MLB WORLD SERIES: ASTROS VS BRAVES

October 26, 2021

Brian Snitker

Minute Maid Park

Atlanta Braves

Postgame 1 Press Conference

Atlanta - 6, Houston - 2

Q. Congratulations on the victory. Two questions. One, can you just talk about what the emotions were like with your first World Series appearance? Obviously, a very nice outcome.

BRIAN SNITKER: No, it was good. I wondered before we got here what I'd feel like. When the game started, I felt like it was a baseball game, and you kind of get so tunnelled in to what you're doing that you forget where you're at. It's just another baseball game, a really loud baseball game.

Then so much happened really quick that I didn't have a chance to do anything other than that. But it was nice. I'm glad, obviously, we won the game.

Q. I wanted to ask you also, talk about what it means to get a 5-0 lead so quickly in a game like this.

BRIAN SNITKER: No, it was good, but against this club here, I'd rather get a 5-0 lead after the seventh inning than when we did because they have so much time to come back and it's such a dangerous team. That 5-0 feels like 1-0, quite honestly, to me just because of the club they are. They've been through these wars, and they're so dangerous, and they're so relentless, which makes it even more special to me in what our bullpen did.

Q. What can you say about Charlie, what this means to the team, and the fact that he was able to go out there and get three more outs after breaking a leg?

BRIAN SNITKER: Well, no, it's -- you know, it's -- I don't think he got three outs, did he?

Q. Yes.

BRIAN SNITKER: He did?

Q. Two more in that inning and Altuve in the next inning.

BRIAN SNITKER: Oh, I was thinking the next inning. No, he was in there, and they did the X-rays. We told Freddie, we told Austin, you guys are going to have to make sure you're more aggressive or whatever. He wanted to keep going because he was down in the tunnel and he was throwing against the wall, and he said it kind of hurts more when I run. I feel good when I throw. Then obviously, it didn't.

Yeah, I mean, just the fact that he wanted to keep going. They were X-Raying him. That's Charlie. He wants to be on this stage. God bless him, I hate it for him. Really hate it for him. He's such a great person, great person and teammate. I do, I really hate it for him because I know he's really looking forward to this run with us. So we'll move on.

Q. With Soler and Duvall homering tonight, is that just a reminder of how important those final hours and Alex's diligence leading up to that trade deadline were?

BRIAN SNITKER: Yeah, that and the play that Eddie made off the wall on Gurriel's ball. All those guys, Joc. They complete our team, those guys, and they've been big for us since they got here, and they're continuing to be every day.

Q. A.J. Minter was so big for you guys against the Dodgers. How important was that what he was able to do?

BRIAN SNITKER: That was huge what A.J. pulled down. He did it for us last year in the NLCS, but that tonight was really, really good. I mean, he was good. He was well rested. And he pulled down some really, really big innings for us.

We went to him earlier than we normally would, but like I said earlier today, you do things differently here in this arena, I think. A.J. is just -- he's been so good this post. Just not him, all the bullpen. That was huge tonight what he did, how he stretched the game to get us to those other guys.

Q. You've kind of become used to answering questions about untimely injuries this season and how the team responds. How do you see you guys responding to this one going forward? And how do you fill in with Charlie's loss?

BRIAN SNITKER: They're talking about that right now as we speak. You know, it's just like the other day when Soler came in and was scratched from the lineup two hours before the game. I just told Alex, I said, don't worry, these guys are going to keep going. They're going to keep fighting. They're going to keep battling. We've been through this many times this year, losing key components to our club. I mean, really key components.

We're going to continue. It's not going to be an excuse or anything else. We're going to go out and continue to try and win games.

Q. Two things. When exactly did he get that X-ray?

BRIAN SNITKER: They do it during the game.

Q. But I mean, it was --

BRIAN SNITKER: There's nothing to show. That X-ray, when he went back out, didn't show anything.

Q. And then he got another one?

BRIAN SNITKER: Well, he got one after he came out of the game and felt hurt. They looked at him prior to him going out to start the next inning, and everything was good.

Q. Can you give any indication of what you might do to replace him?

BRIAN SNITKER: No, I can't.

Q. Could you think many of the pitchers you know go out and throw 16 pitches on a broken leg and get three outs, or is it something that Charlie --

BRIAN SNITKER: I'm not a doctor and all that, but I don't know that it was broken when he did that. I mean, it was stressed, but he felt okay. I think a lot of athletes have done that. I saw a kid foul a ball off his foot one time when we were playing the Mets, and it took a while, but he went back in the box and hit a homer, and his leg or foot fractured rounding the bases.

I don't know that's all that uncommon with all these injuries in baseball, football, whatever players.

Q. He could have went out for the third --

BRIAN SNITKER: Yeah, it just might it have been something he did then that would have happened anyway at some point in time.