MLB WORLD SERIES: PHILLIES VS ASTROS

November 2, 2022

Rob Thomson

Citizens Bank Park

Philadelphia Phillies

Postgame 4 Press Conference

Houston Astros - 5, Philadelphia Phillies - 0

THE MODERATOR: We'll get started with questions for Rob.

Q. Based on the feedback you're getting from your hitters, what made Javier so good tonight?

ROB THOMSON: He's got that riding fastball. And I think the biggest thing for him was that he was laying his slider. He was throwing it for strikes for the most part and just kind of keeping guys off balance.

Q. Alvarado has been so consistently good for you guys. What were you seeing tonight that was different maybe?

ROB THOMSON: He was just a little bit off. First of all, brought him in. That's a tough situation to bring him in, but we were just trying to keep the damage to a minimum, I guess. It just kind of got away from us.

But I don't know whether hitting Álvarez kind of threw him off a little bit or not. But, yeah, just a little bit off today. And they had some good at-bats against him.

Q. Do you think maybe the extra rest factored in at all?

ROB THOMSON: Yeah, maybe a little bit. He had four days off. He hasn't had four days off in a while.

Q. You've spoken about the resiliency of your club all year. What type of resiliency does it take to come back the next day after being no hit in the World Series? That doesn't happen often.

ROB THOMSON: Yep. No, it doesn't. I think it's the third time in history, right? Or second time in history.

But anyway, we were no hit earlier in the year in New York against the Mets and we came back the next day and won. So these guys, they got a short memory. They're going to go home tonight. They're going to go to bed and come back in here tomorrow and prep and compete like they always do.

Q. Even though you were on the wrong end of this, does the historical significance of it settle in?

ROB THOMSON: For me? I mean, a loss is a loss. That's the way I kind of look at it.

Q. Talk about Alvarado being so good for you. It is a tough spot for him. What went into the decision, what did you see from Nola to go to the bullpen there and turn it over? Especially with Noah Syndergaard going tomorrow, you know you're going to have your bullpen again.

ROB THOMSON: I thought Nola's stuff was pretty good, but I think that's the right time to bring in Alvarado and just try to stop everything. As much as you can stop the momentum. Unfortunately, it got away from us and they got five. But that's his spot right there.

Q. Did you get a sense that somehow the Astros, even before that big inning, they were hitting the ball hard. Did you get a sense that he was either slowing down, just something wasn't just right about him tonight?

ROB THOMSON: No, I thought his stuff was actually pretty good, and I thought he battled. They did get some runners on base, but he battled through it and made some big pitches. They had first and third the one inning with one out, and he got two punch outs. So I thought he was okay. It's just, you know, bases loaded, nobody out in the 5th inning, and Alvarez at the plate. For me, that's just Alvarado's spot.

Q. The guys who you used after Aaron tonight, how are they feeling now? Would you have any hesitation about using them tomorrow if you needed them?

ROB THOMSON: The relievers you mean? Oh, everybody's available. Bellatti would be three in a row, but he had not too much pitches tonight. So I think everybody would be fine.