MLB WORLD SERIES: ASTROS VS BRAVES

October 31, 2021

Marwin Gonzalez

Truist Park

Houston Astros

Postgame 5 Press Conference

Houston - 9, Atlanta - 5

Q. Marwin, you've had big swings for this team in the playoffs. What's it like after being gone a few years, to come back and get another one tonight?

MARWIN GONZALEZ: It feels amazing. This is part of my family. The guys welcomed me like I never left. That made me feel special too. Then to be able to contribute to the team and get a win in the World Series, it means a lot.

Q. Marwin, obviously you guys had to win this game today to extend your season, but now you're going back home to Minute Maid Park. How driven was this team today not just to extend its season, but to get this World Series back to Minute Maid, back to Houston, because you know as well as anyone the difference that stadium could make for this team.

MARWIN GONZALEZ: It's nothing like playing at home, especially in the playoffs when you have the home-field advantage, you have your fans. You saw how loud this place got these three days. That gives an extra bounce that you as a team needed to put yourself and to perform well.

For us going back to Houston, we gave ourselves a chance to go game by game and to get the Game 6, that's a goal. That means a lot too.

Q. Marwin, from your vantage point in the on deck circle, what did you think of the plate appearance Martin put together against Minter?

MARWIN GONZALEZ: It was amazing. I said after the game I think that was the key. I think everybody put good at-bats. It was a teamwork. Everybody put good at-bats in the inning, starting with the leadoff guy in that inning, which it was Carlos, getting the 0-2 base hit to the middle.

Then everything was going in a good line for us after that hit. I mean, Minter has been one of, I would say, the best pitcher in this series from their side. To put good at-bats against him, that gives you extra bounce too.

Q. Marwin, how do you view this opportunity with the Astros after things went the way they did in Boston and Minnesota, to have this chance again with a team that saw you develop?

MARWIN GONZALEZ: How I say it, it means a lot. I play with some of these guys for seven years, which they're more than just teammates, they're my family. It feels like home. You sleep better in your bed than you sleep in a hotel. So it's kind of like I see it that way. I mean, I feel grateful to be here.

Q. Marwin, you weren't on the first two playoff series rosters. How did you kind of stay engaged, and how did you handle that? And how did you prepare coming onto this roster?

MARWIN GONZALEZ: I was practicing every day with the team. I was going to the cage and some of the days hitting BP and hitting balls with my team too. I wasn't on the roster the first two series, but I was doing my job in the clubhouse cheering for my teammates. Then I am fortunate to -- and obviously it went well, and that's why we're here.

Q. Marwin, you're one of the few people who was with the team in the lean years, the 100-loss seasons. Now seeing what this franchise is, being in the third World Series over five years, what do you make of the journey over this decade?

MARWIN GONZALEZ: Like you say, I was here when we lost three straight seasons. I can tell you that that's one thing that I don't wish that to any player. It's not that you don't want to play, but you don't even want to show up. It's boring.

But since 2015, when we went to the Wild Card, and we had a chance to taste the playoffs for the first time, for the group that was here since 2012, I mean, we became a really good team. We missed '16, but we've been there every single year after that and became a winning team, a winning franchise.