NL WILDCARD GAME: PHILLIES VS BRAVES

October 1, 2026

Mauricio Dubón

Truist Park

Atlanta Braves

Pregame Press Conference

Q. Can you tell us what your feelings were driving into the ballpark today, the excitement, and what are the vibes in the clubhouse right now?

MAURICIO DUBÓN: The vibes are good. It's the only game that's being played today. Everybody is going to be watching. Phillies and Braves fans hate each other. So it's going to be really fun.

Q. Was there any kind of team meeting, anyone say any words heading into today?

MAURICIO DUBÓN: No, everybody knows what's at stake. No matter what we did in the regular season, no matter what we did yesterday, it only matters what we're going to do today.

Q. Understandably, the crowd was not at capacity the last two days because of the short turnaround and also 2:00 on a workday. What does it mean to you that all the tickets that were sold from the last 24 hours sold out in prime time?

MAURICIO DUBÓN: It's a lot. The fans here are great. The atmosphere is going to be really fun. It's going to be real loud. I think everybody is excited. Like I said before, everybody is excited for this game, hoping we get the win and everything. But everybody is excited for this game.

Q. You say the fans hate each other. I'm curious, your first year as a member of this Braves team, what has it been like playing these games? Can you hear it from the field?

MAURICIO DUBÓN: Oh, yeah. If you can't hear it, you're probably deaf. But it's fun. It's good competition. And they have a good team, we have a really good team, and then just going out there and the yells and everything. They've been respectful, which we appreciate that, and they stay in line.

It's going to be really fun.

Q. You get to see the guys every day in the clubhouse. You get to obviously know Ray really well. What does it mean for him to take the ball tonight and why do you believe he's ready for this moment?

MAURICIO DUBÓN: He's ready. Life has hit him a couple times, and he's ready. The worst thing for him already happened. It's life.

For him to come out here and be the guy, it's really special. He's always quiet, but he's always around with the clubhouse and everything, and just watching what he did in Miami and now just watching him here, and then praying for him.

Q. You've had a lot of success this season with two outs with runners in scoring position. What does it feel like to be able to deliver in that position?

MAURICIO DUBÓN: Just getting the job done, man. If you don't do it, somebody else will. They're going to bring somebody else to do it. I think the sense of urgency, just try to get the job done. You don't need a three-run homer to deliver. One at a time is going to be really important right there. If you get it, great. If not, just try to bring one in.

Q. You have split time at shortstop with Ha-Seong. When you see him, all the things that he consistently does, what do you see from him, and how would you describe him as a teammate?

MAURICIO DUBÓN: Ha-Seong is unreal. Everybody loves him in the clubhouse. I ask him questions a lot at shortstop. He's one of the best defensive shortstops in the Big Leagues, no question about it. You see a lot of -- I'm asking questions about how he does this, how he does that. Just hanging around the clubhouse, the guys love him. He's been unreal.

It sucks how he's struggled this year just because he had the surgery and everything. But you can see a little bit towards the end that he was still putting great at-bats and everything, had great at-bats yesterday, moved the runners. But just having him around in the clubhouse, it's been really unreal.

Q. Considering everything this team has gone through this year, maybe some doubts coming out of Spring Training and everything, is it fitting that your backs are up against the wall right here?

MAURICIO DUBÓN: Yeah, our backs and their backs too. I think that's how it is. Nobody gives a damn for us in Spring Training, and everybody was kind of like, the run is over. Now we got the playoffs, 1-1, and probably playing the biggest game of our careers.

Like I said before, it doesn't matter what we did past years. It's already in the past. I think that's the reason -- that's why we play 162, I think. It's already in the past, and I think we've just got to go and focus on today. No matter if you hit 45, 50 home runs, you've got to get it done tonight.