Cleveland 6, Detroit 1.
Q. Bo, could you just tell me how you were able to keep such a positive mindset despite the fact the game wasn't going well and how you have been able to be so clutch at the end of the year despite not having the best starts of the season?
BO NAYLOR: Leaning on my teammates. I think that goes back to the vibes we keep in the clubhouse. And in the dugout, just staying positive, knowing that we're always in it and never quitting. Like that reflects how my season's been to this point too, just understanding that there's a lot of games to be played.
There's a lot of opportunities and you got to make the most of them. Never quit, just because they're not going your way. That mentality through the whole season and also in the game today, it's kind of what has helped.
Q. Tanner, after the first inning, where Chase had the drop in center field, you kind of had a conversation with him in the dugout. Can you elaborate on what you said to him and was it more to the kind of vibe of, I got your back too?
TANNER BIBEE: Yeah. One of those things where it just doesn't matter. They put him out there in center field and it was battling the sun and the wind. It's not an easy play. He dropped it. It doesn't matter because I feel like even if that run did score, it wouldn't have mattered because it's just a hard play. And one of those things where I'm going to have your back and eventually, you're going to get my back as well. And literally, it came a little earlier than expected.
But about three innings later, then that play obviously kept us in the game and allowed our offense in the eighth inning to do what they do.
Q. Tanner, you talked yesterday about another game and so just how did you take that mentality into that when runs are so hard to come by for both teams?
TANNER BIBEE: I feel like you go about it, like I said yesterday, it's the third start in a row I've faced these guys. So obviously, it's that chess game. And in the regular season, you pitch against these guys the same way or differently, depending on the situation and that's kind of what it was.
Q. What's your guys' mentality now going into this win-or-go-home game tomorrow, especially after you've gone through ups and downs. How do you compartmentalize what you've been through for tomorrow?
BO NAYLOR: I think it's important to just understand that we're here for a reason. We're here because we trust the guys that are in that clubhouse at our sides. It's out in the field, you know, in whatever position we're at. And we know that we have all the tools to be able to go far in this game.
With all that being said as well, I think it's just understanding that this is something to be grateful for and to not let it take over our minds in a way.
This is something that we should be going out there, having fun, just continuing to play our game and take advantage of every opportunity that's in front of us. I think that's what we do when we're at our best.
Q. Bo, there's a lot made about how difficult it can be to see late in the afternoon, the shadows get long. You've got a cloudless day. Does it help as a catcher when you're literally watching every pitch that Tanner or anybody else has thrown? Does it help you pick that up as a hitter better?
BO NAYLOR: No. It does not. Yeah, it's definitely difficult. And it's two different viewpoints. But you just go through it with what you got.
Q. What was your emotions when you got to see these guys explode and the inning come through like they did?
TANNER BIBEE: It was obviously a time where you knew it was going to happen. You just didn't know when. And it was probably one of the more clutch ones we could have had. Rocchio and Bo have been great down the stretch. To see them continuing what they were doing in the regular season is great to see. Because they're really good people. It's nice.
Q. Tanner, in a game like this, is it goal to get as many outs as you can, to get as deep into the game and get it to the bullpen? Does it change from the regular season to the postseason?
TANNER BIBEE: I feel like the depends on the situation, the score of the game. I feel like with the score today, it was just at that point, it was run prevention. I feel like there was a couple innings where I shot myself in the foot with some walks. At the same time, preventing runs, I think in that situation, when it's such a close game is kind of the key moment.
We have a bullpen that's as good as they are. I feel like at that point, it's just kind of figuring out how to not let those runs come across.
Q. I was going to ask you, Tanner, what do you have to say about the way the bullpen performed today?
TANNER BIBEE: I mean, they're unbelievable. They've been unbelievable for a good portion of the year, if not the entire year.
I feel like they keep the same mentality as the same way our hitters do, kind of the next man up. Obviously, like, Sabrowski, Cade, Gaddis. Am I forgetting anyone?
Q. Tim.
TANNER BIBEE: Oh, yeah, Tim. Jesus Christ. All those guys are unbelievable, especially the last month. Tim's figured it out. He's back to his old self. It's fun to see.
Q. You talk about that, what goes into the mentality? I feel like it's a staff-like mentality. You're able to get out of jams that look insurmountable. How do you approach that?
TANNER BIBEE: I feel like it's super cliché. But honestly, you go one pitch at a time. When Tim goes in the game, he's expecting to face Greene and Jones comes up, at that point it's just get in the next strike, get in the next out. Once you get Jones out, he's probably thinking okay, let's just get strike one to Perez. It keeps going and going.
If you've got to think two, three batters ahead, you're going to forget what you're doing in the moment. That's the thing our bullpen does so good. That's the thing everyone in our organization does so good.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports