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AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: ASTROS VS RED SOX

October 15, 2018

Houston, Texas - Workout Day

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Brock Holt and Andrew Benintendi.

Q. An outside the box quick question, Brock, when you went for the cycle and your home run did you give a Rice sign rounding the base, a tip of your cap to Rice?
BROCK HOLT: Unfortunately I didn't. It wasn't a Rice sign it was something me and Petey kind of have, something we do together. It wasn't an Owl sign, but just something me and Petey have been doing for a little while, and I was talking to him before the at-bat, and told him I was going to try to hit a homer. And he said you better.

So he got pretty fired up in the dugout. So we were kind of giving that signal back and forth to each other.

Q. How cool is it for you to be back here in this situation?
BROCK HOLT: It's awesome. I always love coming back to Houston. I have a lot of friends in the area. Obviously went to school here for a year and made some of my closest friends still to this day playing for Rice. It's a good opportunity for me to come down and play. And every time I come down to Houston I enjoy it. Family and friends get to come and it just feels like being home.

Q. How much confidence did going to New York and winning twice there on the road give you guys coming into this situation here?
BROCK HOLT: I'll go first. Beni's a man of few words.

That was huge for our confidence. I think we knew the whole year that we were a good team. But going to New York, tied 1-1, and into an environment like that, with a very good Yankee team, to be able to do what we did and win two there was, I think, huge for us moving forward.

We know this place is going to be loud nuts, and I think that just kind of helps us get up and get ready for the game. And I think we're excited and up for the challenge.

ANDREW BENINTENDI: Yeah. Pretty much what Brock said. (Laughter).

It's a fun place to play. It's going to be warmer than in Boston. So that's always a positive. And, yeah, like Brock said, I think everybody pretty much enjoys coming here and playing. It's a cool stadium. The environment's, looking back on last year, it was a fun place. So definitely looking forward to these next three games.

Q. How much better do you feel about where you are as a team -- depth, talent, approach, all those things -- compared to the playoff meeting here when you came in and lost two games pretty lopsided?
ANDREW BENINTENDI: Yeah, it's a completely different team, I think, this year. Obviously a lot of the same guys. Couple new ones. But this entire season we had a pretty good year and we never really had too many highs, too many lows, and we always stayed pretty even keeled. And I think we stayed pretty relaxed regardless of the situation.

So, I don't know, it's been a fun year. It's a fun team. So I think we're more prepared this year. And I think it showed a little bit.

BROCK HOLT: Yeah, I think obviously we've got a lot of the same guys, but a lot of the same guys with a lot more experience in this situation. And being the second round now, the ALCS as opposed to the ALDS, we got that monkey off our backs and won that first series. And I think it gave everyone in this clubhouse confidence.

And moving forward, I think everyone believes that we're good and that we can do this thing. So I think as a whole there's just a lot more confidence coming in here this time.

Q. Brock, do you have a favorite Wayne Graham story you can relate in mixed company? And what did you learn from playing with him for a year?
BROCK HOLT: Yeah, I'll have to kind of think which ones that I can tell and which ones I can't. I think just going into Rice, I heard how intense that he was. And when I got there in the fall and we played fall ball, he was a nice guy and fun to be around.

And I was asking all the guys who had been there before, what's this I hear about Wayne being intense and an angry guy and all this stuff.

And they were, like, just wait until the season starts. And first game of the season we were playing Cal Poly in California, and I did something that wasn't perfect. And he let me know about it in the dugout, in between innings.

He was just an intense guy who loved to win. He wanted the best out of his players. And if you didn't do your best, he wasn't happy about it. But, like I said, it was a good experience for me and it really helped me become kind of the player I am today.

Q. Several of your teammates have commented on the trust that Alex has built with every player on the team, the confidence he shows in everyone. Just wondering if you guys could speak to that, and if there's any moment of the season that stands out in that regard?
ANDREW BENINTENDI: There's probably not just one. I think it started in spring training. He's obviously very relatable. He's not too far out of the game. And he likes to stay loose, have a good time.

And he'll come in and hang out with us and just sit down, watch football. Like yesterday, Sunday, we were just watching football. And that trust, I guess, started in spring training and throughout the year. And the communication has been huge. And I think that the communication that he has with everybody is what I think has helped us a lot this year. And it's been fun to play for him this year.

BROCK HOLT: Yeah, he's an easy guy to be around and an easy guy to play for, just baseball knowledge off the charts. One of the smartest baseball guys I've ever been around. But I think that trust that he has in us makes it easy for us to go out and be us and not worry about results or anything like that, just go out and play the game.

And he kind of gives us that feeling before every game. And I think it started in his spring training, with actually, probably right when he got the job, calling everybody, meeting everybody, where they -- flying around the country, meeting them where they live and taking them to dinner and telling them what he expects out of us.

Like I said, he's an easy guy to play for and someone that we want to do really well for.

