AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: MARINERS VS BLUE JAYS

October 17, 2025

John Schneider

T-Mobile Park

Toronto Blue Jays

Postgame 5 Press Conference

Seattle - 6, Toronto - 2

Q. To start the 8th there, what went into the thinking for Little to start that?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: I wanted to see that part of the lineup. See different guys. We talked about it all series. Little's been one of our best pitchers in big spots. Tough guy to elevate. Cal's a really good hitter.

I get it, man. After that, you got to settle down and throw strikes too. So that's been part of Little's game. So has strikeouts. Again, I trust every single guy on this roster, you know. It's hard. No one feels worse than Little, no one feels worse than Ser right now, or me. But I trust every single guy on this roster. Today it didn't work out, but we've won two games in a row a whole lot this year.

Q. How much consideration for Hoffman there, go with your closer against their best?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Yeah, I thought about it, for sure. Again, I think being -- decisions are hard. I think being convicted in a process is important. You make a decision and you leave it behind you. It's part of baseball. Second-guessing is part of it. Thought about it, for sure. And, again, we've have relayed on every single guy on our roster to get a lot of wins this year. So could have done that, and then you think about who do you want in the 9th inning, who do they have coming up. So, yeah, we talked about that situation, for sure. Unfortunately, it didn't work out.

Q. What's happening with Springer right now?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: He's got a right knee contusion. He had X-rays, which were negative, which is a good thing. He'll probably do some more testing tonight when we get home. George is about as tough as they come. I think he'll have to really, really be hurting to not be in the lineup on Sunday.

So we'll see how he is. On that note, I know this is an awesome atmosphere to play in, and it's really, really cool to play here, and I think the fans that were booing him should take a look in the mirror and understand what kind of player he is and -- I'll stop there, because when a guy gets hit in the knee and is in obvious pain and have you 40,000 people cheering, not the right thing to do.

Q. You were able to come back in the fifth and the sixth with runs. After a tough fourth inning, you had the bases loaded, nobody out. What did you see happen in the fourth there?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: That's a weird way to not score, with nobody out and bases loaded. Tough at-bat from Varsh, didn't get on top of the heater or the split then in the dirt.

I don't know, we had traffic all night. There's not a guy you want up with Ernie with the bases loaded to make contact. So really I feel like it was kind of one of those games. Up to that point, you scratch and claw to get the lead and then it didn't work out in the 8th inning.

But I thought, man, we played our game, had opportunities to score. We just didn't do it and they did today.

Q. What's the message to the guys after a result like that, taking two out of three in Seattle and heading home now?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Yeah, we still have home field advantage. As cool of an environment it is to play here, I know that our fans are going to be ready for us to get home on Sunday. I've said it all along. It's a seven-game series, and we did our job coming in here taking two out of three, and we're going to go home and we're going to definitely be ready to play.

Again, it turns from a seven into a five into a three. It's two-game series. We've won two games in a row a whole lot this year. That's what we expect to do starting on Sunday.

Q. Just wondering if you talked to Brendon and Seranthony after the game and if you gave them any kind of message after that?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: A pat on the ass, Keep your head up. Everything gets magnified this time of year. Decisions get magnified, pitches get magnified. I get it. It is what it is. But these guys will bounce back. Everyone on our team bounces back, and they're going to be asked to be in big spots again, and I want them to be ready for it.

So all we can do is enjoy the flight back to Toronto, enjoy our beds at our homes and our families, and we're going to get after it on Sunday. You know what I mean? I don't want these guys to crawl into a hole. That's not who we are. So we'll get after it on Sunday. We'll be ready to play. I wouldn't have it any other way with this group. Our backs are going to be against the wall, great. We don't give a shit.

So I hope those guys don't give a shit. Excuse my language. But it's going to be fun, and I hope these guys are ready for it. I know they will be ready for it, and it's nice to get it two out of three here. We played really well here this entire season.

Q. We have seen the bullpen being really solid for extended stretches during the season. There's stretches where you said they have had to throw more strikes. When you look at how they have played in October, is there anything the group collectively you want them to kind of change or get better at?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: I think just as a whole, you look at our season, including the postseason, you want to limit walks, limit damage. This team is built around home runs. Today they out-slugged us, for sure.

It just comes down to executing, starters, relievers, everybody being ready for a situation and executing pitches. That's it. So these guys will be ready to do it on Sunday.