AL DIVISION SERIES: RAYS VS RED SOX

October 10, 2021

Austin Meadows

Fenway Park

Tampa Bay Rays

Pregame 3 Press Conference

Q. Obviously, the last two games were kind of unique and pretty heavy split left handers starting. How do you adjust the idea of not playing and getting in to the series essentially in Game 3?

AUSTIN MEADOWS: Just staying ready, do my routine like normal, treat it as any other day. Obviously, these are really big games, and you can come in at any point in the game.

Obviously with the matchups and things, not being able to play the first two games, I think for me just being ready to go at all times, and I'm looking forward today to getting out there and hopefully hit some balls hard, and we'll see where it goes.

Q. Obviously, you've been here a bunch of times, but what do you view the challenges of playing left field here?

AUSTIN MEADOWS: Yeah, it could be tricky, especially with the wall there, different bounces, different hops. Sometimes it will hop over your head, or sometimes it will hit the wall and kick off really far.

I think for me and KK, just being prepared for any situation, backing each other up in those situations. The ball can go, like I said, it can go anywhere. There's definitely challenges, but being able to play here before and having an idea of what's going on, I think that helps.

Q. Just about your season, KK told us -- I don't know if this is fully accurate, that he has a little part of the saying after every game is death, taxes, and Austin Meadows with runners in scoring position. What were you most proud about out of your season? Obviously a bunch of numbers in different categories.

AUSTIN MEADOWS: First off, just proud of my teammates for being able to get on for me and continuing to produce runs. That's kind of what it comes down to are those guys getting on base for me in order to drive runs in.

I think for me not trying to do too much in those situations. You obviously can get ahead of yourself and try to hit the ball out of the park, but for me, I think, just trying to simplify my approach and not do too much, to just be able to put the barrel on the ball. When we do, good things can happen.

Q. Kind of going off of that, just big picture, run prevention is so often the story of what makes this team successful, but this year your offense really was so strong. Was there anything in particular that you thought went into that or you thought you all worked on with Chad, just whatever came together that made this year possible?

AUSTIN MEADOWS: I think just our approach 1 through 9, like I said, in the past we've been defense and saving runs and doing all these things on the pitching side, but for us to be able to come together this year offensively and put together good at-bats 1 through 9 has been a big thing for us.

Obviously, halfway through the year getting Nelson and getting Wander as well, that helps the structure of the lineup. It's a huge boost for us offensively. Hitting is contagious. When guys are hot, other guys are as well. Hopefully, we can continue to do that.

Q. I know it's one loss the other night, but in a five-game series everything gets kind of magnified. Do you think the experience you guys had of '19 and '20, playing in some of those winner-take-all kind of games, helps you as the pressure kind of mounts in this type of a short series?

AUSTIN MEADOWS: I think obviously experience definitely helps, especially in the playoffs. There's some guys in the room that haven't been in the playoffs before, but a majority of guys have been, and we understand the magnitude of these games.

For it being 1-1 and splitting there at Tropicana, I think for us coming into today, we know it's a big game. And continuing to just do what we do and not put a lot of pressure on ourselves, and just take it a day at a time and continuing, hopefully all things will click on all cylinders today, and we'll see where we go.

Q. Just like going forward, if you were to lose today or tomorrow and be in a winner-take-all, do you think that kind of provides that same little cushion of how to work off or security for some of the guys?

AUSTIN MEADOWS: I think really having that same mindset of being consistent and doing what we can each and every day, and that's kind of what it boils down to. Obviously, wins or losses are huge, especially now, but for us to kind of come together as a team and continuing to push one another and be there for one another. When you do that, good things can happen.

Q. The Red Sox thrive on their fan support here at Fenway Park. As the visiting team, is there a way you can turn that fan support to your advantage? Can you guys also thrive off that as motivation?

AUSTIN MEADOWS: Definitely. I think our fans showed out really well at the Trop with it being pretty packed. Coming over here and being in a packed house and atmosphere, for us, we kind of thrive on those kinds of scenarios with it being packed and being on the road.

I think for us we played really good here in the past, so continuing to stick to that and not let all the fans get into our head or anything like that, but continuing just to have fun and push one another. Regardless if we're at the Trop or here, we realize there's a lot of fans and a lot of pressure, but for us just to go out and have fun, things will take care of itself.