Blue Jays - 6, Dodgers - 2
Q. For Bieber, after coming close to coming in that game last night, how did you sense he kind of tackled the preparation for today? Did it impact his routine? And how to you feel like he performed today?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: No, it didn't impact him whatsoever. He came in focused. He came in like a veteran pitcher should. I thought he settled into the game really well. After the run, the sac fly to Kiké, I thought he kind of got a little bit better with his breaking stuff, and he made pitches, man. It was fun to watch him navigate that. I'm really happy for him for the last year-and-a-half journey he's been on. To go out there and do that, that was awesome.
Q. What went into Bassitt going out for the second inning? Was that a plan or a reaction to how well he had pitched in the inning prior?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: Yeah, that was watching him pitch and that was talking to Chris, who I can't speak highly enough about, just getting to know him over the past three years, he was -- he understands where we are and understands what last night was for everybody. So I kind of liked him at that spot of the lineup too with the sinker and breaking ball. And he wanted to finish it. It kind of speaks volumes to him as a teammate, as a person. But I just kind of liked him. He was really confident with how he felt, and he made pitch after pitch.
Q. I believe when you acquired Shane, your quote was that he was a move that elevated your team's floor but could also elevate your team's ceiling. Seeing what he's done over the last two months, what does Shane mean to your club?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: For a guy that got here at the deadline, he's -- I mean, to me, he seems like he fits in really well. It's a really good complement to the starters that we have here, and it's so nice to have a group like that, that just kind of get it, you know? It's not an easy thing to do, get traded from the only team you've been with and then just have your life kind of flipped upside down in a new country and things, with a family. But he just settled in really well, and these are the spots that we acquired him for. And it's asking a lot of him, based on what he's been through with the recovery from the surgery and stuff. But he's enjoying it and he's embracing it and he's been a huge part of us getting here.
Q. Safe to say he's also elevated your team's ceiling, then?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: I would think so, yeah. It's always nice to write Shane Bieber's name in in the starting pitching category.
Q. Your team always forgets what happened the day before, and you put it in the past. I always wonder in inning to inning, in that sixth inning, Shane gave up a couple of hits and a hard one to center field. You brought in Mason. Mason shut them down with ending with a K. What's that like in the dugout? Because that 7th inning was huge. Was there a momentum that y'all felt there?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: Yeah, it's always -- it seems like 5th or 6th inning there's a decision point, you know. When I went out to talk to Shane, I just said, Talk to me. How are you? What's your plan? I think Shane deserved that. I think -- not just the time that he's been here, but him as a Major League pitcher, he kind of deserved that.
And then you bring in Flu, and you're kind of just trusting guys to navigate what spots they're accustomed to. Like, left on left with Muncy, and then he made great pitches to Edman. And Flu's been doing that all year against righties as well.
So you realize that that's probably the biggest spot in the game, and you feel good with Flu coming in there and just executing. He's a very, very focused individual. He was ready to go.
Q. When people talk about the story of this World Series, often it is Ohtani versus Guerrero, and today they got to match up against each other. What was the feeling in the dugout when Vladdy did that, and how much of a lift did it give you guys?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: Yeah, I get that it's easy to write Ohtani versus Guerrero. To us, it's Toronto versus Los Angeles. But that swing was huge. A sweeper is a pitch designed to generate pop-ups, in my opinion. And the swing that Vlad put on it was elite. After last night and kind of all the recognition that went into Shohei individually and he's on the mound today, it's a huge swing from Vlad. It's a huge swing to get us going. I think that gives you some momentum. Shohei.
Settled in, struck out quite a few in a row after that. But our at-bats there kind of just -- it was a Blue Jay inning, Varsh, Ernie, and then you kind of went to work. But the swing from Vlad was game-changer.
Q. With Bo, you figure the more reps he gets, the more he's going to be able to get back to being himself. It looked like in that second to last at-bat, the single off the wall, that was -- that looked like August Bo. Are you seeing the same thing?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: Yeah, I mean, I'll never count Bo out against anybody with a bat in his hand at any point in the calendar year. Had a plan and then executed it. Got a good pitch to hit, and hit it well. I think more importantly, I just think the game's played for Bo. Again, man, this is now three games left, but the games played are helping him. But I think that he's been pretty locked in since the start of the series with the bat in his hands.
Q. Louis Varland's pitched in nearly every game this postseason. What can you say about his performance and his being available nearly every day?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: Louis's been tremendous. He's kind of a different animal. It's not normal to put a guy in as much as I have and have his stuff be consistent. I was talking to Ross at the deadline. He was one guy that I really wanted to acquire. There was a lot of big arms out there, big available arms, and the combination of his stuff and just kind of knowing his personality a little bit from David Popkins in Minnesota, it was really intriguing to get him.
But he's been nothing short of amazing. It's not easy to do what he's doing, pitching this much and in high leverage. But I trust the hell out of him.
Q. Obviously, the big win tonight. How good do you feel going into tomorrow with Trey on the mound?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: Really good. I feel really good about this team every night. It's hard to play 18 innings and come back and kind of flip the narrative against a very talented team and a very talented individual in Shohei Ohtani on the mound. I feel really good about just us, you know, focusing on tomorrow's game.
Trey, I think, has been someone that's kind of come into our environment and he understands kind of how we go about it. So I don't want him to think, you know, he has to do anything other than what we expect him to do. And it's going to take all 26 again tomorrow. But I feel really comfortable and confident with him on the mound, and tomorrow presents a new challenge against Blake Snell again.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports