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AL DIVISION SERIES: RED SOX VS ASTROS

October 5, 2017

John Farrell

Houston, Texas - Postgame 1

Houston - 8, Boston - 2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. From the first inning, what is it that you saw with Sale?
JOHN FARRELL: Any time he miss-located, particularly in the middle of the plate, they made him pay for it. Whether it was Altuve a couple of times, to Bregman, to a fastball that leaked out over the plate to Gonzales for the two-run double into right center field. So in this one, a little bit more center-cut pitches that he paid for. And then his slider was hit and miss today. Some were flat, some had good depth, but the inconsistency to the location pitch to pitch is a difference in this one against a team that makes you pay.

Q. (Question regarding Eduardo Nunez.)
JOHN FARRELL: No final determination, but obviously it wasn't good. He had been cleared prior to the start of this series, the number of tests that we put him through felt like he had satisfied all that we could simulate, but it was apparent trying to go game speed we saw what transpired.

Q. Was there something that you thought led to the miss-located pitches or was there anything that you were seeing other than he just miss his spots?
JOHN FARRELL: At times he would get a little flat. You saw where he wasn't as downhill with probably all three pitches at times. Bu then he would throw a good number of pitches where it was typical of what the way Chris would deliver the pitch. But I thought today again it was a couple times when things got flat and they made him pay.

Q. For you, just how difficult was that trying to gauge what was happening, because you know how good he's been for you this year, but obviously he wasn't pitching his best.
JOHN FARRELL: Yeah, again, they capitalized on some mistakes. So even to start the 6th inning, we're in a spot where we would like to ideally stay left-handed in that part of the lineup, and after the double and then a walk, felt like we had to make a move at that point. So we got to regroup with Drew on the mound tomorrow.

Q. Do you think you can maybe attribute any of what Sale kind of went through today to just a rough start, fatigue, a hot hitting team?
JOHN FARRELL: I don't know that you're going to pinpoint any one reason. There's probably a combination of factors. We know that this is a quick-strike offense that we're going up against and when you don't locate, things can happen quickly. That was the case today. So at this point in time of the year, starting pitchers, you've got workloads that you're dealing with and trying to do whatever you can to adjust routines in between starts to allow for appropriate rest or additional rest or allow things to be as fresh and as crisp as possible. That wasn't the case today.

Q. What do you think Verlander and the Astros pitching staff did right that limited your team to only two runs?
JOHN FARRELL: I thought we had a very good approach against Justin Verlander today. We drove the pitch count up. We had multiple opportunities. He was able to make a key pitch, whether it was a ground ball double play, to a couple of fly-ball outs to end the threat. But I thought we had opportunities. I think the thing that we experienced is that when a two-out base hit is a let loose with men on, that's been a difference in a number of our ball games and that was the case today.

Q. With Nunez, is he going for any more tests or has he gone for tests already and there is concern that it's beyond the PCL at this point?
JOHN FARRELL: I don't think it's a concern that it's beyond it. I know that we will have further imaging done. We have got to go through a protocol here to determine his inactivity before we make a roster move. But I think it's pretty safe to say, given how he went down today, he would not be available.

Q. Would Chris Young be the guy you would go to?
JOHN FARRELL: Yes.

Q. In that 6th inning, what did you like with Kelly following Sale on that bottom of the order there?
JOHN FARRELL: Well, a guy that's come into those situations before. One of the power stuff, the ability to get a strike out, the ability to throw two types of breaking balls behind in the count if needed. He's been doing that for us. They were able to fight a couple of pitches off for a couple of base hits inside, the double and the walk to Reddick, to start the inning. So they were able to bunch some hits together and a walk.

Q. Obviously Sale went a long way between starts. I think it was 8 days. Is there anything about that that you look back on and wish you might have done differently or think that it might have affected him today?
JOHN FARRELL: No, he had a good aggressive bullpen on Monday with two full days off following that. We felt like the additional days were needed. And today wasn't a matter of strike throwing. It was command within the strike zone. That was the difference. Walked one guy on the day. But to say that we would have done anything different, no.

Q. The way it's worked out with Nunez, is there any regret bringing him back for the one game in the regular season on the 25th, I think it was?
JOHN FARRELL: No, because everything that we had, everything we had available to us, we accomplished those steps, the way he felt, trying to get another bat back in our lineup that I think we needed, no, no regrets with the way things have unfolded here.

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