October 29, 2019

AJ Hinch

Houston, Texas – postgame 6

Washington 7, Houston 2

Q. You guys went through this in 2017 at Dodger Stadium, Game 7. How do you get your team ready or do you —
AJ HINCH: If I need to get this team ready, then you don’t know our team. We’ve been through this before, and this series continues and goes on to a Game 7. I don’t know that there’s a lot of explanation or any fancy quote you’ve got to give you guys or them.

We have a great opportunity tomorrow to play a home game, Game 7 of the World Series. Maybe not how we drew it up in terms of how we got there, but it doesn’t take away the opportunity we have to win the World Series.

Q. Would you prefer that Alex Bregman not carry his bat past first base?
AJ HINCH: Yeah, he shouldn’t carry the bat past first base. Soto shouldn’t carry it to first base, either.

Q. Will Gerrit Cole be available tomorrow out of the bullpen?
AJ HINCH: We’ll talk about it tomorrow.

Q. Thoughts on the play involving Trea Turner in the seventh inning?
AJ HINCH: I don’t really understand it yet. I think we’re going to all get an explanation, from what I understand Joe is going to come in here.

It took a really long time for nothing to happen. I knew the rule, what he called, an interference. I haven’t spent a lot of time on the play. I knew they were very upset about it. It’s not a reviewable call. You can’t protest it. You can’t really do anything, and yet they go to the headset.

Sounds like that’s what they wanted and for whatever reason they couldn’t get ahold of people. But we should let MLB handle it.

That’s one of the many plays tonight that led to the game. But it wasn’t the reason we lost the game or anything like that. I’m as confused as everybody is, because there was no reason to have the delay from my seat.

Q. From your seat what did you see of Strasburg?
AJ HINCH: I saw an incredible pitcher. He was really good. And as I said before the game, he has an uncanny ability to slow the game down when he’s under any duress. We didn’t put a lot of stress on him. But the times that we did in the 5th and in the lead-off single in the 6th, he kind of backs it down a little bit, throws the secondary pitches for strikes, he locates pitches. He didn’t make a lot of mistakes.

I thought he — credit to him bouncing back from the first inning. It was almost like just exactly how the last game went where they score, we score, and all of a sudden he settled in and was very dominant. He’s got a slow heartbeat out there.

Q. Just to follow up on that. Did you see that he did anything differently after that first inning?
AJ HINCH: We didn’t win the big at-bats. When he walked the two guys and we had a couple of guys on base, he got out of that. We got the lead-off single in the 6th and then a couple of fielders choices very quickly and he got out of that.

So, again, I haven’t seen him a lot over the course of my career but I saw him pretty good tonight and that was impressive.

Q. I know he pitched really well tonight, were your guys pressing at all?
AJ HINCH: No, not at all. I don’t think anybody was pressing. We got beat by the home run and they hit the ball out of the ballpark on multiple times and we ran into Strasburg. That’s pretty much the explanation tonight.

Q. You mentioned the several situations where he kind of got out of it. What did you see two on with one out and he punches out Altuve on three strikes?
AJ HINCH: Yeah, that inning it just looked like he did what he usually does, which is try to get into the count, and then once he gets a strike he evacuates the strike zone and relies on the chase. Threw a couple of good change-ups to Altuve. Altuve is trying to elevate the ball and get the ball to the outfield, sac fly is good there, contact to the middle of the field is good there, he fouled it off, I think he swung and missed. And then he threw the chase breaking ball and got a swing and miss.

His breaking ball is really good. He has command of it. When he wants to throw it for a strike 2-0 he does, when he wants to throw it for a ball with two strikes he does. We got a little bit outside of the strike zone that inning. And then Brantley hits the bullet and Turner makes the play. We quickly could have been different had we had a little better luck.

Q. What do you make of the home-field advantage?
AJ HINCH: Doesn’t look like there is one right now, but I hope there’s one tomorrow. We’re waiting until the last game to have it on our side.

We worked really hard to get home-field and we’re happy to play at home. We have no problem playing at home. This place will be rocking tomorrow. We’ve won a ton of games in this ballpark. This series has been very weird.

If I had told you the series was going to be 3-3 going to a Game 7, I don’t think there’s a person in the building that would have assumed that all road teams were going to win. We’ve just got to make sure that last one is not the same.

Q. It seemed after one of the half innings you went and talked to the umpires. Was that about the delay? During the delay, there was so much concentration on what Washington was doing during the delay, were you saying, Why are you allowing this during the delay?
AJ HINCH: Yeah, by the time all the chaos ended, they kind of controlled the arguments from the very beginning of the play to the in between then Davey gets ejected. There was a lot going on. We’re not going to delay the game anymore for me to get my explanation until the next half inning.

When I did that, both Gary and Sam went over to talk to Joe, who was sitting on the on-deck circle in the first couple of rows.

At that point is when I was told there was either confusion or they wanted to check on the protest versus a — I didn’t know what they were doing. And then the explanation for me was they couldn’t get ahold of people. They were like 10 feet away from me. If they would have just told me, I’d have walked over there and told them they’re right here.

