AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: ASTROS VS RED SOX

October 19, 2021

Chris Sale

Fenway Park

Boston Red Sox

Postgame 4 Quotes

Astros 9, Red Sox 2

Q. How much has this got to open a chance for you to sort of come through for your team when they need it most?

CHRIS SALE: Sure. I mean, we all know what we got ahead of us, you know, and the series tied 2-2. Big game, obviously, tomorrow and going back to Houston guaranteed now. So taking this last one at home right before we get on that plane and head down to Houston will be big.

Q. Some of these guys are down right now. You have a chance to kind of lift these guys up.

CHRIS SALE: For sure. It will keep us down for tonight, but we'll bounce back tomorrow. You know, you can't keep us down. We've faced adversity the whole year. We know who we are. We have confidence in ourselves.

Obviously, it's a tough loss. Especially given some of the circumstances throughout that game. Like I said, we bounce back tomorrow and we're right back on it.

Q. What's the biggest thing you've been working on since we last saw you? You thought you had made some progress in Game 1, but what is the biggest thing you've been working on since then?

CHRIS SALE: Just my delivery. You know, getting comfortable with it, being able to repeat it a lot. I think that's where a lot of my inconsistencies have come, not being able to repeat that. A lot of dry throws, a lot of heavy bullpen sessions, stuff like that. Just more repetition I can get, the better off I'm going to be.

Q. At any point in your career have you ever spent this much time in the bullpen as you have the last couple of weeks to try to figure this out?

CHRIS SALE: No chance. I've never been away from the game like I was before. This is crunch time. This isn't let's work back from Tommy John and try to find some stuff. We need it now. Look where we're at. I got to put as much work as I can, and I got to do my job. I got to do what I got to do for this team.

Q. Do you feel like the change-up, do you feel like you've made some progress with that in the bullpen in some of the work you've been doing?

CHRIS SALE: Yeah, overall everything is coming out a lot better. I feel a lot more comfortable. Things have been trending in the right direction, and it's all about putting it out on the field. I know my guys will be behind me.

Q. You see the resilience of the team all year. How much do you think you guys are equipped to kind of shake off -- this could be looked at as a really tough loss, how much do you think you can shake this off given what you guys have been through this year?

CHRIS SALE: There's not a doubt in my mind. Like I said, it's a tough blow tonight, but like I said before, I know my guys are going to bounce back. We're all going to bounce back. It's who we are. We're still leading or we're at 2-2. This wasn't a game that they took away. We're tied now, and we got one more at home. Like I said, we got to take this last one, hop on the plane to Houston, and take care of business down there.

Q. This is your first one at home in the playoffs. How much do you think the crowd and all that adrenaline is going to kind of help maybe give you that little extra --

CHRIS SALE: This crowd is everything to us, man. Our fans are -- they mean a lot to us, and they know we love them, and we know they love us. This entire postseason they've been bringing it. I know they're going to do everything for us tomorrow.