Mariners - 8, Tigers - 4
Q. Bryce, first question is just how do you feel about being named the Game 4 starter?
BRYCE MILLER: Yeah. I'm excited, ready to go. I haven't thrown in a few days, and it's been a long week. I threw a couple bullpens and worked on some things, but overall I feel really good and I'm ready to get out there.
Q. How much mentally do you take from the previous three games, from George, from Logan, from Luis that you can apply to your own game plan going forward?
BRYCE MILLER: Yeah. We've seen this team a couple times this year, and I think we were all watching when they played Cleveland. And then, yeah, we've executed a lot of good pitches and a lot of at-bats in the last three days, and obviously I've been watching. And yeah, I can tell you a lot from watching those three guys. So they all went out and competed and threw very well, so I plan on following them up.
Q. Bryce, when we talked to you last, you didn't know if you were going to be pitching in relief, starting. When did you kind of figure out you might start Game 4? Were there chances that you might relieve? How has that been? Because you all have your routine as well. So how has that been leading up to this?
BRYCE MILLER: Yeah. It was tentatively the plan from the beginning. I had -- whenever the first game went extras, I kind of had a chance to head down there. And then if Game 2 would have gone too long, I would have headed to the bullpen as well.
But no. Yeah. I stayed on schedule, threw a couple bullpens this week, and it was the plan once we knew Woo was out, that that would probably be the way we go. So it didn't mess with my schedule too much. So most of the week I've been planning on throwing Game 4.
Q. Bryce, obviously the pitching is always a hallmark of the Mariners, but you also have that strength up the middle that everybody talks about, catcher, shortstop, center field, all elite defenders and elite players. What does that strength up the middle do for a pitching staff?
BRYCE MILLER: No. It's big. Anytime you have a Platinum Glove catcher, that's going to help, especially when he hits 60 home runs.
But, no, J.P. has been great at shortstop all year. And Julio -- I don't know how he hasn't had a Gold Glove yet, but it's coming, and he's got plenty in his future.
So it provides us a lot of extra confidence knowing we have the guys behind us and in front of us as well. Anything to them, you know, I've got full confidence that they're going to make the play.
And even there have been plenty of times in center field where I gave up a double or a home run and Julio comes up and makes a play. So it's a lot of fun with them pitching behind me.
Q. You said you watched -- when the Mariners were in the playoffs last time, you were watching it. Where were you watching it at? And what have you learned about watching these games in person versus watching them on TV?
BRYCE MILLER: Yeah. I was watching them from home. It looked like Seattle was an amazing environment. It looked like a lot of fun, and I wished I was there. And the last two years, being a game short really -- it didn't sit well with a lot of us in the clubhouse.
But yeah. I'm glad we're here. The last two years weren't very fun, and we knew we were better than how we performed. And this is where we expected to be with the staff we have and the lineup we have. And, yeah, we expected to be here, and it's been a lot of fun, but we've got a lot of fun ahead.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports