AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: ASTROS VS RED SOX

October 15, 2021

Carlos Correa

Minute Maid Park

Houston Astros

Postgame 1 Press Conference

Astros - 5, Red Sox - 4

Q. Carlos, you had a lot of big home runs in the postseason. Just where does this one sort of rank and what it means to you and what it meant to the team?

CARLOS CORREA: We ranked them a couple of weeks ago, you and I. They're all special in their own way. Obviously, this one is the most special because it's in the present time. It's right now. Gave us that 1-0 lead in such a great series against a great team. I just think this game was unbelievable. I enjoyed it as a player, but also, as a fan of the game, I thought it was a well-played game all-around. I think they're a really hard team to beat, and just by one run we won this game, and I feel like we played really good.

Yes, both teams left a lot of people on base, but that's what you get when you got good arms in each bullpen, so it was a beautiful game.

Q. When you come up to bat in those situations in the postseason, you've said how much you like the situations, you want to be in those situations. What's going through your head, and how kind of slow is your heartbeat in those situations?

CARLOS CORREA: Believe it or not, like I always say, it's visualizing the moment. When I'm on deck, Yordan is hitting, I'm visualizing where I want the pitch to start. I'm visualizing a tunnel and I'm visualizing what I want to do with it. So with Robles, I just wanted to hit it back to the middle. I was aiming to center field. Obviously, I was not trying to get a single. I was swinging for the fences, but under control.

So, yeah, with that approach, I was able to cover the changeup too because he had pretty much like the same plane of the fastball, so he left that one up. I had my approach to center field, and then just having to catch it out front.

Q. We obviously saw the pose and the "it's my time." Who were you talking to? Are you talking to your teammates? Are you talking to the fans or the world in general?

CARLOS CORREA: It's to my teammates. When the playoffs start, they always tell me it's your time now to go out there, hit homers, this and that. They told me to hit the watch and when I hit the homer -- I did it in Chicago the first time on my own, and today they told me if you hit a homer, hit them with the "it's your time." It just happened naturally there.

Q. Obviously not that you need to be inspired, but when you are down 3-1 and Jose hits that two-run home run, which really does change the game, what's it like when you watch him and you're coming up an inning later knowing that everything is starting to swing and the crowd gets going and momentum really swings like that?

CARLOS CORREA: Honestly, every time Jose is hitting in the playoffs, I feel like he is going to hit a home run. He is just so dangerous. His track record in the playoffs is insane, and he just inspires me. He inspires me without saying much. When I walk into that clubhouse in Spring Training and I see this guy that has won MVPs, Silver Sluggers, batting titles, Gold Glove, you know, Hank Aaron Awards. Every single award you can imagine, he has won it, and then he shows up to Spring Training wanting to work on different things to get even better.

If that doesn't inspire you, I mean, I don't know what will. When you have the best player of your team, that captain, that franchise player that everybody looks up to working that hard, it's just contagious. Everybody else in the organization does the same thing, so I feel like he inspires everybody in that clubhouse every single day.

Q. You've obviously been through so much with this team, ups and downs. In that moment you hit the home run and you hear the crowd, what are your feelings?

CARLOS CORREA: It's a special feeling that I'm never going to forget. When you retire, all these memories that you build in this beautiful game of baseball. One day I just want to be sitting in my house and spending time with my family, open a bottle of wine, and just talking about these beautiful moments that you live playing baseball. I want to be able to show my son when he is older everything I was able to accomplish. And now I play for him. Now I play thinking of my future son and the things that I want to do in this sport just so I can give him a better life.

I grew up in a tough situation in Puerto Rico, from a poor family, so I want him to have a better lifestyle. And every time I hit a homer, every time I do something cool on the field, I think about him. To me family is special, and these moments are just great memories that I get to share with them.

Q. Are you sad he is not out yet to be able to see this?

CARLOS CORREA: He will see it at some point. I'll show him.

Q. Just how much confidence do you have in this bullpen right now?

CARLOS CORREA: I love our bullpen. I have a lot of confidence. It's all about mixing and matching and having the right pockets for the guys. We got a lot of guys that can get the job done, and I truly believe that our bullpen was outstanding today, as you saw. The guys are very confident. They're working every single day. They're doing their own scouting reports. Maldi is on top of everything, so I have a lot of trust in those guys.

Q. (Question in Spanish)

CARLOS CORREA: (Answer in Spanish)

Q. You said this was a fun game to play and watch. You talked about the bullpen. Can you talk about just putting together a whole game like that, defensively, offense, and how it all came together?

CARLOS CORREA: Yeah, when you've got the two best teams in the American League going out there, you're going to get great games. And when you look at the talent on the field, position by position, it's just a lot of special players out there trying to help their teams win. I feel like this series is going to be fun to watch just all-around, however many games we play. It's going to be special, and I feel like baseball fans are in for a treat. These are two really good teams going at it.

Q. Specifically on the bullpen, can you talk about what it was like playing behind Cristian Javier tonight, struck out five of the eight he faced. Can you talk about his performance?

CARLOS CORREA: Yeah, special performance. Just to go out there and -- what was it? Two innings? Two and one-third. The way he performed, he was the pitcher of the game in my opinion, and he is the one that gave us a chance to stay in the game and be able to finally come back and win it. Truly, truly remarkable performance by him.

Q. (Question in Spanish)

CARLOS CORREA: (Answer in Spanish)