AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: GUARDIANS VS RAYS

October 12, 2026

Stephen Vogt

Tropicana Field

Cleveland Guardians

Postgame 1 Press Conference

Guardians - 7, Rays - 3

Q. Coming back like you all did, to play like they did, what do you attribute that to?

STEPHEN VOGT: That's who they are. Obviously we came off an emotional series, had a quick turnaround. But these guys come ready to play every day. Couldn't be more proud of them.

We got punched early. And our pitching staff, credit to them, for stopping it and keeping us in the game as long as they did. And the offense came alive.

I thought we had great at-bats the whole game. Just couldn't get that one hit with runners in scoring position. And then hitting a couple balls out of the yard, make it a new game. Really good job by our offense.

Q. Jo and Nathanial, two edition at the deadline. How valuable have they been with the quality of at-bats that they're taking and experience that they bring to this group?

STEPHEN VOGT: Yeah, it was a huge boost for us adding Jo and Nathaniel. They thrive with runners in scoring position. They have their whole careers. And, you know, Nate Lowe using the whole bat, gets jammed, gets just enough of to it get to that outfield. You don't need to drive the ball over the wall in that situation; you just need to score the runner from third. And that's all he was trying to do.

And then obviously Jo with the huge double there at the end to kind of give us some insurance runs.

Q. With the timing of your move to the bullpen, it obviously worked very well. Could you take us through what led up to that decision at that point and what your relievers were able to give you those innings to the second half?

STEPHEN VOGT: I thought Foster really settled in after the first. But obviously hadn't thrown in a while. And with the pitch count getting up there a little bit, it wasn't too high, but it was at a spot where, with the top of the order coming up for the third time, felt like Espino was going to be able to handle those three guys.

And then the plan wasn't necessarily for Joey to only go one, but obviously when you flip the game, it's time to go.

So credit to the bullpen. This he were outstanding yet again. Foster was unbelievable after a rocky first.

Q. Ramírez didn't exactly hit the ball hard tonight, but he still was in the middle of everything. What can you say about this run he's on?

STEPHEN VOGT: He's Hosey. He just has a knack for finding his way on base. When he does, he makes things happen. If he doesn't steal third right there, I don't know if Jo's ball gets through the infield for those last two runs. And I haven't seen the angle and the replay, so forgive me if I'm off. But it's kind of what it looked like from our vantage point.

But that's what Hosey does. You put the ball in play, he can get down the line. He just makes things happen.

Q. Do you feel like the team feeds off his energy?

STEPHEN VOGT: Yeah, 100 percent. Hosey is our guy. And when he gets going, when he gets on base, we know he's going to make some things happen. He puts pressure on the defense. The pitchers have to be quicker to the plate. It affects everything.

Q. What did you think of Espino? It was an interesting inning?

STEPHEN VOGT: Yeah, Espino just came in and punched three guys out. He got the ball and took it and went right after him. Outstanding job by Daniel.

Q. You mentioned Foster's ability to limit the damage there in the first. How did you see him rallying in that inning, and how you saw the at-bat against walls at the end?

STEPHEN VOGT: I thought he came out, the velo was a little down, he wasn't quite sharp. He was kind of getting into some bad counts and left some pitches over the middle, which was not Foster's MO.

But Carl went out there for a mound visit, like he always does, and settles him down. And then really settled down against Walls, was able to get the punch out to end that threat. And like I said, then he turned in three outstanding innings after that.

That's what big-time pitchers do. That's going to happen. You're going to have an inning where you're not at your sharpest. And to limit them to two runs when they got the bases loaded, two outs, great job by Foster. We couldn't have asked for anything more.

Q. When Adell grounded out and Ramírez held third, so the contact play isn't on there, right?

STEPHEN VOGT: Nobody out there, second and third, we were not running contact play, no.