AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: RANGERS VS ASTROS

October 23, 2023

Nathaniel Lowe

Minute Maid Park

Texas Rangers

Pregame 7 Press Conference

Q. Have you ever been a part of two wilder top-of-the-ninth games back to back? And what was your routine and what you went through this morning to get ready for Game 7?

NATHANIEL LOWE: No, the answer is no. Between Game 5 and Game 6 for the 8th and 9th to play out the way it did, no. But you can't really expect anything normal to happen in a postseason series between these two teams is what it feels like.

A routine kind of gets thrown out the window. I didn't do anything similar. I didn't have the same breakfast. I think I slept a little bit longer after sleeping pretty hard last night when I finally got to sleep.

The only thing on our mind is showing up and competing today.

Q. Had some time to reflect on it. What aspect of Garcia's homer was the most impressive part to you?

NATHANIEL LOWE: I mean, all of it. There's no stock Major League homer, there's no cheap Major League homer. And knowing how Stanek from Tampa and how impressive his stuff is, and I'm pretty sure he set the single season regular season ERA record for the franchise last year, right? Unless I'm wrong about that. So for him to bust out against that guy and finally connect was just so cool.

But again, it was almost expected that Adolis was going to connect at some point last night. Whether it's the next at-bat with Abreu or at any point off the starter, it just felt like it was going to happen.

On a personal note, I'm sorry with Stanek, I like that guy, but I'm not sorry he gets four runs across for the good guys.

Q. What are your emotions right now? Is it nerves? Is it excitement? What is going through your mind? This is the Game 7 ALCS.

NATHANIEL LOWE: It's a pretty even mix of all of it, but more excitement than anything else. This is what we play for. We don't really get a chance every year to play and beat a division rival to go to the World Series or wherever, wherever it's going to wind up.

It's a pretty exciting time in the clubhouse. In a good mood, especially after taking that one yesterday, and we're ready to compete tonight.

Q. You guys faced Javier in Game 3. He's a tough pitcher. And I don't want to say do you feel more comfortable having seen him just a few days ago, but do you feel more prepared?

NATHANIEL LOWE: Prepared, yeah, that's the right word for it. I don't know if you ever feel comfortable facing these guys just because their stuff is off the chart. That's the way it is in any postseason series. Everybody you face is going to have elite stuff. It's just a matter of what he did to beat us last time, what we did to beat ourselves, how do we correct those mistakes and ideally capitalize and score a lot more tonight.

Q. The road team won every one of these games. Back in 2019 Scherzer was the part of the same thing, and he pitched that Game 7, went five innings, that Washington ended up winning. Do you feel like he's a good luck charm for you tonight?

NATHANIEL LOWE: I think his track record is definitely going to boost his confidence coming in tonight. He's been here before. I think any time you've been in the situation before, his heart rate is going to be a little bit lower than it was last time.

We're confident in Max doing his thing tonight. And then whoever else is available, I know that everybody with a working arm is going to have spikes on and want to try and get some outs for us tonight.

Yeah, it's going to be a lot of fun.