Q. Steven, Vogt said yesterday you're one of those types of hitters, once you get one, the rest follow. Even with the recent plate struggles you've had in the last couple games, what worked for you with the double and how do you feel you've been able to stay patient, even through rough patches this year?
STEVEN KWAN: First and foremost, momentum is a huge thing. With Rocchio hitting the homer, the place was loud. The pitcher was maybe affected by that. I'm not sure. Young guy. He seemed pretty composed up there. Maybe I was being delusional and telling myself he was psyched out. Maybe that gave me the false confidence to tag a fastball, put a good swing on it.
It's just baseball. There will always be sample sizes where you may not be happy with the outcomes. Especially in games like this, it takes one to get hot, and one hit can mean the difference in the game.
Q. Kwanny, given the run you guys had, everything up and down you went through in the second half, what does a game feel like in the context of that? Is it always nerves in games like this, or are you built for this baseball?
STEVEN KWAN: I think there's always nerves, building up the story line of it. I saw a quote from Vogter the other day, our back's been against the wall the whole year. In a way, this feels similar to that. In the last couple weeks, if we dropped any one of those games, it could have made the difference being if we're home or not. Internalizing that, understanding that, not changing anything that got us here. It's another one of those days.
3:00 game is a little different. But having the routines and everything that we normally do, just keep pushing with that.
Q. Steven, I know you went through this on opening day in '22, but when you look around the room and see Chase and George and C.J., how important is it to make these newcomers just feel welcome since they're part of the lineup?
STEVEN KWAN: Absolutely. It's funny you mention that. We had a pitching change. It was me, Chase, and George out there. I'm like the uncle now. It came out fast.
I think the biggest thing for them is understanding that they belong here, that they got here. They deserve to be here. Not patronizing them, not trying to be like this big brother kind of thing. I think a lot of guys, they're too smart for that. They want to act like one of the guys. They don't want to act like the young guy on the team. The faster you can get to them to feel like one of the boys, the faster they can produce and help us win games.
Q. What about you and Chase after he dropped the ball, coming together running off the field, what do you say to the guy?
STEVEN KWAN: Just kind of you're good. Like you got this man, don't worry about it. Again, he knows -- he's caught a million fly balls in his lifetime. I told you guys yesterday, it was the worst combo of things to happen in a guy with his debut with the sun, the wind that's never there. Try not to be too overbearing. It happened, I know it happened. You'll be fine, man. Don't worry about it. Get the next one.
Thankfully, there was a fly ball the next inning. He got the monkey off his bat. Knowing we're there for him, knowing he didn't let anybody down. Errors happen. That we all believe in him and someone is going to pick him up.
I think Tanner came up at the same point in the dugouts, he got the three strikeouts and said I got you. Chase picked him up later in the game. That's what we're going to need if we're going to have winning baseball.
Q. The backs against the wall seems to be a buzz word. How have you been able this whole stretch to stay mentally strong and not really let the fact that there's not a lot of margin for error get to you guys?
STEVEN KWAN: Like I said with him, just routines. Just almost kind of being trapped in the routines, really. Not trying to do anything out of the ordinary. Like I guess there's a fine line between routine and superstitions. But whatever you've got to do to get ready for the game mentally, you keep doing the same thing. Nobody's trying to reinvent the wheel right now. We're not doing early defense. We're doing the same thing we did in August, the same thing we did in March. Just got to keep rolling with that.
Q. Steven, when you go home, like after a game like last night, what do you do? Do you even think about the game, or do you just try to turn your mind off and just relax?
STEVEN KWAN: I mean, you're probably not going to like the answer, but we don't really get day games on Tuesdays. We're excited to go to a dinner place that's usually closed on Mondays. The dinner places open up so it makes it easier to turn off from the game. Try to be a normal person as much as possible. Just go out to get and dinner with my wife. I don't do that often during the season. That was really exciting.
Yeah, you can't get too big. You can enjoy it for a bit after the game. That's what the post-game in the locker room is. We get fired up. Once the clothes come on and you leave the building, gotta leave it behind. Be a good husband, a good partner, be a good friend. Do all you can and show up the next day.
Q. Do you have any playoff superstitions?
STEVEN KWAN: Do I have any playoff superstitions? This is going to be boring again. Doing the same routines -- I don't know if it's superstition -- probably before I did, and I realize they don't work because we haven't won a World Series yet. Maybe I'm searching for the superstition. Right now, trying to do the same routines, same thing we do every day and keep pushing.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports