AL DIVISION SERIES: RAYS VS RED SOX

October 10, 2021

Christian Vazquez

Kike Hernandez

Fenway Park

Boston Red Sox

Postgame 3 Press Conference

Red Sox 6, Rays 4

Q. Can you go over that at-bat?

CHRISTIAN VAZQUEZ: Yeah, I saw the first two at-bats of JD and Renfroe, and he was starting with fastball. It was 97, 98. I was looking to hit that velo in front and get a good swing.

Q. What was it like working with Nick those last few innings? It seemed like he was very emotional and how he was coming off the mound and everything.

CHRISTIAN VAZQUEZ: Yeah, it was electric today. I think he deserved this win. It was awesome to work with him tonight, and all the pitches -- the curveball, slider, fastball up -- all the pitches was working and very sharp tonight.

Q. When he comes off the mound like that, how long does it take for you to talk to him between innings, for him to calm down?

CHRISTIAN VAZQUEZ: Yeah, he was very emotional. Pitchers like that, you need to calm down and take a break and wait for when they calm down and talk to them. But he deserved everything tonight.

Q. The question is for both of you, if we can please answer in English and Spanish. Do you consider yourselves lucky today to get this win?

KIKÉ HERNANDEZ: No.

Q. Why not?

KIKÉ HERNANDEZ: Because we played a good game. I mean, play a good game and play the elements, we took care of home-field advantage, came our way. We did what we had to do to win the game. Got big hits, got big homers.

CHRISTIAN VAZQUEZ: I'm the same. No, we're not lucky. I think we did everything. We pitch, we bunt. Everybody put something on the table to win this game, and we won. So, yeah.

Q. Christian, can you describe the emotion of hitting the walkoff there? What's it like inning after inning where it's kind of building up and you're wondering where and how this is going to come to a conclusion?

CHRISTIAN VAZQUEZ: Yeah, it's a big moment for us. It's a big win. I think no matter what inning, we need to do the job, and somebody needs to do it and take charge there, and I did it. We played good, and we're ready for tomorrow.

Q. Kiké, I guess first, because you had better view of the play. Just the double there with Renfroe, how worried were you that they were going to allow him to score there? What was your view on the play?

KIKÉ HERNANDEZ: Obviously, I got a great view of it. I went behind him to where my idea, my eyes were telling me that the ball was going to bounce, and if it beat him, I needed to be there to like make a strong throw to the cutoff man in case Diaz wasn't -- I don't know, we could have had a play at the plate or at third or whatever.

When that happened, I was speechless because I don't know if you guys have seen that before. I've never seen that before in my life. I wasn't sure what was going to get called. I wasn't sure if the runners had to return. I wasn't sure if it was going to be like an errant throw where the runner would get two bags. Like I had no idea.

Luckily, it went our way, and you call it home-field advantage if you want, call it whatever you want, but we won.

Q. Christian, what were you thinking as that play unfolds?

CHRISTIAN VAZQUEZ: Yeah, it's the first time I saw it. It's a play that we don't know what happened. I didn't see whether it hit Renfroe or not, but thank God they had a ground-rule double, so Diaz stayed at third base and get Zunino to strike out.

Q. You guys have had a number of very hard wins over the last month of the season or so. How would you describe what these wins -- these kinds of wins? Is it stubbornness that allows you to win them? What characteristics allow you to win games like this?

CHRISTIAN VAZQUEZ: Fun. I think we play for these emotions. It's October, and anything can happen in October. It's fun for me.

KIKÉ HERNANDEZ: The whole season's been a grind, to be honest with you. We've dealt with a lot, and it seems like every time people are -- it just surprises people. We're going to grind it out. We're going to be relentless. We're going to do whatever it takes to win a ballgame.

We've been able to do that, and we're sitting here in a really good spot to win a series against one of the best teams in the American League, if not the best team the last two years.

That was a heck of a ballgame tonight. I don't want that play to take away from what this game was on both sides. Both teams played a helluva game. This is what October is all about. These are the games you expect to play and to win when you think about October.

Luckily, we were able to take care of business tonight, and we're looking forward to tomorrow.