MLB WORLD SERIES: PHILLIES VS ASTROS

October 29, 2022

Alex Bregman

Jose Altuve

Minute Maid Park

Houston Astros

Postgame 2 Press Conference

Houston Astros - 5, Philadelphia Phillies - 2

THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions for Alex.

Q. We asked Dusty this too. I know mathematically you have to win four games. This was not going to eliminate you. But how important was it to win this game, not to fall behind 0-2 going to the three games in Philly?

ALEX BREGMAN: Well, yeah, like you said, you just got to play every game, really, all the way through, and it's definitely important to win every single time you take the field. I think this team takes a lot of pride in going out and competing every single day and showing up with a clear head and being able to flush a bad game and move on to the next one. I think we did a good job of that today.

Q. Did you feel it was a necessary win going into it?

ALEX BREGMAN: I feel like every game in the World Series is a necessary game to try and win. They have an unbelievable team over there all around, great pitching, great offense. So we got to try and win every single time we can.

Q. José, I was going to ask you about the 7th inning when you hit that really high fastball. You were kind of like laughing and smiling at first base. Can you talk about -- I know you always have faith in your performance, but were you having more fun tonight with the game you had?

JOSÉ ALTUVE: Absolutely, especially because we were winning the game since first inning. So winning is fun. Obviously, when you get on base to let the boys like Alex hit homers, it's fun too.

Q. Alex, there have been so many special moments here since 2017 in World Series and playoffs. But having that first inning after losing Game 1 and to have three consecutive doubles and the crowd really gets going, gets into this game, what's that like from a player's perspective where all of a sudden you guys know, not that you have any question, but you guys are back and you're in charge of Game 2 like that?

ALEX BREGMAN: Well, this guy right here set the tone, and it was awesome. I feel like that one swing of the bat to start off the game got the crowd into it, got our dugout into it, got our offense going. We knew we were facing one of the best pitchers in the world today and we just wanted to continue to try and battle and put together good at-bats.

I thought Framber did a great job as well. Just amazing performance by him and our bullpen as well. They were battling. They have one of the best offenses we have seen, and they battle. I think our pitching staff did a really good job today too.

Q. For either of you, what have you seen in the way that Framber has grown this year into an ace, All Star kind of guy. I know he started a couple games in the World Series last year that didn't go so well for him. Did you feel like he seemed any different out there tonight? And just can you talk a little bit about his maturity as a pitcher.

ALEX BREGMAN: I think it's his focus and his self-confidence. I think he's confident in himself, he attacks, he knows that he's got good stuff. I think he has a lot of confidence in Martín and the pitches that he's calling.

Q. José, typically speaking, when the hits aren't falling for you, do you watch more video, less video, hit more, hit less? What is your response to that?

JOSÉ ALTUVE: In the beginning, I was hitting more and watching more videos, and then I stopped, and I was like hitting less and less. So I think that lately the less I get on my mind it's going to be better. So just try to simplify everything, go out there, like Alex said, look for one pitch and put a good swing on the ball. That's what I did the last few days and it's been working for me and I've been feeling way better.

Q. Is there one thing in your head, a swing thought in your head, while you're in that process?

JOSÉ ALTUVE: Basically just try to, obviously early in the playoff I was swinging at everything and then getting slowly better at swinging at my pitch. And, yeah, I got a hit on a pitch almost above my head today, but it's a hit, so it's good.

Q. Alex, you seem to rise to the occasion the more stressful the situation. I know you talk a lot about, Oh, we're just out here having fun. But when you hit the homer and it really gave you guys a comfortable lead just kind of your thought process and how nice was that to have that cushion at that time?

ALEX BREGMAN: Well, I think the credit for that should go to Yordan for hustling down the line and keeping that inning alive, to be honest. It was a bang-bang play at first. I feel like this team plays hard and never takes a pitch off. To be able to add some insurance was huge. Especially against another great team that we're playing. Yeah, in all honesty though, this is probably the most fun I ever had playing baseball.