AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: ASTROS VS RED SOX

October 19, 2021

Alex Cora

Minute Maid Park

Boston Red Sox

Postgame 4 Press Conference

Astros 9, Red Sox 2

Q. Alex, can you talk about bringing in Eovaldi in the ninth?

ALEX CORA: Yeah. He was going to give us one inning and we felt right there in that pocket it was good for him. I wasn't going to use him in extra innings because then I get tempted to use him for six, so I decided to use him in the ninth, and it didn't work.

Q. Is Chris your starter tomorrow?

ALEX CORA: Yes.

Q. And how much do you think reasonably that you can get out of him given the last couple?

ALEX CORA: He'll be fine. The way he threw the ball at the end of that outing in Houston, it was good. The way he worked in between starts, it was good. He will be ready.

Q. Alex, just an overall offensively frustrating night with the seven walks and 0-for-9 in scoring position?

ALEX CORA: We walked seven times, right?

Q. Yeah.

ALEX CORA: I asked Timmy at the end. He said it felt like -- I know we only had three or four hits, but we had traffic the whole time.

We had man on third, less than two outs with Kyle, and we didn't drive in the run. We had chances. I think we had chances early in the game, too, but, I mean, we've been so good for so long that you are going to have games like that. But approach-wise, you know, seven walks is great.

We grind some at-bats, right? J.D. got, what, two 3-2 counts. He got called out on a fastball away, and then he swung at a slider, but he ground out the at-bats. Overall we didn't get hits. We didn't produce too much, but I think the approach was good.

Q. Just kind of speak to the mindset of where you are now. Obviously, this was a close game until late. If you pull it out, it's a different complexion. Just the message of what you tell the guys?

ALEX CORA: There's not much to say in that clubhouse. We know where we're at. We knew the only thing that was guaranteed after last night was Game 6, right? So they have a good team. I think it was a good game until the end, right? We were one pitch away from ending that inning, and it didn't happen, and then they scored seven.

So we'll be ready tomorrow. Just like every day. You win, you turn the page. You lose, you turn the page, and be ready.

Q. Just said one pitch away. Did you think that was strike three?

ALEX CORA: I got to take a look. Yeah. A lot of people thought it was a strike.

Q. Do you think Nate was all deflated by that or thrown off by that?

ALEX CORA: He was upset. He threw a fastball up and fouled it off, and then he threw a split. He was a little bit in front and put a good swing. Castro has put good at-bats against us throughout the series. The home run and the walk against Whit early on, and then today he stayed back on that one -- well, against Whit he hits the line drive to first, and that one he battled and got the base hit.

He is a good hitter. He is not playing because the other guys got there defensively and they rely on them a lot, on Maldonado. Overall I know his numbers don't show they had a great season, but his approach is always good.

Q. Along the lines of what Ken was asking about, you, obviously, came out and got into an argument with Laz.

ALEX CORA: No, actually it was a conversation. The first one was the argument. The first one. The first one.

Q. Yes. You came out and had first an argument and then a conversation with him. What was going on there throughout that inning?

ALEX CORA: I didn't agree with the J.D. call. I didn't. The way the catcher reacted to the whole thing, I think we thought it was a ball; he thought it was a strike. We didn't agree with that one.

The last one I'm not going to get thrown out. I learned my lesson in Game 1 of the last time we played them and I told him -- I said, I'm not going to get thrown out of this game, but we thought that pitch was a strike, and he disagreed with us, but that's a tough job. I don't think -- yeah, it changes -- if it's a strike, it changes the whole thing, right, but I think we had chances early on. They did an outstanding job with the bullpen. We didn't do enough offensively, and now we go to Game 5.

Q. How do you think the ball/strike calls tonight affected the outcome of the game?

ALEX CORA: I got to take a look at the video and see how it went. I haven't had a chance to take a look at it. Like I said, I really disagreed with the one early on. It was the third inning, and 3-2 count. J.D. is very -- he doesn't argue too much, and the way he reacted, you know, I had to jump right away. I don't want him to get thrown out.

We disagreed with that one, so I know it's early in the game, but it's first and second one out. It is what it is. It's a tough job. I know Laz since our days in Miami, you know? He used to cover our games when I played at the University of Miami. Every Friday he was the man in those games, so it's a hard job. I understand that. It's a hard job.