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AL DIVISION SERIES: RANGERS VS BLUE JAYS

October 12, 2015

Jeff Banister

Arlington, Texas - Postgame four

Blue Jays - 8 Rangers - 4

MODERATOR: Okay, we'll get started with questions for Jeff Banister.

Q. Can you talk about what was going on with your pitcher, Jeff, about Holland? Give us a little bit of that.
JEFF BANISTER: Well, from our vantage point, the way things looked, seemed like everything that Derek was throwing was running back towards the middle, like the sinker continued to run back towards the middle, the change-up, the backdoor breaking ball, and when you center cut pitches you wind up getting hurt. That was part of the conversation as I went out to talk to him, try to make an adjustment, try to find a way to reset him, get him in a position so that he could start making some better pitches. But that was the bottom line for Derek today.

Q. What were the course of events that led to Beltre being added to the lineup today?
JEFF BANISTER: He came and told me he was ready to go. That's the bottom line. I mean, you look at what he did today. I mean, that's why I don't question when he says he's ready to go, and you saw what he was able to give us today.

Q. What does that mean to the rest of the team when you've got a leader like that in the clubhouse, and going out there knowing what he's fighting through today?
JEFF BANISTER: Well, I mean, that's what we've gotten all year long, and really, these guys, they do follow AB and what he means to them and this ballclub, and just the determination. Again, there are times where players absolutely will themselves to do special things. Where he was a couple days ago, yesterday and even early on this morning, to be able to go out and do what he did today was amazing. It's incredible testament to who he is, and just the grit and determination that he has to play this game. For our guys to follow him on an everyday basis is special.

Q. Jeff, Prince in his last four at-bats had three liners to center and a base hit, do you think he's getting close to breaking loose?
JEFF BANISTER: Felt like last night the at-bat, the line drive out, really not that far away. This is a guy when things click, he can take over a game and drive the ball all over the ballpark and even out of the ballpark. And it really felt like there was some balls that were well hit today off of his barrel that were really close, yes.

Q. Along that same line, is there a concern that Toronto's bats are alive now and your power bats really aren't?
JEFF BANISTER: Look, when you make mistakes over the middle of the plate, bats have a tendency to come alive. I think that's what happened early and again, hitting is contagious. When you see guys go up early and put good swings on the ball, it creates a certain confidence up and down the lineup and it frees the swings up. There's communication along the line, and even saw it with our guys there down at the end of the game where really some of the bats started to show up, the barrel started to show up. It just so happened that theirs happened early and theirs got three balls that went out of the ballpark.

Q. How was Adrian during the game and then after the game, did you get a chance to see how he came out of it?
JEFF BANISTER: Well, the game just ended, and I have not gotten with our medical crew or Adrian yet to see where he's at. Again, obviously kept close eye on him, stayed in communication with him. He was about the same throughout the game and was continuing to fight through where he was at, but again, the at-bats were good, he was able to move around on defense and was not really going to be much of a runner on the bases for us. But again, for what he gives us, just the heart and soul of this ballclub and what he gives us, it's worth having him out there.

Q. Jeff, you're still one win away from moving on, and with some pretty good pitching options. Do you like the position you're in despite the results?
JEFF BANISTER: Look, we're still playing, we're still playing. We've got another game to play. I like the fact that we've got a pretty special starter going for us also. He also energizes this ballclub. I believe that this is still an energized, confident group of players that -- and again, I mean, we've been here before. We've been in this very similar situation. There's no quit in this ballclub. No quit in any one of those players in that locker room. We'll get on a plane tomorrow and travel to Canada and we'll play a baseball game the next day. And I'm sure that however it turns out, that this is a group of players that will play as hard as they can play for each other. That's why you can never count them out. Obviously we would have loved to have done it right here in our house. Well, that's not the case. We're going to have to go do it in another location, and we're going to play a baseball game.

MODERATOR: Thanks, Jeff.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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