Q. Andrew, how much do you think your personality lends itself to the game of baseball, kind of staying even keeled? And, Brock, have you done anything to try to change that?
ANDREW BENINTENDI: How is what? I'm sorry can you repeat that.

Q. How has your personality kind of conducive to baseball, standing on even keel for 162? And has Brock done anything to try to change that?
ANDREW BENINTENDI: He can try. No, but I don't know, I just try to stay the same attitude. It's obviously a long season. You're going to do well; you're going to do poorly. And I think regardless you've got to have the same attitude.

And when you let your emotions take over, I think that it can affect your game. So I try to do that as little as possible.

BROCK HOLT: Yeah, I'm not going to change who he is. I mean he is who he is and that's why he's been so successful. And I think when you watch him on the field, you don't realize if he's in a slump or if he's, you know -- because at times he's one of the best hitters in baseball -- best offensive players, good on defense. And you can't tell the difference.

And I think that's why he's so consistent. So I'm not going to try to mess with that. But Kevin [Gregg] makes me come to press conferences with him so that I can help him answer the questions. He gets a little shy around all these cameras. So that's why I'm here.

Q. Do you think the Astros are the toughest team -- they're the World Series, they're defending the American League -- do you think they're the toughest team in Major League Baseball?
BROCK HOLT: Besides the Boston Red Sox, yes, but we can't play them. No, the Houston Astros, I feel these two teams are the best in baseball. Obviously they're the defending champs. We did what we did in the regular season. But they're the champs. So they're the ones everyone's chasing.

And they're -- I mean, they're solid, 1 through 25, as far as their roster goes. Their starting pitching is unbelievable. Offensively, they scored the most runs in baseball. Defensively and their bullpen.

So we knew when we beat the Yankees, we knew that we had a tough task ahead of us. Like you said, they're the champs, and they're the team everyone's gunning for, but we're confident in the guys we have. And I think these past two games have kind of showed that there should be a back-and-forth type of series.

Q. You two spoke of Alex Cora a minute ago. What about the contributions of the new bench coach, Ron Roenicke? And also can you speak to the dynamic between Ron and Alex?
ANDREW BENINTENDI: Yeah, Ron, he's been awesome. I think that he probably doesn't -- at least my perspective -- he doesn't get too much attention, but he's obviously been around the game a really long time, and he picks up things that a lot of people didn't see. And he's done a lot this year that a lot of people don't really realize.

So having him there in the dugout, obviously with the other coaches, it's been fun this year. We've definitely learned a lot. And look forward to continuing learning.

Q. Andrew, you hit most of your home run in the first half, but Alex has talked about how he really likes your approach to the opposite field in the second half. How do you think you've changed as a hitter this year? And what do you make of your second half performance?
ANDREW BENINTENDI: Yeah, I hit, like, two homers in the second half. I don't know. I guess wasn't in the cards to hit home runs the second half. But I think overall I became a better hitter this year using the whole field.

I don't really care about home runs, honestly. I'm not going to be a big home run hitter. I think everything else improved compared to last year, except the home run numbers.

So it is what it is, and I think I'd much rather take a higher average with less homers than more home runs and a lower average. Because that's the kind of player I am. I'm not going to go out and hit 30 or 40 or so.

I know who I am as a player, and I think this year has been a big step for me compared to last year. So it's definitely something to build on.

Q. Since Nate has been acquired, we've kind of seen him extremely even keeled, unfazed by anything, have you seen any examples of him not breaking from that?
BROCK HOLT: I haven't. I haven't. He's been great since we acquired him. He was big for us down the stretch and just a guy that we have all the confidence in the world whenever he's on the mound. I mean, the stuff that he has is top-notch. There's not many guys who can throw a baseball like he can.

But, yeah, he's a lot like Andrew in the fact that you're not going to see him too rattled. So we feel pretty confident.

Obviously what he did in the ALDS, we feel pretty confident with him getting the ball tomorrow.

Q. Can you both talk about going against Dallas Keuchel and what that's like?
ANDREW BENINTENDI: He's tough. He's got a lot of movement on his fastball, nothing's really straight. I haven't faced him too many times, but obviously he's very good. He keeps the ball down in the zone and gets a lot of ground balls. So it's always a fun challenge to face him -- I think I've faced him two games, not too much.

But another Arkansas guy, so it's fun to see that Arkansas faithful kind of watch this game and kind of us square off.

BROCK HOLT: I haven't faced him a whole lot either, but he gives you a different look than some of the other guys that they've got obviously on the left side. But with the movement that he does, keeps the ball down, just pitches to contact. He's tough to square up.

So as an offense, we've got to do a good job of trying to get the ball up a little bit and try to hit his mistakes. He's not a guy who is going to make a lot of them. So he's just one of those guys that he keeps the ball off the barrel. And the more times we can hit his mistakes and you'll hit the ball and square it up, the better we're going to be.

But he gives the offense a different look as opposed to someone like Verlander or Cole or Morton. So he's a good mix for them and he's a tough challenge.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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