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NL DIVISION SERIES: CARDINALS VS BRAVES

October 9, 2019

Atlanta, Georgia - postgame 5

Cardinals - 13, Braves - 1

THE MODERATOR: We'll get started with Kolten Wong and Dexter Fowler.

Q. Kolten, watching that first inning by Dexter from your angle, how much did he tick that two-strike pitch to stay alive and what did the walk mean to the rest of the inning?
KOLTEN WONG: It was Huge. Any time you put together an eight- or nine-pitch at-bat, like he did, you want to make sure that we put them in a pretty pressure situation. I got Dex over, and that was kind of it. We had our two hottest hitters coming up and that was huge.

Q. Could you guys just both describe what it feels like to be in a 10-run first inning when you're playing for the next round, because that's not something I don't think anyone can realistically expect in that situation?
DEXTER FOWLER: At the end of the day, I think we discussed it in the beginning. The crowd was going to be loud. We had to go out and try and get on them early. Last time we faced them it was a little hard to see but we knew at the top of the lineup right here, we had to get it going. And that's what we did.

KOLTEN WONG: Absolutely. Like I said, kind of repeat, but when this dude has that at-bat like he does, it's all about keeping the pressure on. We have our two guys coming behind me that are hitting .400 and .500, you want to make sure you get Dex in scoring position ahead of those guys.

Q. Winning and advancing is nice. What's it like for a kid from Atlanta to have this moment here?
DEXTER FOWLER: At the end of the day, I just didn't want to have to come back and visit my folks and have to hear the Braves knocked us out. So that was in my mind.

But it's awesome. I watched the Braves growing up and then come out and win a series against them. It's a good team over there. And hats off to them.

Q. Dex, how much of that two-strike pitch did you get to stay alive there? And then, first inning, how important is it to take the air out of the ballpark? The more runs you score it got a lot quieter there.
DEXTER FOWLER: Everybody's talking about that, but I thought I got more of it than what people are thinking. The ball fell, and I was, like, at the end of the day, I was still in the box. I didn't walk off. It's not like -- I got enough of it to think it was a foul ball. I didn't know it was that close in the glove.

Q. How about taking the air out of the ballpark?
DEXTER FOWLER: Yeah, that was important. That was important. I said the last time was Game 7. That Game 7, it was the same energy. And you could feel it. But at the end of the day we've got a horse on the mound, and we knew if we put some runs up for him, we'd be in good shape.

Q. Just this game's this game, but how crucial was it for you guys to get the first one here to be able to set up for this one tonight?
KOLTEN WONG: That was huge. Obviously it was a tough match. We knew we were coming in against a good team. The Braves have kind of dominated this division the whole year so we knew we were coming into some good territory. These guys, the fans show up. The guys come out to play. So it was huge to get that first win and notch us up.

Q. Dex, you've been part of a World Series club before. Do you kind of get that sensation, this feeling with this club right now?
DEXTER FOWLER: For sure. We have what it takes, just the character and stuff in the clubhouse. When our back's against the wall, there's nobody in the trenches I'd rather have than these guys at this point.

We've come out and we faced adversity for a lot of the season. A lot of people have counted us out and I don't think we're going to give up soon.

Q. Kolten, was that the first time you've sacrificed in a 10-run inning in your career?
KOLTEN WONG: I would say so. I think if you sacrifice that late you might get hit. I was just trying to get Dex in scoring position. When you have guys coming up like Goldschmidt and Ozuna, who are hitting four-something or five-something, you get him in scoring position and you let those dudes do their work.

DEXTER FOWLER: He surprised me. I was on first base. I was, like, oh, he gonna bunt? Okay --

KOLTEN WONG: Absolutely. That's the thing we always talk about is keeping the pressure on the other team. We don't want to feel the pressure; we want to apply the pressure. I told myself, put Dex in scoring position. A single is going to score this dude. This guy flies. Give those guys a chance to drive them in.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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