CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Guardians came away with a 7-5 win over the Yankees in walk-off fashion in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series on Thursday at Progressive Field.
While the moments that were created by players will last a lifetime, many of them wouldn’t have happened without a move made by Guardians manager Stephen Vogt. Here is what Vogt had to say after Game 3. Transcript courtesy of MLB:
Q. Stephen, what your thoughts on that game? You’re giving up runs, hitting home runs. What was the message to the team?
STEPHEN VOGT: That was an incredible game on both sides. All the emotions, ups and downs, back and forth, you name it. If there’s an emotion, we all felt it on both sides.
I couldn’t be more proud of our guys. That’s exactly who we are. We never quit. We get punched in the teeth pretty hard there in the eighth, and our guys stepped up huge for the guy that carried us all year long. That was really fun to see.
Q. For Jhonkensy Noel in particular, just knowing what he’s gone through the last few months and the struggles and just continuing to push through that, how special of a moment is that one just for him individually?
STEPHEN VOGT: I mean, he pinch-hit to hit a homer. That’s why we sent him up there.
The thing I can say about Jhonkensy, no matter what, he was struggling, not struggling, you name it, he steps up and he gives you everything he has once he gets there, and he’s not sped up. He’s not afraid of the big moment. We saw that in his debut. We’ve seen it time and time again. No bigger swing of the bat until that one in the 10th.
Q. Was that the greatest game you’ve ever been a part of?
STEPHEN VOGT: As a manager, yeah, for sure. I don’t know if it gets much better than that. Two of the best closers in the game right now, you get to them. That doesn’t happen hardly ever.
I think there’s one person that could hit that pitch off Emmanuel Clase out of the yard, and he did. As a baseball fan, it was really cool. As the opposing manager, it was not. But what a fun baseball game for two really good teams.
Q. A lot of people are going to talk about the home runs because those were defining moments, but what was your perspective on the play that Andrés Giménez made and Josh Naylor keeping his foot on the bag?
STEPHEN VOGT: Andrés Giménez is the best infielder on the planet. He has been, and he will be. He makes plays that make us wow every single day it seems like.
For him to even get to that ball, spin and throw a very good runner out and for Naylor to make an-in between hop pick as he’s falling over fully stretched, that is just unbelievable defense by both of them.
But what Andrés does night in and night out is so much fun to watch, we are spoiled to watch him play second base every day.
Q. Can you talk about the game plan after Emmnauel Clase allows the home runs and Pedro Ávila in particular to pinch-hit another game in that spot?
STEPHEN VOGT: Yeah, again, we’re used all of our guys in big moments all year long. Not one guy in that bullpen hasn’t pitched in high-leverage big situations.
The guy we need to talk about is Andrew Walters. This guy college was in a year ago. He comes in and gets two huge outs in the ninth to keep the game where it was. No heartbeat. He comes in confident, executing, throws strikes, gets one of the best hitters in the world looking to end the ninth and gives us a chance. So many people stepped up.
Q. Kyle Manzardo had a really nice game for you guys, as well. How big is that for him as he continues with his journey?
STEPHEN VOGT: Yeah, Manzo has been awesome. Ever since he came back in September, he’s been great. And with he and David manning the DH, we feel good about them being at the plate anytime, anywhere.
I’d be remiss, maybe because he’s in the room, David Fry, what this guy has been through all year, what he’s given to this team, the leadership that he’s given us, and to step up in that moment against one of the best – pitchers in the game, to do that with a mistake and was a moment I’ll never forget.
Q. With Emmanuel Clase and Aaron Judge, you got two of the biggest outliers in the game opposing each other in that moment. When those two collide and everything goes haywire, your blueprint had been perfect up to that point. What’s your reaction in that moment?
STEPHEN VOGT: You don’t have one because you kind of — what just happened. Emmanuel has been perfect. We couldn’t have asked for anything more from Emmanuel all year and he is going to be right back out there in the ninth tomorrow night. He’s human.
Aaron Judge is one of the best hitters on this planet. It was a fun matchup to watch. Like I said, I wish it would have gone the other way, but we’re fortunate that we got this one, and we’re going to be ready to go tomorrow.
