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AL DIVISION SERIES: RAYS VS ASTROS

October 10, 2019

Kevin Cash

Houston, Texas - postgame 5

Houston - 6, Tampa Bay - 1

Q. As far as the game went, what do you think as far as what was going on with Tyler early on and the way you kept it even for a while?
KEVIN CASH: Yeah, I think they had a really good approach. It happened quick. Just really didn't allow him to settle in. And that's what their offense is capable of doing. We've done such a good job, I felt, leading into Game 5 of kind of controlling the early top of their lineup. You know they're going to get their hits, every once in a while they're going to get the home runs, but they just pieced together a tremendous inning against a really good pitcher.

Q. Was there any issue with them you think stealing signs or either seeing something about Glasnow tipping his pitching?
KEVIN CASH: Well, they could have been. We are aware at times with some pitchers, but at the end of the day it's 98 and it's a breaking ball. You've still got to do your job with it, and they certainly did.

Q. What was kind of the message to the guys there at the end of the game?
KEVIN CASH: Just a thank you from myself, the staff. Thank you to the support staff and ultimately the players. What an impressive run. They were a fun team to be around, fun team to watch for six and a half months.

Can't deny the fact that we came up short. You get a taste of this, you want to keep going. Today we kind of got outpowered; outpowered on the mound and obviously at the plate.

But really, really proud of the guys.

Q. You talked about right now just keep going. There were various times throughout the year between injuries and everything, do you feel like you're in a good spot where you guys' health in the offseason until next year where you'll really be able to keep going?
KEVIN CASH: Yeah, I think we have a very, very special group. And gaining this experience for the young players that haven't done it, for myself that hasn't been in this, in this position, hopefully we can learn from it and have an opportunity to get back here.

But really excited about what the offseason will bring and then when it wraps around the first of the year talking about baseball again.

Q. Did you feel after the first inning just the way you had so many games this year that you'd find a way to get back in it?
KEVIN CASH: I did. I think we all did. And up there until the eighth inning, I think we gave everybody a reason to believe that. Our pitchers, it was outstanding the performance they did, to give up the 4, it happened quick, but after that to really navigate through that, kind of make some big pitches. There wasn't a lot of offense going on.

So I give those guys a lot of credit coming out of the bullpen today. Every one of them gave us a chance to stay within striking distance. The issue is their guy on the mound was just that much better that we just couldn't get anything going.

Q. Now that you've seen Cole twice, do you think he's the best pitcher left in the playoffs?
KEVIN CASH: I don't know. There's a lot of good pitchers. He's certainly very, very talented. But I couldn't answer that.

Q. You've seen the Astros now 12 times, the Yankees 19. How do you feel the teams stack up?
KEVIN CASH: They're both really good. We know the Yankees well. We just got to know the Astros that much better here.

I would imagine it would be a really good series. I couldn't give you who is going to stack up. They've got elite bullpens, elite starters, great offense.

Q. I know you probably touched on it earlier, was there something Glasnow was doing they got to him early, did they see something specific that you saw that he wasn't doing well or different?
KEVIN CASH: Well, I'm aware that there is speculation about pitch tipping. It's something that we have discussed. It's a little tough to do that, make an adjustment in Game 5 of a Division Series. But at the end of the day give the guys the credit that went up to the plate and put the ball in play and hit line drives. I think that's what did us in.

Q. You had momentum from two straight wins. How frustrating is it to see that at the bottom of the first inning that a great starting pitcher and offense against you seems to take your momentum all away?
KEVIN CASH: Well, it is frustrating. Look, getting down, we've been down, we've shown the ability to come back. The frustrating part is Gerrit Cole is on the mound on the other side and the run he's been on is second to none. That presents its own challenges.

But still had the confidence that we were going to be able to hold it right there. Wasn't quite sure how we were going to get to him. We needed things to go our way and catch a pitch out front that we could do some damage on with guys on base, he just never allowed that to happen.

Q. And that's what I was going to ask you, piggyback on, when you see Gerrit Cole having it like he did tonight, what do you tell hitters? How do you get them motivated to try to get some offense going?
KEVIN CASH: I was a career .180 hitter, they're not going to listen to me at all. Stay out of the way and hope that they can make some adjustments.

Q. When you sit back and look at the series as a whole and how well you guys played and how many of your guys pitched well, does it ultimately come down to they had two great pitchers who are on top of their game right now?
KEVIN CASH: I think that's fair. That's a lot of it. Yes, that's a lot of it. We caught JV and then Gerrit twice. Yeah, I mean elite pitching like that can really quiet good offense. And we have a good offense. They played their part.

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