Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Alex Vesia escaped a bases-loaded jam in the ninth inning on June 17, 2026, delivering a full-count slider to end the threat and seal the win.
Vesia acknowledged that he created the difficult situation himself, saying during a press conference, "I put myself in that mess," and noted that the key to getting out of it was trusting his stuff and stopping himself from nibbling around the edges. Dalton Rushing provided words of encouragement during mound visits, and Vesia leaned on his catcher throughout the at-bat. "Rush and I were just, you know, on — I was leaning on him, honestly. He had some good words of encouragement out there," Vesia said.
On the pitch selection, Vesia explained that he had thrown a slider earlier in the at-bat and it felt good coming out of his hand. He chose it again on the final pitch because, as he stated, "the slider is going to stay on the plate as long as possible, so he has to make a decision." His mental approach on the decisive pitch was equally straightforward — he described his mindset as "eat it and throw" rather than trying to place the ball precisely, adding with a self-deprecating laugh that the strategy "works from time to time."
Vesia noted that he does not factor prior matchup history heavily when facing opponents from teams the Dodgers see infrequently. "I don't really take too much into account, especially like we don't really play the Rays as often," he said, adding that he faced the batter two nights prior but could not recall whether he had faced him before that. He described Tampa Bay as "a great team from top to bottom" and credited the Dodgers' sweep to good at-bats and a couple of home runs. Vesia also claimed the pitching staff threw nine scoreless innings across three one-run wins in the series.
Looking beyond the series, Vesia expressed confidence in the pitching unit despite a stretch of difficult outings following what he described as roughly 40-plus strong performances. "We're going to have ups and downs, but I think it helps us grow at the end of the day," he said. "That adversity right now will help us in the postseason."