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AL DIVISION SERIES: INDIANS VS ASTROS

October 5, 2018

Carlos Carrasco

Houston, Texas - pregame 1

Q. Carlos, what does it mean to you to be able to get this start after last October?
CARLOS CARRASCO: You know what, I think it's something really special to get here to this point. So I got the opportunity to do it last year and this year again. I think it's something really amazing for me and for my teammates too, to get to this point. Starting everything from Game 1 today.

Q. Carlos, what do you remember about your start here earlier in the season against the Astros?
CARLOS CARRASCO: You know what, I remember a lot of stuff. They are a good team. If you make a mistake, they're going to take it. So I think that's what I did last year. I used one pitch, a bad pitch.

To this point right now, I got a little bit more adjustment in there. It's the same baseball. I'm just going to go the same way, you know, back and forth, but I think the only difference is postseason. They get a little bit more aggressive. But I think it's the same baseball.

Q. You guys are playing day games this whole series. Does that change? How do you feel about that?
CARLOS CARRASCO: The thing is it's nice. It's something different. We always play at night. But this time, today we're going to play 1:00, tomorrow it's 3:00. So this is something we do during the season. I think, like I said before, we've just got to make an adjustment. That's what we're doing right now for this game at 1:00.

Q. Does your routine change at all?
CARLOS CARRASCO: I think no, because I'm just going to go home early, get to sleep, come in here to do everything that I do for my game. It's nothing different.

Q. Carlos, last year you had to wait till Game 3, and you had that time to build up, thinking about your start. Just what's the difference emotion-wise of preparing, knowing you're going in Game 2 here?
CARLOS CARRASCO: I think it's really nice. So last year I get to pitch the third game, this year second game. Tito told me that on Sunday on my last game. He said, Congrats, you're going to go to the second game. I just feel so happy to get to that point. Being pretty much just happy for the way we play this year, and then we get into October.

But I think, as I said before, it's the same baseball. So I'm just going to go out there and have fun. That's it.

Q. Carlos, in the other series, there's so much talk about bullpens and bullpenning. This feels like it's a battle of two powerhouse rotations. How much would you compare your rotation to the Astros' rotation?
CARLOS CARRASCO: I think we have for both sides good rotation. So that's the only thing I can say. They know, everyone knows what kind of pitchers they have. Pretty much everyone knows what we have too. And we're going to go from there.

So I think it's something really special to get to this point to play the Astros in Houston. They have a good team. We have a good team too. Today's Game 1, and we go from there, man.

Q. Tito's talked about having Trevor as potentially part of the bullpen. You've watched him pitch. You've seen how durable he can be, how much he can come back. What do you think about the idea of having Trevor available for multiple games through the series?
CARLOS CARRASCO: I think it's really nice to have Trevor with us now because three weeks ago, maybe four weeks, he was on the DL. So to have him here, it doesn't matter if he's going to go in the rotation or in the bullpen, just to have him available is something different so he can add a lot to the team.

Q. Carlos, on a different subject, I think this is the third time you've been nominated by the Indians as their Roberto Clemente Award winner. What does that mean to you? And could you talk about some of the work you do, some of the charitable work you do.
CARLOS CARRASCO: You know what, I think the way that I do is childhood education, but sometimes I just go away from that. So I just try to help a lot of people. Education is the number one, but my foundation will be sending soon a lot of food and medication to Venezuela, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic in November. So we're going to go to South Africa to help a lot of the kids over there too.

I think it's something really important. Those kids need help. That's what I want to do. But I'm never going to forget that education is first. A lot of people say, So how can you do that? I just take my time and just go there and give whatever I have to make those guys feel great. To do that is something really special because, when I was growing up, a lot of people helped me too.

So that's when I give it back to those kids too so my kids can see that, so that in the future they can help a lot of people too. So that's my goal.

Q. What does it mean to help your native country, Venezuela?
CARLOS CARRASCO: I've been helping a lot with medication. We're already sending a lot of medication. So I think it's to help my country has made me feel great. There's a lot of people to help in my country too. And something that I never stop doing.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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