Q. Aaron, you had to make a decision to get Luis Gil on the roster. Ultimately why was Mark Leiter, Jr. the odd man out there?
AARON BOONE: Tough call. Obviously Mark's pitched in some big games for us. Certainly a case to keep him on. It's also one of those situations where I feel like we're deciding between a few, we feel like, good options that can help us in that last spot in the pen. Mark being right in the middle of that conversation too.
Just a difficult call. Obviously we ended up going with 14 and 12 as opposed to 13 and 13, but I think there's a good case for Headrick and Yarbrough also. It's just a call we had to make.
Q. What did you see from Luis Gil down the stretch that ultimately gave you the confidence to give him the ball here tonight?
AARON BOONE: He's getting big outs. It hasn't been perfect down the stretch, but the results have been really good. He's got the moxie. He's certainly got the ability, especially when he's throwing well, to go out there and have success. I know he's going to walk out there with confidence and belief that he's going to pitch well.
Bottom line, if he's filling up the strike zone like he's capable of, he's capable of having success against any lineup.
Q. The Blue Jays intentionally walked Judge seven times this year. What do you guys need to do as a team to ensure that Judge gets to swing the bat this series?
AARON BOONE: We don't control that. If they walk him, he doesn't get to swing the bat.
Q. Is there a way that you guys can maybe put the Blue Jays in a position where they can't walk him?
AARON BOONE: Sure. You get runners on base, it makes it a little harder to do that. We have really good players around him that are capable. So it's about us as a team doing our thing to -- if that becomes a strategy at any point, we've got to have the ability to capitalize on it.
Q. With the off day in between Game 2 and Game 3, do you anticipate being any more aggressive with your bullpen this series?
AARON BOONE: I'd be aggressive today if need be. That being said, if Luis is rolling, he's rolling. With our starting pitchers, we have a lot of confidence in them. Obviously the first few games of the playoffs, every starter's gotten into at least the seventh inning. One of our strengths, we believe, is our starting pitching.
So it just depends. You've got to stay nimble. We'll play attention to the game. Won't be afraid to be aggressive with the pen, but also hopeful that our guys go deep in the game as well.
Q. A couple months ago you guys seemed to need an injection of a couple versatile players like Rosario and Caballero. Can you talk about what they did down the stretch and even into the playoffs?
AARON BOONE: I feel like we had a really good trade deadline. I feel like Cash in the front office brought in some really good pieces on our team. Starting with Ryan McMahon coming over and then bringing in Rosario, Caballero, and Slater that gave us real bench options, real platoon options, and obviously addressing the bullpen with a few really big, important arms.
I feel like it really helped complete us as a team, and after that deadline, after a week or ten days of settling in, we started to take off, and that's because we're a more complete, well rounded club.
Q. How is Cody feeling today? Any change from yesterday?
AARON BOONE: He's doing better. The last couple days, he's gotten a lot of treatment and gone pretty well. I expect him to be good. I expect him to be fast. I'm sure we'll see him limping a little bit when he's decelerating and things like that. You know, it's a pain thing on that heel, but I feel like he should be good to go. I think he's definitely seen some improvement here over the last 48 hours.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports