AL WILD CARD SERIES: MARINERS VS BLUE JAYS

October 7, 2022

Alek Manoah

Rogers Centre

Toronto Blue Jays

Postgame Press Conference

Seattle Mariners - 4, Toronto Blue Jays - 0

THE MODERATOR: Open it up for Alek Manoah.

Q. Can you take us through that first inning, the first two batters you faced? Did anything feel different for you there?

ALEK MANOAH: No, I think I made two good pitches to Julio and had a sinker kind of run away from me a little bit. I kind of put him on, and then was able to make some pitches to France and left a pitch over the plate, Suarez was able to put a good swing on it, and we know what Raleigh did.

It was a pretty tough first few outs, but I felt like I was able to settle in after.

Q. You spoke with us a lot the last few days about what this energy would mean to you to pitch in front of. How did that feel once you were actually out there, those early innings in front of that?

ALEK MANOAH: It felt great. First strike of the game there was great energy and felt like every out we had the whole country behind us. Energy was great. That's what we grind all year for, to have home field advantage. It's 2 out of 3, so we'll be back tomorrow.

Q. Alek, how were you able to sort of reset and settle in after the home run and carry those next 15 outs?

ALEK MANOAH: Yeah, just had to tell myself: Execute pitches. It was a pretty lengthy at-bat with Cal and ended up not executing the front hip sinker. Just continued to tell myself: Continue to execute. They beat me on my mistakes, and I felt like I was able to start executing after that.

Q. Obviously, didn't go the way you wanted it to go, but what was it like for you to be pitching in the postseason?

ALEK MANOAH: It was good. Good to get the feet wet. I went out there and grinded as much as I can. Today wasn't good enough, but we've got guys going tomorrow and then Strip after that and then all hands on deck Game 3. Hopefully it's not the last time.

Q. I know he is on the winning side, but do you have any appreciation for what Castillo did today as a pitcher?

ALEK MANOAH: Yeah, he did a great job.

Q. Alek, did you find maybe early on that you had to adjust to sort of the emotions and the way momentum can carry you? Obviously, you come out, there's a lot of energy. The Mariners jump out ahead, and so they grab some momentum. Did you feel like the swings in a postseason game were maybe a bit more extreme? Is that something you have to feel your way through a little bit?

ALEK MANOAH: I just think you have to go out there and execute pitches. Obviously, I didn't do that today. There were a few that they really capitalized on. Just have to continue to execute.

Q. You had a front row seat to a lot of Robbie Ray last year. You've never wavered in your confidence with the batters on this team. What do you expect from them against him tomorrow?

ALEK MANOAH: Expect us to come out swinging. Yeah, put a couple of hits together, and hopefully we get more runs than them.