Yankees - 6, Guardians - 3
Q. Can you explain your thought process on walking Soto to face Judge at that point in the game?
STEPHEN VOGT: Yeah, it was -- they were hitting the ball around the ballpark, and we needed to stop the game. In that situation, you want to try to get a double-play ball. You want to try to get two outs with one pitch. You want to try to find a way to get out of that inning, and Cade did a great job doing that.
Q. I'm sure the plan was for Tanner to go a lot deeper than he did, but as a by-product of only throwing 39 pitches, is there a chance that he could pitch again earlier in the series?
STEPHEN VOGT: We have a lot of things to talk about on the off day, regrouping, getting back home. It's definitely an option that we're going to talk through, see how Tanner is feeling.
I know Tanner didn't throw the ball the way he wanted to tonight, but by getting him out of there early, maybe we got an opportunity to bring him back quicker.
Q. What do you need to do to turn the series around?
STEPHEN VOGT: Be us. Keep doing what we're doing. We had traffic all night tonight. We do what we do. We get on base and make things happen. We just didn't get a big hit with runners in scoring position tonight. We're one swing of the bat away from taking the lead in that game. We're one swing of the bat from being right back in it. That is who we are. We don't quit. We just need to keep being us.
Q. Obviously trying to get that big hit there with Fry in the fourth inning, just knowing that you have Hedges there for the rest of the game, take us through that thought process, why you thought it was the time to use Fry.
STEPHEN VOGT: It was the highest leverage moment of the game, bases loaded, one out. We want to take a shot with David. Gerrit Cole, really good pitcher, made a good pitch on David and got the pop up. Austin's been a big part of our team. We wanted to take our shot right there. We felt that was our biggest opportunity at that point. You don't know when you're going to get three guys on against somebody like Gerrit Cole.
It's who we are. We take chances when we do. It's just unfortunate we were not able to come through with a big hit.
Q. Can you talk about Rocchio's error just at the beginning of the game, and how much can that condition you when you start the game like that?
STEPHEN VOGT: I think it was what it was. I think the run would have scored on the next play with the sac fly. It's not ideal obviously to have that happen. Tanner did a great job pitching out of that first, giving up the one run. That ball was up in the air for quite a while with the wind, tough play. Those things happen.
Q. You guys are down 0-2. Go home, three games. What do you change mentally and physically to prepare for the next three games?
STEPHEN VOGT: Absolutely nothing. We just need to keep being us. This is who we are. We've lost two games. That's true. We have an opportunity to go home, play in front of our fans.
This is who this baseball team is. We don't quit. We kept fighting. We did it again tonight. I'm excited to get home to Cleveland and play in front of our fans.
Q. In the decision to take Tanner out in the second, was it a product of just thinking ahead, or was there so much traffic and a lot of strenuous pitches there that you thought was the right time?
STEPHEN VOGT: I wanted to stop the game, and Cade's done a great job of that all year, and he did it again tonight in a big situation.
Tanner's our guy, and he was a little bit off tonight, and we saw that from the first inning. In a game like today where we have the bullpen ready to go, I felt like we needed to stop it, and we did.
We kept them down for a while. Like I said, we were right there. We had our opportunities. We just weren't able to come through with a big hit.
Q. Just understanding your bullpen is a strength of the team, what are some of the challenges having to go to it so early two days in a row present?
STEPHEN VOGT: Just that. It's that these guys have pitched a lot all year. Again, we didn't overextend anyone today. We didn't overextend anyone yesterday. So with the off day, our bullpen should be right back to full strength. We'll regroup, and we'll get after it.
Q. What have you thought of -- to that point, what have you thought of the Yankees bullpen so far?
STEPHEN VOGT: They're phenomenal. We know that. This is a really good baseball team we're playing. We've known that all year. We know we have our work cut out for us, but that's who we are. We thrive under this, and we're going to be ready to go.
Q. Game 3, Boyd starting for you?
STEPHEN VOGT: We're still talking through some things. I'll have an answer tomorrow for Game 3.
Q. Whoever it is, though, would it be similar to like the Game 5 against the Tigers where even if the pitcher is doing great, you're going to go to that great bullpen early?
STEPHEN VOGT: Again, we haven't really talked through strategy for Game 3. For us, our intent is always for our starter to go deep into the game, and we watch it and we see what happens.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports