MLB WORLD SERIES: ASTROS VS BRAVES

October 26, 2021

Dusty Baker

Minute Maid Park

Houston Astros

Postgame 1 Press Conference

Atlanta - 6, Houston - 2

Q. From your vantage point, what was Framber's biggest problem today? Why couldn't he get settled in and get into a rhythm?

DUSTY BAKER: They started off with a home run the first batter, and then made a couple pitches, the 3-0 double, and then the change-up that he left up. He probably threw a little bit too hard, and it ends up being kind of a nothing fastball. So we had to go get him at that point.

But in that first inning, we had bases loaded, Albies made a great play because that ball gets through, it's 2-2, there's runners on the corner, who knows what would have happened. That was an example of defense saving the day for them early, and then he might not have gotten settled in.

I heard that he had a broken leg, which you don't wish bad on anybody, and I heard Charlie Morton is one of the best guys around too. So we've just got to wish him well.

We didn't get many breaks tonight. They got three or four infield hits that end up causing the pitch count to go up. Our bullpen did a very good job. It's just we couldn't get anything going offensively, which is rare when the opposing team outhits our team.

Q. What did you think of Odorizzi tonight, and how does using him tonight maybe impact your plans moving forward with him?

DUSTY BAKER: I don't know about the plans moving forward. The game just ended tonight. He did a very good job. Keeping that game where it is, also taking some pressure off our bullpen. Yimi did a good job. Like I said, our bullpen did an excellent job tonight, and they played a good game.

Sometimes you get beat, and sometimes you give them the game. We didn't give them anything tonight. We just got beat tonight. They played a very good game.

Q. Why do you think Framber's had such an up-and-down postseason when he's been so steady for you this season?

DUSTY BAKER: Like I said, just made a couple of pitches early, bad pitches early that they didn't miss. Like I said, if we'd have gotten those couple runs early, we might still be pitching.

It's a shocker, when you come off a great outing like he just did, then the first batter hits it out of the ballpark. So it was kind of a negative from the very beginning. Like I said, the ball didn't bounce our way tonight. They got a couple infield hits, that infield hit that Albies got, that's not bad pitching, that's just where the ball bounces sometimes.

Q. After the first inning, you still had a lot of chances offensively. Was there any positives you can take away from some of the hard hit balls, maybe the way you swung the bat tonight?

DUSTY BAKER: Yeah, just because you don't get hits, that don't mean that you didn't have quality at-bats. That's all you can do is try to -- you know, as a hitter, you can't guide the ball. You wish you could. But your job as a hitter is get a good pitch to hit and then try to make a good pass at it and hit it hard. After that, it's out of your control.

Like I said, our bullpen did a good job. We had a number of strikeouts. So the way I look at it, tomorrow's our day.

Q. You guys have been so good this whole season and the postseason at getting hits with two outs or getting guys on board with two outs. Why wasn't that the case tonight?

DUSTY BAKER: Like I said, you can't guide the ball. All you can do is hit it. We were getting a number of two-out hits, and that was the difference really in the game. We didn't get the two-out hits. If you can get them any time you wanted to, you'd never make an out.

So like I said, the ball didn't bounce our way tonight, and it bounced theirs.

Q. Dusty, you guys were down 2-1 to Boston and almost 3-1, and you came back and won that series. How have you seen your team, any time there's a shot that they can fall down, fall backwards, they've been able to find their way forward every time this season?

DUSTY BAKER: Our team doesn't worry, and our team's very confident. We have the knack of bouncing back after losses, after tough losses because they don't quit, they don't give up, they don't get down. That's the secret of sports.

You know, on a loss you have to forget yesterday. That's one of the keys. This team is excellent at forgetting yesterday if you have negative events like we did today. I mean, you go in our clubhouse, I've never seen these guys worry. They know they can play, and they know they're going to rebound.

Q. Dusty, obviously the result is not there, but since you haven't been to the World Series in almost two decades, what was this day like for you, if you can still appreciate it?

DUSTY BAKER: Yeah, I appreciate the fact that we're here. It's a tough road to get here. Yeah, I appreciate it big time. Did I want to win? Probably more than anybody, but not any more than anybody on our team.

So you just got to like blow this game off and then come back and realize that tomorrow's -- that's the beauty of baseball. Tomorrow's another day, and who knows? That's the way I look at it. Ball's going to bounce our way tomorrow.

Q. Dusty, in the fourth inning when you had runners on the corners after Swanson had bobbled that ball, did you consider hitting Diaz or Marwin for Maldonado?

DUSTY BAKER: No, that's too early. That's way too early in the fourth inning, especially when you only have two catchers and especially when they have a whole bullpen full of left handers.

No, that was far too early. I mean, you do that if you're panicking, and I don't know how to panic.