AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: RANGERS VS ASTROS

October 20, 2023

Dusty Baker

Globe Life Field

Houston Astros

Pregame 5 Press Conference

Q. Do you have a Game 6 starter yet?

DUSTY BAKER: No.

Q. Why wouldn't it be --

DUSTY BAKER: Game 6? Yeah, yeah, Framber.

Q. How crucial was it to stay away from your high-leverage guys yesterday? They had pitched a little bit, workload was building up.

DUSTY BAKER: You asked that question yesterday and came to fruition that we try and not to use them, but we're trying to win the ballgame. It helped a lot. It was big time the way that Stanek threw the double play pitch and then the fact that Hunter Brown was so good for those three innings. That really helped us out. And plus the additional runs that we added on.

Q. Ask about Justin. Was his absence putting a real strain on your staff early in the year? When he came back, did you feel a noticeable lift in your clubhouse?

DUSTY BAKER: There was definitely a noticeable lift because we knew him. If he had been an outside player that we had to take a chance with time to learn, it would be a different story.

We knew him, he knew us. The fans were excited. The town was excited. Framber was trying to be No. 1 at that time, but you didn't know if he was ready or not. But you knew that Verlander was used to being the No. 1 starter.

Q. Obviously, players go through ups and downs, especially hitters. What do you tell a guy like Kyle Tucker who's been so good all year and hit a cold spell at the worst time?

DUSTY BAKER: You're going to hit a cold spell, you just can't time it. And only thing you can do is get a good pitch to hit and try to hit it hard. And after that it's out of your control.

And you try to simplify things as quickly as possible and try to see how they're pitching it. Because if they're pitching -- if they're getting the out, they're going to keep pitching you the same way. The main thing is get a good pitch and hit it hard.

Q. I understand why the lineup is like it is. Is Brantley healthy --

DUSTY BAKER: Yeah, he's healthy.

Q. You just like who's clicking right now better?

DUSTY BAKER: Well, not who's clicking as much as this guy is tough on lefties. He's tough on lefties throwing that sinker on the inside. And I talked to Michael about it, before you make the lineup, who would you choose to leave out of the lineup in the outfield? And Yordan is a DH, he can only play like three at a time. I talked to Michael about it, and he says all he wants to do is win. And then we get to Eovaldi, and then Michael will be back in there.

Q. Justin's performance is that of an ace. Is there anything he does for the rest of the pitchers or people on the club that provide an extra boost?

DUSTY BAKER: Probably more last year than this year because all those bullpen guys will line up like cattle to go watch him, watch his pen and see how he goes about his business to prepare for a ballgame. Because the guys that were following him were all young guys. It's to their best interest to follow the guy, to find out how to get the quality, how to get the wins and how to get to a very high salary.

You see them line up, Framber, Javier, Garcia at the time, they would all go watch him, watch his pens and watch him warm up and see how he goes about his preparation business.

Q. To have Dubón in the second spot the last two days, does that reflect the amount of confidence he's built up over the course of the season?

DUSTY BAKER: Yeah, but he was the best that I thought was in that position, with contact, with kind of a double lead-off man in case -- the guy is hitting .500 and something. So in case Altuve doesn't get on, there's a good chance that Dubón will get on in front of the big boys.

I didn't give it to him; he earned that.

Q. I know there's a lot of pressure in these situations, but you've seen everything and been through it all. And can you describe the joy you get from this grind when you get to this point with ups and downs of how much fun you're having this time of year?

DUSTY BAKER: Well, I mean, you've got to try to make it fun, even when you're not having fun. And the fact you look on the board, there's only -- I scoreboard watch every day, and to see four teams on the board, and you're one of the four.

I mean, this is what you play for. This is what you put in all the hours of hard work for. I've been on teams that run off on people. I've been on teams that had to do it the way we're doing it. As a player, the team that we won wasn't necessarily the best team that we had when I was on the Dodgers. But the team that won was the team that came back from 2-1 against the Astros, and we came back 2-1 against the Montreal Expos, and we came back 2-0 against the Yankees. And on the other side, we were up 2-0 and 2-0, and we end up losing.

It's just fun to win, man. I just -- I don't know, you just don't know what winning does for me.

Q. A Big League manager sometimes requires to also be a father figure, also to consult and to advise 40 adults that have highs and lows. You just mentioned Framber would be your opening pitcher for Game 6, and he's coming from two not so victorious outings. How do you talk to such a passionate athlete like Framber to keep him focused and for him to be confident to do his job on Game 6, which will be either a closing game or elimination game?

DUSTY BAKER: (In Spanish.)