Cubs 3, Padres 1
Q. Mike, three really close ballgames. What did you think of the series overall and how you guys performed tonight?
MIKE SHILDT: Yeah, I mean, it was a good series, hard fought, tight, a lot of big moments. Basically didn't get it done. It was the wrap-up point. There's a lot of hurt guys in that clubhouse, but we left it all out on the field, and there's no regrets on anybody's part. Just disappointed.
Q. Just from your vantage point on the strike call on Xander in the ninth, just what did you see from your vantage point in that situation?
MIKE SHILDT: Looked down to me. You know, but I don't see great, and I am kind of far away. But most importantly, Bogey felt like he was down. He is not a guy -- you know, not any of our guys really, but Bogey in particular is not a guy that's overly dramatic about close pitches. It's a big pitch. It's a big swing pitch. You know, it turns the tying run and what would have unfolded after that could have been very impactful, but we had other opportunities, too.
Q. Your bullpen has been so good all year. Talk about the decision to go with Suarez when you did and then your thoughts on King and his performance?
MIKE SHILDT: Yeah, listen, once we're in the bullpen in the second inning, and I thought the bullpen was fantastic, I mean, at the end of the day, we held them to a run. The Suarez decision was actually a pretty easy one. Morejon and Miller had eaten up a bulk of innings, especially yesterday, so we knew the spot for them.
Suarez, we didn't pitch him the first game. He had some days off prior to that, one and a third yesterday, freshest, best guy. You're down 2-0 in the sixth. You're in a closing situation. And we'd already Estrada for two innings to get out of and limit the damage in the second.
So at that point it was pretty clear-cut, and we knew we could go to Morejon and Miller if we had been able to tie or get ahead.
Q. From your vantage point, what was the issue with Yu starting today, and what can you say about everything he's done since he came back in early July?
MIKE SHILDT: Yeah, it's been a little bit of an uphill battle for Yu this year starting even in the offseason into Spring Training and was compromised, but give him a ton of credit and the medical staff. Medical staff did a hell of a job this whole year with out group. Mark Grove and his group deserve a lot of credit, man.
But specific to Darvish, he was able to work his way and get back, and then took him a while to get going again, but he's a guy with a lot of experience in the league, and today was pretty crisp in the first.
Freddy makes a nice throw to help us get out of early inning, but got a base hit. And then Suzuki, ball down the line, and the hit by pitch by Carson was a little bit of a red flag that maybe not as sharp, so we got Estrada up. Armstrong gets one in there, and that was it.
Q. 13 hits for the Cubs, but like you mentioned, you limited the damage as best you could throughout the game. Talk about the job of the bullpen and just not letting it snowball and just keeping you guys in it right until the very end.
MIKE SHILDT: Yeah, we got into a scramble early on, and we knew it was a possibility. I mentioned Estrada, he comes in with nobody out, bases loaded. He was there with one. Luis makes a big double play ball. You know, part of the bullpen that I will continue to talk about that's important is the defense. Freddy threw a couple guys out, blocked his tail off, kept double plays in order. We lead with a big double play.
You know, but after Estrada gets his two, we did a nice job by Wandy to get out of it, and then Suarez, like we talked about, took down the sixth and ran some traffic in the seventh, and, man, extra pay for Morejon, right? I mean, holy crap, this guy is three days in a row, two plus yesterday, throwing 99, was able to leave him out there and take down the seventh, and Morgan has been a guy that -- I would have preferred to have Miller in there. Nothing against David, but with a lead, but it's good to see David in there and trust him and had a nice year and got a bright future for us as well.
Bullpen was -- we scratched and clawed and kept it right there. You know, talking about defense, I don't think they give an MVP for this round. I'd give it to Swanson. I mean, Dansby played his tail off, man. He almost single-handedly beat us with his glove.
We talk in the modern game about the pitching, and we talk about the offense and who we're hitting for and all the things that are appropriate to talk about in our game, but the one thing that we don't talk about as much anymore is your defense, and this time of year, your defense -- we play great defense, but Dansby Swanson absolutely beat us with his glove this series.
Q. I know you guys talk about finding solutions. How hard was it to find a solution when Laureano goes down that late in the season, and how much did that affect the buttons you were able to push or not push here in the playoffs?
MIKE SHILDT: Yeah, listen, I'm glad you brought that up because that's really a trademark of this team. Like I said, we're super disappointed.
But we just got through talking amongst the team, and I'm going to segue off into something else and bring the point full circle for you because it is about the winners finding solutions.
We've had, like most teams, every team in this league has their circumstances. It's how you deal with them. There's not a complainer in the whole group, staff, player, nobody.
You know, specific to Laureano when he goes down or Jason Adam, when he goes down, you figure it out the best you can. We've had guys -- I just hugged on Michael King, and Michael got 70 innings, but was out there, heart of a champion today and took down an inning for us.
You talk also about the solution piece, it's a good opportunity to give A.J. Preller a lot of credit. We did our part, stayed in the fight. He does his part, you know, and Pivetta, the moves, Sheets, Iglesias under the radar, somewhat moves with the resources he has. The club scratches and claws, fights their tail off to stay relevant at the trade deadline. He goes and pulls the trigger and gets us help, and unfortunately Ramón wasn't able to stay with us through this ride because him in the 7 hole could have made a big difference, but he wasn't here.
We took our spot today with Iglesias, and he gave us a great at-bat, and gosh darnit, Hoerner makes a play and, talk about the defense, comes back around, Johnson gets on and gets the go-ahead run to the plate, and then the ninth.
Long answer to your question, but it's ultimately about nobody is going to feel sorry for you in this game. And we've got a bunch of guys in that clubhouse that are hurting, but there's no regrets in that clubhouse for anybody. Our heads are high, and we know from day one that we laid it out there every day.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports