	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

AL DIVISION SERIES: RED SOX VS ASTROS

October 9, 2017

John Farrell

Boston, Massachusetts - postgame 4

Astros - 5, Red Sox - 4.

THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions for John Farrell, please.

Q. Obviously Sale and Kimbrel have been so good for you all season. How comfortable do you feel with them in the 8th inning with a one-run lead?
JOHN FARRELL: Very comfortable, especially the four innings Chris had pitched to that point. We take the lead on a big swing from Bennie, and as efficient as Chris was, just the command was there, and he gets a 2-1 changeup to Bregman, obviously we saw the result of it. But in a position with six outs to go, up a run, and Chris Sale who was still strong, still throwing the ball extremely well, I felt like we were in a good position.

Q. Kimbrel had been so good all year. What do you think happened with him today?
JOHN FARRELL: Even in some of the appearances we saw before the end of the regular season and in the inning of work down in Houston, they put up tough at-bats against him. Typically we're so accustomed to seeing a lot of swing and miss when Craig is on the mound. They fought off some good pitchers' pitches to get deep in counts and then were able to put some balls in play. I know he's trying to run a fastball in closer to Reddick on the 3-2 pitch that leaks back over the out half that's he's able to push a ground ball through the other side for the go-ahead run, but we had arguably our two best pitchers or two really good pitchers to close things out to get the final six outs, they got the job done.

Q. What did you say that led to the ejection and where did you spend the rest of the game watching it?
JOHN FARRELL: I went out to get Peddy away from Mark Wegner. Obviously it was a key moment. Peddy obviously disagreed with the call that was made. I did not argue balls and strike and yet that was a little surprising when I was ejected at that point. So for whatever reason, he felt like -- there was nothing derogatory or directed straight at him, I never argued balls and strikes, it was a really quick hook.

Q. So if you didn't argue balls and strikes, then what do you think?
JOHN FARRELL: The reason he gave me is I'm not going to have you stand here and yell at me.

I said I'm trying to get my player away from him. It was more important to me that Peddy remain in the game and the rest took care of itself.

Q. You anticipating Sale to go that long or was it sort of a situation with Price yesterday, he kind of just kept putting up zeros?
JOHN FARRELL: No, Chris was one day short of his normal rest, so he was in good shape from a physical standpoint. As efficient and as pinpoint in his control was to that point, he was still in good shape, I thought.

Q. Did you consider a right-hander against Bregman?
JOHN FARRELL: Yeah, considered it, recognizing where what his power numbers are and his splits are left, right, and not taking anything for granted. We wanted to be left-handed through the bottom part of that order, particularly the reverse splits of Gurriel, and as well as he's been swinging the bat this series, 2-1 changeup stayed in the middle of the plate.

Q. Can you talk about the momentum and what you guys were feeling during this game and I'm sure the confidence that at some point was pretty high there?
JOHN FARRELL: It's been high since we returned from Houston. We play a really good game yesterday, we comeback in a tight ball game, Bennie gives us a big swing, a big swing of the bat obviously and a change in momentum. And then with Chris on the mound, we felt like that confidence was growing with each pitch that he threw. But even right down to the end obviously with Raffey's inside-the-park home run, there was still energy, still life that you could feel.

Q. Did you feel like you guys were up against a better team the whole time and did you deliver a message to your players after the game?
JOHN FARRELL: Yes, I spoke to them. I guess in short, it's always tough when you end the season so abruptly, but extremely proud for the way they compete, the work that they put in for seven full months, the way they care for one another. Just wanted to thank them from that. But it's just you go a hundred miles an hour and then all of a sudden it feels like you face plant in a wall when the season's over. So that was pretty much the message.

Q. Understanding this is quite new, but how did you feel it went given the David Ortiz's retirement and all the other changes that you had on the team this year?
JOHN FARRELL: Like I said, extremely proud for the way we went out and worked, the way we I think we're a very competitive team throughout. We won a lot of baseball games. You win the division, that's I think a major accomplishment. We didn't meet all of our goals, that's obvious by the ending here today. But we have seen some really good young players continue to develop. We had a number of challenges thrown our way from individual injuries to performance, but as a team, they stuck together. They care for one another and they fully compete right to the end. The resiliency we talked about, but this is a very competitive, close-knit team.

Q. What do you feel is needed to get you guys beyond the hump of this division series and do you feel like you're the manager who can do that?
JOHN FARRELL: Personally, yes, I feel confident in that. I know that we have got opportunity to assess where we are as a team. I can't begin to walk about what the off-season plans are and what the changes may be realized, but still there's a lot of good things that are going on here.

Q. I know you're under contract. Do you expect to be back for the 2018 season?
JOHN FARRELL: Again, we just walked off the field 10 minutes ago.

Q. How tough an opponent was this Houston team? Was this one of the tougher teams you ever have gone up against in the playoffs?
JOHN FARRELL: Very deep. Tremendous offense. Their performance all year long showed that, proved that. They're a quick-strike offense, two-out capability. You're never out of an inning. They're a very good team. I think we showed that we are, too, in this series as it returned here to Fenway. But, yeah, they're a very good team.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks very much, John.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297