MLB WORLD SERIES: ASTROS VS BRAVES

October 26, 2021

Jorge Soler

Adam Duvall

Minute Maid Park

Atlanta Braves

Postgame 1 Press Conference

Atlanta - 6, Houston - 2

Q. Describe the energy and the atmosphere in the dugout after you hit the home run.

JORGE SOLER: The energy was amazing and electric, especially after we took a 1-0 lead after that home run.

Q. How hard was it to see Charlie Morton have to exit because of his injury?

JORGE SOLER: Obviously, it was extremely challenging for us. We saw him getting treatment and getting worked on. He went back out there to pitch on that broken leg. It was really challenging and emotional for us to have to see him in the game being hurt, our World Series opener, starter.

Q. For both of you, Valdez is such a big ground ball pitcher. That's his bread and butter. What did you all do to prepare that you were able to, not just lift the ball against him, but to go hit home runs, both of you?

ADAM DUVALL: I think our game plan was try to get really good pitches to hit. Obviously, he's not going to give you too many, but just try to shrink our zone, seam up, and try to hit a fly ball because his sinkers are so good and his curveball is going straight down as well. So that was the approach.

JORGE SOLER: Yeah, he's obviously a pitcher who induces a lot of ground balls, but I think our approach was the same, just try to get it up in the air and hit a fly ball.

Yeah, especially for the right-handed hitters. If he goes middle or middle out, we're trying to lift it over to the opposite side.

Q. In response to hitting that leadoff home run, especially with everything that led up to this game and obviously missing some of the games in the ALCS and the emotion that went along with it.

JORGE SOLER: Obviously, it was extremely emotional for me and emotional for my family, with everything we had, to be able to lead off in this game.

Q. After you were acquired in July, obviously, they lost a big, big player. How much have you sort of enjoyed or thrived on that responsibility of collectively trying to do what you've done?

ADAM DUVALL: I think, when you come into a new team, obviously, you want to produce, but you just want to be the player that you are. You don't want to try and do too much. To replace a guy like that, you're not really going to do it.

So just coming in and being ourselves and playing our game, you know, just the ability for us to come in and gel and mesh with the team right away was pretty cool to see because they brought us in with open arms. They were on board and accepted us from day one and made us feel very comfortable in the clubhouse and on the field. Brought us in.

We felt like part of the team right away, and that was huge.

JORGE SOLER: No, it was obviously the trade for the four of us, and I think we've all done a good job. I think for me it was a little bit challenging, especially when I got traded right away, just because of the language barrier. I couldn't speak English very well. So I just assumed that I was going to have a hard time making those connections with some of the English-speaking players. But after a weekend, that wasn't the case. I felt like I was already here playing with my brothers.

I felt like there was a really good chemistry within the clubhouse itself, and I feel like now our sole purpose is to go out there and win games.

Q. Yesterday, we saw E.Y. take a fungo with the entire outfield out in left field and left center, hitting fungoes at different parts of the wall, and then you saw what happened tonight with Eddie. Is that just a perfect example of the little things becoming meaningful in a major situation like this?

ADAM DUVALL: I'd say it's one of the trickiest outfields in the Big Leagues just the way it bounces off the surfaces. There's six different surfaces out there -- padding, fence, brick, the scoreboard, the metal in the scoreboard. So, yeah, I mean, we tried to hit on all that and tried to figure out where we need to be when it bounces off the wall.

Yeah, that's preparation. That's the little things that people may not see at home, but that's part of prepping. That's part of what we do. We try to cover all the little things because little things become big things in games like this. That was a big play.

Q. It appears that Charlie got three outs with a badly damaged ankle, including a really good sequence against Altuve. First of all, what kind of at-bats do you think you would put up with a broken ankle? And just what does that performance tell you about the guy?

ADAM DUVALL: Man, gamer. That's the biggest -- that's the one word I would describe him as. I couldn't tell from my angle, I couldn't tell how hard the ball was hit and where it hit him at, but just him coming out there, I knew it probably wasn't good because just the way he is and the way he competes.

So seeing him walk off like that, it didn't make me feel good.

Q. For both you guys, have you guys talked to Alex about how late or how diligent he had to be to get your deal done? He had to call Kim after midnight and Dayton at 3:30 or whatever. Now that you're here, have you ever talked to him about it? Now that you're here, do you thank him for being so diligent?

JORGE SOLER: No, obviously, I feel extremely grateful to be here and be a member of this organization. I feel like Atlanta opened its arms for me. They traded for me, and they gave me opportunity to play every day. So as far as I'm concerned, I'm extremely grateful to the organization, to the fans who have definitely supported us, and like I said, I'm very happy to be here.

ADAM DUVALL: Yeah, I haven't had that conversation with Alex. I think the rumors floating around were they didn't want to trade within the division. That's normal for baseball. But, yeah, I was sitting on the couch about 12:30 in the afternoon on the last day of the trade deadline and got the call.

You know, it took me by surprise. At that point, I wasn't really expecting anything. I was getting ready to go into the field and play the game that day. So it took me by surprise, for sure.

Q. For both of you, I know it's only one win, but what can this win on the road opening up the series just do for your confidence and nerves moving forward?

JORGE SOLER: It means a lot. It's the first game that we played, and to win it, it gives us a lot of energy and confidence moving into tomorrow's game.

ADAM DUVALL: Yeah, I think we obviously swung the bats there early pretty well, and doing that on the road, kind of getting them first at-bat jitters out of the way, it's big.

Obviously, this is a long series. It's going to be a dogfight. So we'll enjoy this one and then get focused and ready for tomorrow.

Q. Jorge, until tonight, there had never been a World Series game that started with a home run on the first swing of the World Series. When you think of all the great leadoff hitters in baseball history, how hard is it for you to believe that you became the first to do that when you just started leading off?

JORGE SOLER: No, I'm very happy obviously. Me and my family were both very happy. To be honest, I didn't know that was a thing until I was told a little later on in the game.

For me, I wasn't thinking about anything like that. I was just trying to get an at-bat and just make it contact the ball.