Q. Obviously the Cubs are going with a little bit of a different pitching strategy today. I am wondering if that tempted you at all to move things around in your lineup and why you ultimately settled on going with the same group?
MIKE SHILDT: I actually like the lineup against righties. Tati has been really good against righties. Luis is better against righties. Manny is splitty. And Jackson is better against righties. So I feel pretty good about our lineup.
Q. The 6, 7, 8 lane, obviously those guys are all going to face lefties and you know that going in. What gives you confidence in what they can do against left-handed pitching? Is it given what they have done this season?
MIKE SHILDT: Yeah, the same thing that people wrote about, talked about, pontificated about all season. There was a time where I didn't play the lefties and people were going crazy. All right, so we have lefties that are really talented and they're going to play and they're going to hit and they've been doing it since they were old enough to pick up a bat.
I had a lineup in 2010 in Johnson City that had six straight left-handed hitters, won the league and set a league record for wins. I think we're going to be okay.
Q. This team obviously has a lot of experience in these kind of games. How much do they draw on that when it is a game like today where it is win or go home?
MIKE SHILDT: Yeah, I think there's no question it's a group that has experience. It's a talented team. Like I said yesterday at the end of the game, we were definitely disappointed, clearly rather be up 1-0 than down. But this is a group that believes in themselves, has been there, done that, and they're going to show up and play as good a baseball game as we can possibly play again. Played a good game yesterday. It just didn't go our way.
Q. What did you like about having Dylan on the mound here in Game 2 today?
MIKE SHILDT: Well, Dylan, first of all, he's one of the best strikeout guys in the league. He's had success in this town, he's had success in this stadium, against this club, and he's got two elite pitches that any given day can dominate. So there's a lot to like.
Q. What kind of presence has Dylan been for your team all season long? Obviously his numbers are not where he would want them to be, but just in general, what does it mean to see him go to the mound every time?
MIKE SHILDT: Yeah, quite a bit actually. We have had two consistent guys that have taken the ball basically every five or six days depending on how we've been able to parcel out the rest. But Dylan has been fantastic as far as taking the ball and posting, and you know, you know you're going to get a plus heater and a plus slider, and that's all we can ask for.
Q. The fact that Dylan had some ups and downs this season and kind of always saw the optimism in him being able to put it together and then kind of did down the stretch, what does that say about Dylan's makeup given the struggles he went through and the way he was able to move them through?
MIKE SHILDT: Yeah, I think we talked about your question earlier, which was a good one, relative to the experience of the team, there's also experience that Dylan has. This guy has been a Cy Young nominee, has pitched well for us in the past. He's an established guy in the league, one of the better guys in the league more consistently.
So because of that body of work, when things don't go as well, you know inside yourself in this league, I've done this. So he draws upon that, and we draw upon that, and then here we go today.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports