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AL WILDCARD GAME: ASTROS VS YANKEES

October 6, 2015

New York, New York - Game Day, Postgame

Astros - 3 Yankees - 0

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Dallas Keuchel and Carlos Gomez.

Q. Dallas, two outs in the sixth inning. See your manager strolling out toward the mound. What are you thinking at that moment?
DALLAS KEUCHEL: The stadium was rocking, that's for sure. A-Rod's coming up. Doesn't get any more exciting than that.

The job that he's done throughout his career in Yankee Stadium, I just tried to calm myself down and make as good a pitch as I could.

I knew with his first-pitch swing, his second at-bat, I knew if I was -- definitely throwing a cutter, I knew if I could elevate it or get it middle in, I had a good shot to just have him pop it up and luckily that's what he did.

But I was playing blackjack there and it paid off.

Q. Carlos, I'm curious, it's been such a long and winding road for you to get to this point this year, with the non-trade, the trade, the injuries that you've been dealing with here. Have you had a chance to reflect on what it took to get to this point, either as you hit the home run or just in the moments since the game has ended?
CARLOS GOMEZ: Everybody know, like, basically the season is really long, and you come here every single day for 162 days, and this is what you work for. And the Astros gave me an opportunity to be - and the team -- gave me the opportunity to be in the playoff.

And it's no question that I'm being really sore the last couple of weeks but I tried to do my best and just here tonight, we come here to New York, play -- play against one of the best teams in baseball, and we did it. And they're out. So that means a lot.

And we believe in each other. Like Dallas said before, we're proudly in this house, but we had the best pitching in the American League on the mound. And he proved it.

And like a group, we pushed together and that's how we got the W tonight.

Q. I know you've homered in the postseason in the past. Was that the most excited you've been to hit a home run in your career?
CARLOS GOMEZ: It's not about me, it's not about me. The most important thing tonight is the win that we have, and give us the opportunity to come back to Kansas City to have a longer series.

Q. Dallas, so much was made about the three days' rest. Did it feel any different or how did you feel?
DALLAS KEUCHEL: Felt like playoff baseball. It's hard not to get up for a game like this. And if I had a chance to take the ball in the Wild Card game, I didn't want to let my teammates down. And I've worked so hard the last four years in the Big Leagues, especially with rebuilding with our team. I knew if we had a shot, I was going to give everything I possibly could and to -- into any game that I needed to pitch in. Thankful to get through six.

Never would imagine that I would have pitched that well or we would have played that well in Yankee Stadium on that big of a stage. But that's what we've been doing all year. Nobody really gave us anything at the start of the year. And I don't think anybody gave us a shot at the end of the year.

So what Go Go and Rasmus did put icing on the cake and we'll have as much fun as we possibly can in Kansas City.

Q. Dallas, were there specific things in your approach that you had to change working on three days' rest obviously from aside obviously adjusting your routine?
DALLAS KEUCHEL: Absolutely not. It didn't take me too much to get up for this game. Everybody's been battling 162 games plus, and I knew I wasn't the only one tired. So it's playoff baseball. Doesn't get any better.

The taste of the champagne and the beer in your eyes, I want more of it. So this guy helped us out today and we're looking for a lot more contribution from a lot of guys and we're going to have some fun.

Q. Carlos, there's a point in the game where A.J. was talking to you and you looked like you were in pretty good pain. Can you tell us how much pain you were in at the start, and as the game went on and how you're feeling right now?
CARLOS GOMEZ: I mean, I can explain how pain -- because every time I swing, I swing and I miss I feel it. But when you step on the field and you've got all the adrenalin and you hear those fans, it's a lot of things come through your body and push you in a situation like that. It's not time to be a hero, because I understand my body. I know my body really good. And I say let me stay in, let me stay in. I can handle this.

So I played eight strong innings and I do my best. And, you know, that's how you work for a long time, come here and give the opportunity to your team.

And I got an early phone call, and are you ready for tonight? And I said just write my name in the lineup and you're going to have me for sure.

And come here, I say I can't be out of the lineup tonight because we don't know if we're going to win. So if we had lost -- if we lost, I go home with my chest broke because I can be playing that day and make the difference, like the difference I made today. So I'm excited, and put my team in a situation to go long distance and play baseball. And that's what we do, that's what we love, and you know just move on. This game is in the past, we don't think about what's happened tonight. We need to enjoy it, make that champagne burn your eyes and have fun, and come to Kansas City and make the first game and this means a lot to us.

Q. Both of you, everybody talks about the youth of your team, how young you are. How important is sort of the leadership on the team for somebody in a young team to kind of stand up and be the leader of the team?
CARLOS GOMEZ: I mean it's not a leader. We don't have a leader. We're all brothers. We all push each other.

And the last two months I've been on this team, I see a lot of friends, I see a lot of brothers. That's what makes the team special because we all care of each other and the coaching staff and the office, and, you know, puts us in the situation every day that we come, even in the tough time and we can recover because we know that we belong here.

I know baseball people say the Houston Astros is probably not going to make it but here we are.

DALLAS KEUCHEL: Like Go Go said there's really no leader. Everybody's a fan of each other. Not only are we brothers, but we're all fans of each other. So we know what it takes, and we know what it was going to take. So nobody really needed to lead us. It was everybody do their job, and I was just lucky to share that field with everybody else tonight.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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