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MLB WORLD SERIES: NATIONALS VS ASTROS

October 25, 2019

Will Harris

Washington, D.C. - postgame 3

Houston - 4, Washington - 1

Q. AJ was just discussing how this reestablishes you guys in the series. From your perspective coming here, down 2-0, losing both those home games in Houston, how does it feel not just to win this, but it's 2-1 and things can change if you guys carry through this?
WILL HARRIS: Everybody in that clubhouse is well aware of where we were sitting coming here; playing Game 3, down 0-2, losing two games at home. Obviously it's not the script you'd want to write to start out a World Series.

We believe in each other in there. We know we have obviously a very talented, capable team. It's just a matter of us finding a way to score more runs than them today.

We played a good brand of baseball today. We made really big pitches when we needed to, flying around the bases, kind of Astros baseball that we've all become accustomed to watching. It was a lot of fun. A lot of energy in our dugout today. And we expect to carry that over to tomorrow.

Q. You guys clearly recalibrated. Can you kind of take us through the players-only meeting, who called it, and what it accomplished for you guys?
WILL HARRIS: Yeah, I mean, I got asked about it today. I don't really like to talk about that kind of stuff. It was some guys said some things that, you know, I think a lot of us maybe were thinking in our head but it's sometimes nice to hear them out loud.

And the biggest thing was we didn't want anybody feeling sorry for themselves coming here, because that's not going to accomplish anything. That was the message.

And we showed up today and from the get we were putting a lot of pressure on them. And we kept it going for nine innings, so it was good.

Q. They've scored throughout this postseason so many runs, say, seventh, seventh inning on. How much of a factor was tonight in not allowing that to happen? Does that bode well for you guys going forward?
WILL HARRIS: Well, I wasn't aware of that, that a lot of their runs were being scored during that portion of the game. I know in Game 2 obviously it kind of got away from us in those innings.

For us it doesn't change anything. As a bullpen, as a starting rotation, we're just looking to make pitches, as many as we can in a row, and work our way through a lineup. See what they're doing, how they're going to make adjustments.

A seven-game series is a long series to face a team. We've done it before, obviously, so we kind of know what to expect.

They're a really talented team. Their lineup does a lot of different things. They're very athletic. Those first two guys in their lineup really set the tone for them. And it's a matter of keeping those guys off base and making your pitches to the middle part of that lineup because they can obviously hurt you.

Q. With the players-only meeting, just the players in general, did you guys view what happened with Brandon Taubman and all the fallout from that as an obstacle or hurdle that you had to push aside and overcome?
WILL HARRIS: No, I specifically haven't talked to anybody about that. That has nothing to do with really anybody in our clubhouse. That was a completely isolated incident that didn't involve a player or anything like that.

So none of us are, from my point of view, are really concerned with any of that kind of stuff.

Q. With the longer outing for you tonight, was there anything in particular you used to grind through one plus like that, and was there anything that that changes for you tomorrow?
WILL HARRIS: Yeah, it's difficult. I mean, the postseason, like, you kind of know that those are coming. I knew in Game 6 against the Yankees that I was going to have one plus that day.

When Zack's pitch count was kind of getting a little up there, I pretty much figured today was going to be another one of those days. In a must-win situation, AJ was going to lean on some guys. And so I wasn't caught off guard by it.

I got a little TLC after my outing, I'll get some more before I get out of here. Get a good night's sleep, get here early tomorrow, and do what I need to do to be ready to pitch tomorrow.

Q. Bullpens are funny, because they're always sort of changing and there's a ebb and flow through the season. AJ was just talking about how right now it's kind of reached a point where he can throw a different look at different parts of the game with everybody throwing well. Do you guys in the bullpen sort of hit that stride where you kind of realize where everybody is playing off of each other and things are going well?
WILL HARRIS: Yeah, I think that's kind of been a mark of us since I've been here. We've always carried a lot of guys that do a lot of different things and gives a lot of different looks. And this year is no different. We've got guys that can throw 98. We have guys that throw 88. We have guys that cut it, sink it, we've got guys with big curveballs, we've got Peacock throwing a slider.

I think it allows AJ to kind of mix and match how he sees fit, and knows that we're not just carbon copies of one another that are kind of rolling out there. I think that helps. I think when you've got me throwing cutters and curveballs followed up by Joe Smith, a completely different arm angle and stuff like that, I know people talk about us not having a left-handed reliever, but I think that variety he has allows us to do that.

Q. Congratulations on the win. I got here late, but I want to know, do you feel the team felt pressure? Did the team understand the historic aspect of falling behind 3-0? Was that part of the mindset?
WILL HARRIS: Yeah, I mean, "pressure" is I don't think the right -- we understood the situation we were in, obviously. This is postseason baseball. A lot of guys in that clubhouse have been here. A lot of us were in that series when we went and got swept in New York in 2017 and came back home and knew we had to win two. Game 7 in Dodger Stadium in '17.

A lot of us have been through this. We understood where we were coming in. We understood today we needed to play our best brand of baseball. And hopefully that was going to be good enough to get a win, and today it was. And then tomorrow it's just a matter of doing that same thing.

Every man in there was aware of where we were and understood that today was an important -- to do your job today as well as you could was very important.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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