AL WILD CARD SERIES: RANGERS VS RAYS

October 3, 2023

Bruce Bochy

Tropicana Field

Texas Rangers

Postgame Press Conference

Texas 4, Tampa Bay 0.

Q. You talk about resilience. How was that for a resilient effort from your club?

BRUCE BOCHY: Yeah, great job by the club. Well-played game. Obvious it starts with Monty. Another great effort he gave us on top of his Game 4 pitch mix, throwing strikes. Terrific job and good at-bats. Much better at-bats, longer at-bats that help extend some pitches there.

But they played well. They played well, and it was a well-played game by us.

Q. Is Montgomery's mix different than it's been? It looked a little bit more diverse maybe.

BRUCE BOCHY: I don't think so so much. He's a guy that can adjust on the fly if he thinks so. He's got four pitches, and occasionally he'll use one more than the other. But this is kind of what he's been doing, using the fastball well, both sides. He can sink it, he can go up with it, and he's got a couple breaking balls and changeup. He pounds the strike zone very well.

Q. Did he scare you by deciding he was going to make a Gold Glove play?

BRUCE BOCHY: Yeah, it wasn't a soft landing, was it? Yeah. He's a big fellow. Nice play, great catch by him. We were in a tight situation there, so big play at that point in the game, and just shows you how competitive he is to go out there and dive for that ball.

Q. This is a lineup that hits a lot of homers today, but it seemed like you guys kind of scrapped and clawed your way to some runs, took advantage of some of their mistakes. What were you seeing from your lineup offensively?

BRUCE BOCHY: I saw the same thing. You have to look at who we're facing. He's got really good stuff. He's got a big fastball and breaking stuff along with the changeup. You don't expect them to hit a lot of home runs when you're facing a pitcher like that. He did a great job of keeping the game in check. We had some other chances to add on, but they did a good job of keeping that game close.

Q. Evan Carter, obviously we know we've seen everything from this kid over the last month, but he really displayed everything that made him a top prospect in this organization today, yeah?

BRUCE BOCHY: Right. Made a nice play in left field, nice diving catch. He's played more center than left, but he's done a good job there with at-bats. He's just a good hitter. He's got a good eye at the plate, and he's got a good swing. For a kid of 21 years old, just love the way he's handling himself through all this.

Q. Not only just Montgomery's performance, but the way he helps you save your bullpen in a short series, what's the value in that?

BRUCE BOCHY: Well, that always gives you value. Also how you're able to use him late in the ballgame. We had some guys that didn't have to get up. I think we had Sborz up, and that was pretty much it. That's what the starter does for you.

Anytime you're in a series like this, that's always a good thing when your starter does a good job and gets you deep in the game the way he did. Chappy, nice job, Leclerc. A really great effort by him.