had to make a pit stop down there before coming back to Detroit, that that part of the journey this season is an important part of the character of this team?

BRANT HURTER: Yeah, for sure. I think the ability to take a loss and then take a few losses and just be the same guy next game I think has, like, helped a lot of guys that were in Toledo. Just being able to wash the previous game and just have a new one the next game. You saw that in the first game. We bounced back and won two. So I think for sure that's helped the process.

Q. The atmosphere in the ballpark here for the first postseason game here in ten years, what was that like to pitch in? And did you find yourself at times needing to take a breath and calm your nerves?

BRANT HURTER: Honestly, the atmosphere was amazing. I felt pretty calm all game. I think that's a factor of them being on my side versus not being on my side. But I enjoyed. The atmosphere was electric. But it didn't cause any nerves just because I knew they were on my side, I think.