What the Athletics and Astros are saying before ALDS Game 3

The Athletics’ postseason hopes rest on the arm of 23-year-old lefty Jesús Luzardo. He’ll start Game 3 of the AL Divisional Series on Wednesday as the A’s trail the Houston Astros 2-0 in the series.

Both games so far in the series at Dodger Stadium have featured early home runs before the A’s bats have gone quiet. They have just one hit in the sixth inning or later across both games as the Astros bullpen has been dominant.

Here’s what the Athletics and Astros said Wednesday morning:

A’s third baseman Jake Lamb

Mindset on elimination games: “Backs against the wall, elimination game, this is the time where you’ve got to have fun, get rowdy in the dugout and potentially do whatever it takes to win. It’s a really good vibe in the clubhouse right now, especially for it being an early morning for what seems like the 10th day in a row. We’re ready to go. We’re fired up.”

On Tuesday’s vibe: “That’s part of baseball. When you’re not getting those hits and they’re coming through, getting big hits and leaving the yard, there’s going to be times where it’s a little down in the dugout and that’s what we’ve got to focus on today.”

On lack of late-inning offense: “I can only speak for myself as far as guys trying too hard. I came up in a situation the other day in Game 1 with first and second and rather than just getting a base hit to score one, looking back on it I was over-swinging at the first couple of pitches and chased a few pitches out of the zone…I think everyone has kind of realized as well as the ball is flying, the home runs will happen. You’ve got to just think short and to the ball and not try to do too much in those situations.”

On playing at Dodger Stadium: “It’s been flying quite a bit. Some of those balls I feel like that we hit, just based on the way Springer was playing it in center it looked like he was camped under a couple of those balls and then drifted back and drifted back, I haven’t seen that a whole lot. The ball is definitely flying the past couple of days more than usual.”

On platoon situation: “I went through that this year in Arizona, I was on the bench a whole lot so I’m perfectly comfortable coming off the bench and or preparing for a game not being in the starting lineup. That doesn’t really faze me at all and especially with how Pinder has been playing, if he’s got a hot bat, that’s a smart move. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to be in the lineup every day, but I’m not the type of guy who’s going to be upset about that.”

On team’s defense: “I think you have your shifts, you have the positioning for certain guys whether it’s a righty or a lefty, you have your depths that you want to play…I guess to a certain extent there’s spacing as far as at third base, how far I want to be away from Marcus at shortstop. If it’s a righty who hooks the ball, do I want to get off the line, be on the line, things like that you’ve got to just learn on the fly.”

On playing Astros at Dodger Stadium: “This whole year has been like that so this came as no surprise. It’s definitely weird being dressed in an A’s uniform, being in the home clubhouse on the Dodgers side in Dodger Stadium so it’s definitely different. But like I mentioned, this whole year has been different and this isn’t anything new.”

A’s outfielder Robbie Grossman

Mood in the clubhouse: “Our backs are against the wall and that’s exactly where we want to be. This team thrives on situations like this and this is what you play for. From the first day of spring training, we wanted to be in this position and here’s our opportunity so we’re just looking forward to going out and winning this game today.”

On energy: “We’ve got to keep grinding. It’s October baseball. This is what we all wanted to be a part of. We strived from day one of spring training to be here and have this opportunity to move on.”

“We’ve only played two gams. Things haven’t gone our way in two games, but that’s why we play the series. We’re just looking forward to getting out there and grinding. This is what we all wanted. We wanted to play October baseball, it’s right in front of us and I’m ready for the challenge.”

On series being a slugfest, and whether that’s caused problems: “I don’t think guys think about that. You go from a stadium we played at in the Coliseum which is one of the biggest in the league to a place like Dodger Stadium where it’s a place that’s really really good to hit and it’s showing. Every time I’ve come here it’s proven that.”

On Luzardo: “I expect him to be fired up, I expect him to have great stuff like he always does and I expect him to compete. That’s all we can ask of him. Offense has to do a good job, defense has to do a good job and this is what we wanted, this is what we wanted as a kid to play these big time games.”

A’s manager Bob Melvin

On naming Jesús Luzardo the Game 3 starter: “We’re hoping they both pitch, one one day one the other. Look a little bit at their lineup, some of the splits. We would have been comfortable with either to tell you the truth and probably all hands on deck for a while today. Frankie has come a long way recently after a tough stretch, we always feel good about Jesús.”

On how the A’s are preparing for Game 3: “We did have a brief (meeting) and brought up the fact we have been through a couple of these already. The flip side is that we’re not in the postseason and the fact that we have been in a couple of these suggests we know how to handle them.”

On his confidence in Jesús Luzardo: “That’s been the case from day one with him that he’s been very mature and very composed and I really believe that when he has a tough outing, it doesn’t affect his confidence, it’s more of a learning experience for him. Learns from an outing that might not have gone right and doesn’t get down on himself.”

On a lineup of right-handers facing right-hander Jose Urquidy: “The splits are pretty significant, both analytically and traditional numbers. 150 point spread and some homers too, it is a smaller sample size so you balance that with some guys that you think are maybe swinging the bat a little bit better at this point too. You want to go with guys that are hot and I’ve said we’re trying to get the lineup right every day for that particular day.”

On what he took away from winning Game 3 after being down 2-0 to the Detroit Tigers in the 2012 ALDS: “Won Game 3. You gain a lot of confidence from winning Game 3. That’s all we’re thinking about today. I don’t really hark back that far to remember what the mood was. I don’t know. I know that today’s game will give you a lot more confidence going into tomorrow’s game.”

On whether he’ll go outside the box with bullpen usage for Game 3: “Liam (Hendriks) is going to pitch today. Hopefully he’s pitching late and that might be the only thing that maybe we do significantly different. It’s been consistent with Petit coming in to clean up an early mess. J.B. has done it as well. We feel like we have a number of innings out of our bullpen that is available today if something went a little bit awry mid-game or so. The one thing that we maybe use a little bit today is the Liam situation.”

Astros closer Ryan Pressly

On mentality up 2-0: “We just keep going out and playing baseball and keep the ear-plugs in and keep going.”

Astros manager Dusty Baker

On his bullpen: “I don’t know (the status of the bullpen). We’d like to have a big offensive output for sure because we don’t know Pressly’s availability until he goes out and plays catch.”

On Game 4 and 5 starters: “It’s up in the air. Depending on how today’s game goes.”

On the importance of winning Game 3 to close out: “You try to ice them as soon as possible. You try to get them over as soon as you can with no panic involved.”

Astros infielder Aledmys Diaz

On the Astros’ approach: “As soon as it gets to the playoffs we know how to play. We have guys in the locker room that have been here before and know what to do.”