AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: RANGERS VS ASTROS

October 19, 2023

Bruce Bochy

Globe Life Field

Texas Rangers

Postgame 4 Press Conference

Astros - 10, Rangers - 3 Bruce

Q. What did you see from both Heaney and Dunning tonight?

BRUCE BOCHY: Well, it was evident that Andrew was a little bit off, four hits, a walk there in the first inning, three runs. I was trying to stick with him, but once he walked McCormick, I had Dunning ready. And where they were in the order, trying to keep it where it was at three runs, which Dane did.

Dane worked hard, though. A lot of pitches in 2 2/3, over 60 pitches. But he did a pretty good job there. And just a couple of walks there got him at the end. Those came back to haunt us.

Q. Offense has obviously not been your problem over these past couple of games here. How confident do you feel when you're about to turn the page to give the ball to Montgomery and Eovaldi?

BRUCE BOCHY: We always have confidence in them. We'll be facing good pitching, too. Guys did a good job getting back in it. We tied the game, got their starter out. Their bullpen did a great job on us, and we couldn't get back in.

And we had a couple of chances. A couple of double plays, really, cut out some rallies. That hurt. Had some tough luck, buzzard luck in the fifth inning with some hard-hit balls.

And we keep battling. Hey, it's even; it's 2 out of 3 now.

Q. And then speaking of double plays, what was the explanation you got on the Semien tag, and what did you feel about the play overall?

BRUCE BOCHY: They're not going to explain it. They reviewed it and said he was tagged. That's pretty simple there. Corey smoked the ball. It's a tough play when you're on first and it's hit at the first baseman. Felt like he got back, but I guess he nicked him. That's part of the game now, is the replay. And it worked out for them.

Q. What was your realistic hope to get out of Heaney tonight, one time through the order? What did you want to get out of Andrew?

BRUCE BOCHY: We were hoping to go as far as we could with him. It could be two times around the order. We looked at 60, 70 pitches in there, depending how the innings went. It didn't go as planned. Like I said, we wanted to keep the game where it was, and Dane did that. We were hoping to get three or four innings out of him. And worked hard and got in a tough situation there, and that's why I went to Cody.

Q. You mentioned it's the best of three now. How do you like your chances?

BRUCE BOCHY: I always like my chances with this club. They've battled all year. We're playing a good team. Nobody thought it was going to be easy. I've been in this kind of situation where we have to bounce back. And that's what we need to do. They have played very well in this ballpark. We need to change that. We know it. But it's all going to be us pitching better and scoring some runs.

Q. Fair or unfair to say this, this team will go as far in this postseason as Montgomery and Eovaldi can carry it?

BRUCE BOCHY: I don't know if that's fair, because you need other pitchers to come through for you. So that's really not fair. They've done a great job, but there's other games you have to win. And whether it's the bullpen or another starter, that's what it's going to take.

But those guys have certainly done their job. Like I said, we're going to face probably a tough pitcher tomorrow, a great matchup the next two days.

Q. I know every game is its own entity. The way they've been putting up runs against you, does it make a difference in how you lose a game tonight?

BRUCE BOCHY: You don't like to lose like we've been losing with these guys. Earlier in September they had their way with us. Especially in your home ballpark, here. We've got our fans. You hate to have a game go like this.

And like I said, I was proud how the guys came back and battled into it. It looked like Cody was getting out of it with a one-run game at that point. Abreu got the big hit for them. It's up to us to execute better, it's simple as that.