AL DIVISION SERIES: WHITE SOX VS GUARDIANS

October 8, 2026

Stephen Vogt

Rate Field

Cleveland Guardians

Postgame 4 Press Conference

Guardians 9, White Sox 5

Q. Stephen, just what did you think of the way Gavin pitched there in the ninth? Can you take us through kind of the thought process of going to Kay in the eighth and having Gavin ready?

STEPHEN VOGT: Obviously, the script tonight got ripped up in the third. And when you have to go to the bullpen early, you got to get creative in a win or go home. The fifth inning, we didn't anticipate -- I think it was the fifth, we didn't anticipate using three different pitchers in that inning.

So when we kind of got down to it, we're looking at what we had left. We knew Gavin was available for one. Obviously, didn't want to have to do that, but in that moment, with Kay -- Colson Montgomery, it was a great at-bat off Cade pushing the pitch count up. It was time to go get Gavin. We wanted to give him a hitter. We didn't want him to face the first hitter with the tying run on deck, so it was time to go to Gavin.

Q. Stephen, what did you see from Parker that told you at that time it was time to go get him? Was it simply that he'd walked those two guys in a row? Was it match-up based, whether it was Armstrong and Pham? What went into that decision?

STEPHEN VOGT: I think with Parker, the command was not sharp tonight. I think the walks were very uncharacteristic of our pitching staff as a whole, but for Parker. And in that moment, we didn't know what they were going to do beyond Fedde. We didn't know how long Fedde was going to go, so it just felt like we need to stop the game right now. Army did a great job coming in and limiting the damage.

Q. Quickly, José is usually about as stoic as any player in the game, and yet his reaction caught a lot of people's attention. What did you make of how much that moment clearly meant to him?

STEPHEN VOGT: It was José Ramírez being José Ramírez in the playoffs. Bring in a fastball, Hicks with a great fastball, and Josy got to it. To step up, say there he goes again. And big moment for him, big moment for us, and he doesn't show a lot of emotion, but he was pretty excited tonight.

Q. Vogter, what did you think of the way the guys responded after the fifth and putting that rally in the sixth? What was the mood down in the dugout even going into the sixth?

STEPHEN VOGT: Again, this team has answered all year. We talk about it, we punch back. We knew this -- it just felt, as soon as the game -- as soon as we went to the bullpen, it felt like it was going to be that type of a back-and-forth game.

I just can't applaud our guys enough for the at-bats there. Obviously, we've seen Taylor. We know how good he is. All of our guys laid off the tough pitches, got some good pitches, didn't try and do too much, took what they were given. We were able to keep adding on. Really proud of the offense and the way they stepped up tonight.

Q. Stephen, all hands on deck tonight, obviously. How big of a concern is it, all of the pitchers you have had to use, knowing if you do win on Saturday, you've got a quick turnaround to go to Florida?

STEPHEN VOGT: We'll worry about that on Monday if we're fortunate to get there. This is what playoff baseball is about. It's about all hands on deck. It's about these guys keeping themselves prepared. Outside of Cade, don't feel like we've really overextended too many bullpen guys. Cade is a warrior and he steps up for these guys every night, and I know he'll be ready to go on Saturday.

It's always a concern. You're always concerned with workload this time of year. But we ask a lot of these guys, and they step up.

Q. Stephen, it's important in every Big League game, but when you look at the last two nights combined, how big was the battle of the strike zone for you guys, both in terms of your hitters and your pitchers?

STEPHEN VOGT: That's what it always comes down to is free bases. We were fortunate to pitch around a lot of ours tonight. When you give teams free bases, they're going to make you pay. Fortunately, our pitchers stepped up when they needed to to limit the damage.

On the flip side, I felt like we've done a really good job the last two nights taking advantage of the free bases. We need to win that battle. We need to not allow them free bases, but it's going to happen and our pitchers stepped up when they needed to.

Q. Stephen, you obviously know they're going bullpen basically every single game, bullpen games every single game. How have you seen your hitters approach at-bats the last two days, having gotten multiple looks at some of the relievers?

STEPHEN VOGT: I think for me it's more of a mindset shift that our guys have. Obviously, both teams are familiar. There's no secrets. There's no surprises. Every hitter has seen every bullpen guy multiple times throughout the course of the year and in this series.

It comes down to execution. Again, I guarantee Saturday's going to be a battle. It always is between these two teams. I'm just really proud of our guys for fighting back and winning two really tough games in a tough atmosphere here.

THE MODERATOR: Stephen, thank you very much. Appreciate your time.