Cubs 3, Padres 1
Q. With how the game played out, it seemed like things would trend towards the bullpen for both sides. What made things so difficult for the hitters against the Cubs' bullpen today?
MIKE SHILDT: It was a well-pitched game on both sides. Threw out a lot of good arms.
Boyd dodged some bullets early. We let him off the hook, had a chance to add on, got the one to take the lead.
Then I thought Nick was fantastic. He was terrific. Got a few balls, I think the Suzuki pitch more than the Carson pitch, was pitched more middle, put a swing on him, Carson backs a ball out of there, but I thought Nicky was fantastic and then it was about the bullpens. Their bullpen was good. Conditions weren't maybe ideal. I don't think anybody is going to make excuses for that, at least we won't.
But they tacked on in the eighth, and that was it.
Q. When you look at their lineup, where do you put Suzuki in terms of their dangerous hitters? How much of a concern is he?
MIKE SHILDT: That's a good question. There's danger throughout. He's a guy that takes professional at-bats, and he's tucked in a pretty good spot for them. He's a guy that clearly is a proven professional hitter, and he put a good swing on it.
Q. You guys had some chances, guys on third. What was your take on what Dansby Swanson did to change the game defensively?
MIKE SHILDT: Yeah, probably the play of the game, coming off the back. Thought O'Hearn had a good approach, got in on him a little bit, but stayed through it. Right off the bat, I thought it was going to fall in there, but Dansby got a nice drop stop and went out and made what ended up being the play of the game.
Q. Off that, you guys put a lot of pressure on Boyd in a couple of those innings with runners in scoring position. What did you see in the at-bats at those moments, and you kind of alluded to Dansby's play, but just overall the defense?
MIKE SHILDT: I liked the at-bats a lot. I thought our approach was good. We knew what it was. I really appreciated we stayed stubborn to it. And within the at-bat, we chased a little bit, chased him under a little bit. We made adjustments and said, hey, we're going to get this ball up or get it out or whatever individual approaches were. I thought the at-bat quality was good and was just a good, clean ballgame overall.
Q. The Jackson Merrill bunt there in the fourth and the runner on first, was that something he did, something that was called in and sort of what was the thinking behind it?
MIKE SHILDT: Yeah, Jackson was on his own there, seeing the game, getting it over. It worked out to the point where he got Manny over and the infield hit. We got a chance to extend the infield lead. That's what we're looking to do, and we got our sac fly with two outs.
Q. What's your confidence in Game 2 with Dylan on the mound and a fairly rested bullpen overall?
MIKE SHILDT: Yeah, similar to today. We'll read the game. Same thing Nick was giving us, what we were asking for, one hit going into the fifth, a couple swings got him on a day where the wind wasn't overly -- it's actually blowing in a little bit. But we'll see where the game presents. Clearly our backs are against it, but look, our club is no stranger to challenges. We're battle tested, we'll answer the bell tomorrow, and we'll go from there.
Q. Is that sort of the mindset tonight, that it's just your backs have been up against it over and over this season, and tomorrow is another chance for that?
MIKE SHILDT: That's right. We know what we're looking at. We've got to take care of business tomorrow to set ourselves up to take care of business on Thursday, and we expect to do that. Our clubhouse right now is disappointed, but nobody is hanging their head. This is a good club that knows what they're capable of doing and is eager to show up and go and compete tomorrow. Dylan will get the ball and we'll take it from there.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports