MLB WORLD SERIES: ASTROS VS BRAVES

October 27, 2021

Brian Snitker

Minute Maid Park

Atlanta Braves

Postgame 2 Press Conference

Houston - 7, Atlanta - 2

Q. This might not have gone according to blueprint for your two starters, but at the same time, how do you feel after two games in this series?

BRIAN SNITKER: Good. When we came in, you want to split. Obviously, you want to win two, but if you get out of here with a split, then that's a good thing going home.

Q. It was a late run there by Altuve. When he gets a home run at first pitch, are you kind of like lamenting that a little bit? Because he's so known for swinging at that first pitch.

BRIAN SNITKER: He likes to swing at that first pitch, that's for sure. Yeah, that's -- it didn't surprise me, honestly.

Q. Were you at all surprised that Max struggled early after having a pretty bad start the last time out? Then he settled in and was himself, it seemed like.

BRIAN SNITKER: I'm having a hard time convincing myself that he struggled. The first inning, they did some really good hitting. The second inning, when they scored, it was kind of a weird inning, you know what I mean? It wasn't like he was getting banged around. Balls that found holes, checked swings, we threw a ball away. It was just a weird inning.

But I thought his stuff was really good. He ended up throwing a lot of pitches for the five innings he was out there, but God, it could have been very easily a different outcome for him, I think, especially that second inning.

Q. I know bullpens are always important in postseason series, but how crucial maybe and fragile is the situation right now given you don't have Charlie?

BRIAN SNITKER: Yeah, it's tough. The bullpen's going to play a big part obviously in what we've got going on because we lost a huge starter. So we're going to have probably two games in a row that we're going to have to -- we're going to pitch 18 innings out of that bullpen.

That's why I think it was so encouraging to see Kyle tonight, just getting in there for that one inning and getting him out there and experiencing this atmosphere because he could play a huge part going forward. I thought he threw the ball extremely well.

So we'll take a day off. We've got some guys that have two days off now, and it will be the next three games at home.

It's kind of like the whole roster is going to have to be used just because of the situation we're in. It happens. So we'll just try and piece it together the best we can.

Q. That play in the second inning, what's your read? Who's supposed to be at third base there? Is Eddie supposed to just hold onto the ball when he realizes nobody's there, or is he supposed to throw it anyway?

BRIAN SNITKER: It's just one of them -- there's so many baseball plays that don't go like you want. I don't know that the guys thought there would be a play at home and then he threw the ball to third. We just kind of got caught in between a little bit.

Q. What would be the ideal?

BRIAN SNITKER: It happens. You've got to throw the ball to the cutoff man, let him cut it, the simple play. Because that's where -- when a ball is hit like that, that's where guys instinctually go.

Q. You mentioned Kyle Wright doing a great job tonight, and Lee did a nice job too. Were those two and Davidson, who really have not pitched that much in the Big Leagues this year, can that in some way be an advantage?

BRIAN SNITKER: I think it was really good tonight to get Lee in this game, to get Kyle in this game. I didn't really want to pitch Tucker. He threw yesterday at our site. I was very impressed with Tucker when he got his first call up this year. The moment didn't seem to matter to him. He was very impressive, how he went about it.

Those guys are going to have to play a big part in this.

Q. Does that element of mystery maybe help too, that there's not a whole lot --

BRIAN SNITKER: There's not a whole lot on them. That's right, absolutely. I know in the Big Leagues these guys like to see a guy for a while. They can see video, but until they get in that box and face him, that unknown is probably a good thing in this situation, if the guy on that mound can handle it, and those guys have all shown they can.

Q. A couple of errors tonight for your team, one yesterday. Is that something you're kind of worried about?

BRIAN SNITKER: No, not at all. The one yesterday, it was just a topspin ground ball. We haven't been on this field a lot. I think that's got something to do with that.

You know what, it happens. Over the course of 162 games that we just played and how good our guys are defensively, it doesn't bother me one bit.

Q. You've won 10 of the last 11 at home, undefeated at home in the postseason. How much do you attribute that to the atmosphere at Truist?

BRIAN SNITKER: I think it's great. The atmosphere is awesome. Like I say, Braves Country is real. It's real. That's why I think it was so important to split here. I mean, realistically, you want to win two, but if you can split and get out of here and go home where we've been really good, that's a very positive I think that we're going to go home on tomorrow.

Q. Brian, you mentioned the importance of the bullpen in this type of series. How important was it to have Max going five-plus knowing the state of your bullpen and losing Charlie and having a day off tomorrow?

BRIAN SNITKER: Max going five was really good tonight, especially after that second inning. I think the fact that he stretched the game through five into the sixth, it was good. We got some guys some experience in World Series that we may not have and got some -- some of our key guys are going to have two days rest going into the next three games, which I think will be good.