WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: SEMIFINALS - USA VS DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

March 15, 2026

Paul Skenes

Mason Miller

LoanDepot Park

Team USA

Postgame Press Conference

USA 2, Dominican Republic 1

Q. Paul, can you describe how mentally challenging it was to go through the lineup of the Dominican Republic?

PAUL SKENES: Yeah, just got to execute. You can't take the pitch off, and just do everything in your power to execute a pitch.

Q. You both had an incredible night pitching. How do you describe yourself about the night you have tonight between yourself starting and yourself closing against such an offensive and powerful offense like the Dominican Republic?

MASON MILLER: Got the job done. That's it. That's all we're here to do is do our job. And it didn't necessarily go perfectly, but it went pretty well, pretty close to our plan.

PAUL SKENES: Yeah, I'm going to echo exactly what he said.

Q. Mason, I'm wondering where that ranked in terms of difficulty of saves for you, and also satisfaction.

MASON MILLER: I mean, the hardest one is always the next one. But yeah, you go into a game with a lineup of guys that are staples in the middle of every order around the league, some of the best players in our game. You've got to be at your best because you know that they are at theirs.

Q. What's your understanding of your availability for Tuesday?

MASON MILLER: TBD.

Q. How much would you like to pitch?

MASON MILLER: I don't think that needs to be said. I would do everything in my power to pitch.

Q. Somebody was talking about the two lineups, the power lineups, and of course your starting rotation, Paul. How impressed have you been with the USA bullpen, not just tonight, but the whole tournament?

PAUL SKENES: Yeah, we've got a bunch of dogs out there that just get out. It's been great. It's been an honor to watch them, to share a clubhouse with them, and just go down the list.

It makes it a lot easier to be a starting pitcher when you can get to the fifth inning. That's the nature of this tournament. You've got to -- the innings are limited for starting pitchers, and you can hand the ball off pretty confidently that the bullpen's going to get the job done, and they've done a great job.

Q. Paul, is there a different feeling when you take the mound in a packed stadium like this against a lineup like that than an April or May night with 15,000 in the seats?

PAUL SKENES: Maybe a little bit, but the job's the same. The purpose of why we're there is the same. So yeah, maybe a little bit.

Q. I'm going to ask you guys, even though it's not easy for a pitcher to commit to the World Baseball Classic, but you guys made that decision. Looking back, how do you feel about the decision right now?

MASON MILLER: I don't think it was a hard decision. It was an easy decision. This is something that is an extremely high honor for a lot of players that would love to be in our position, love to have this opportunity. So it's not something that I took for granted when I was asked to be a part of it. It was an immediate yes.

You know, we're professionals, so getting yourself ready a couple weeks early is a mindset and is something that you start thinking about in November as soon as you make that commitment.

PAUL SKENES: Yeah, I agree. It was an easy decision for me. Yeah, there are sacrifices that you have to make. You have to do a little more in the off-season to do things a little bit differently, but easy decision, and I'm definitely glad I made that decision.

Q. Question for both of you. Was this the highest pressure game you've ever had, or where does this rank in the games you have played?

PAUL SKENES: I don't know. They're all kind of the same.

MASON MILLER: Yeah. As a baseball player, we understand the stakes every time we take the mound and every time that we play against the best in the world.

I would say environment-wise, this was one of the loudest, most passionate games that I've been a part of. But as far as the stakes for us, I think we're kind of focused on our job and what we're doing each day. So I don't know how much that changes as an elite competitor. That's the mindset you have to have.

Q. Hey, Paul. How did this stack up to your expectations coming into this tournament? How has the whole experience been? Was the DR the toughest lineup you've ever faced?

PAUL SKENES: Yeah, the DR is the toughest lineup I've ever faced, for sure. I think they would probably say the same thing about facing us.

Expectation-wise, it's been awesome. I didn't really have any expectations coming into the tournament. I didn't really know what to expect. It hasn't disappointed.

Q. One for Paul, one for Mason. Paul, for you, can you speak on the complexities of facing that lineup 1 through 9? And for Mason, what do you think about that last pitch? It's going to be kind of talked about, if you think ABS should be a part of this event.

PAUL SKENES: Yeah, it's the same thing as facing any other lineup. It's just the holes are a little bit smaller and you can get away with a little bit less, so it's just executing 1 through 9.

(FastScripts by ASAP Sports).