Q. (Question about Joe Torre.)
AJ HINCH: I believe so, but he’ll have to explain it. I haven’t gotten a full explanation on the field. I didn’t like the delay. The delay is not the reason that Anthony Rendon hit a homer. He’s a very talented hitter.

The half explanation I’ve gotten so far was there was some lack of communication between the umpires and MLB on a play that really had no reason to have a discussion about it in my book.

Q. On Verlander, how do you think he got into the game? Do you think he was tiring in that 5th inning?
AJ HINCH: I thought he ran out of gas at the end. And he had a lot of hard innings, they got a couple of baserunners on virtually every inning except for the 2nd. He had to work through 18, 19-plus pitches, 20 pitches, high-stress pitches. So it was an easy decision for me. I thought he left it all out on the field.

Getting into the game, it kind of felt like a National League game in an American League ballpark. They get an infield single, Turner is as fast as they come, they bunt him over, Rendon gets a two-strike hit. You look up and they had got one on the board relatively quickly.

Credit to them for putting together an inning with a little bit of small ball. But at that point of the game we have just got to move on to the next inning.

Q. The delay wasn’t why Rendon hit the home run, but could Will Harris have been out of sync a little bit? You brought him in and then he had to stand around a while.
AJ HINCH: Obviously that’s an easy go-to. I don’t know the answer. I don’t think we’ll know. It didn’t look like it on the Eaton pitch because he got the quick pop-up. And then all of a sudden Rendon hits the homer.

I’m not going to sit up here and blame any of that. It’s an unusual delay. It was, in my book, an unnecessary delay. But in reality, you’re just out there competing. I know Will won’t say if it was or if it wasn’t, he’s just going to move on to the next day.

Q. How frustrating was it not getting Scherzer in the game after he went to the bullpen?
AJ HINCH: I don’t control whether Scherzer pitches. If they want to pitch him they would have pitched him. I’m not that frustrated about it. We’re going to have to deal with him tomorrow.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

October 29, 2019

Zack Greinke

Houston, Texas – postgame 6

Washington 7, Houston 2

Q. Going into Game 7, winner take all here?
ZACK GREINKE: Yeah, it’s going to be a big game.

Q. Alex said it’s going to be a fun game. Is that how you see it?
ZACK GREINKE: Well, I hope so.

Q. Any nerves or any kind of emotions right now starting the big game tomorrow?
ZACK GREINKE: A little excited about it. But we’ll see. Wish it was in a National League park.

Q. Do you approach a game like this, winner take all, in any different type way or was it just the same approach, Zack?
ZACK GREINKE: Just try to do good. That kind of just what I do is just make pitches and that gives us the best chance.

Q. Do you ever fantasize about pitching in a Game 7 World Series?
ZACK GREINKE: Probably. I can’t remember doing that at the moment, but probably.

Q. Do you feel added pressure given that it’s Game 7?
ZACK GREINKE: Not at the moment. But maybe at some point, you never know.

Q. What makes the Nationals so tough to go against?
ZACK GREINKE: They have some good hitters. Not a lot of holes, not a lot of strikeouts. That’s probably the toughest part.

Q. What are some of the takeaways from your first game against the Nationals in the World Series? Do you try to adjust for Game 7?
ZACK GREINKE: They had a lot of good at-bats. They pitched pretty good. And they got a good amount of hits. I felt all right and they made it tougher than it would ideally be.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

October 29, 2019

Max Scherzer

Houston, Texas – postgame 6

Washington 7, Houston 2

MAX SCHERZER: The cortisone shot worked. That relieved the pressure on the nerve, and then keep applying heat. Our chiropractor, he does amazing work, he was able to go in there and make adjustment. We did two treatments of it and really freed up the neck, the C5-C6 area, along with the trap, spasm, really felt like it subsided. And even when I was warming up tonight I felt really good. I’m good to go.

Q. Why were you warming up tonight?
MAX SCHERZER: Because there were scenarios where I was going to pitch tonight.

Q. How long do you think you can go tomorrow?
MAX SCHERZER: Should be good.

Q. Normal start?
MAX SCHERZER: It’s Game 7. Let’s go.

Q. Two days or three days ago, whatever it was, you never could have imagined this. What are your emotions going into this just knowing you’re getting a chance?
MAX SCHERZER: I don’t know. Everybody believes in each other in this clubhouse. When I couldn’t even move my right arm the other day, when I was in severe pain, I just believed in the next guy up. I believed in Joe Ross that he could go out there and get the job done. Unfortunately we didn’t win that game.

But everybody had the belief in me, and the doctors and that if I could get right I can be ready for Game 7. Stras went out there and had the game of his life. We all believed he could do that.

We’re just playing great team ball and here we go.

Q. You’re a huge competitor. How much do you thrive in having this moment, Game 7 of the World Series?
MAX SCHERZER: That’s what you live for. For me, I need to get in my pregame routine right now, and that’s where I’m at mentally, here we go.

Q. What did you think of Strasburg?
MAX SCHERZER: Unbelievable, just to be able to go out there and pitch like that. They came out aggressive against him, but the way he just executed pitches, it was unbelievable.

It’s tough for me to watch. I’m still kind of in game mode because I had to get locked in to get ready to pitch. It was tough for me to see all the pitches from the pen. The job he did for us, the effort, that’s just world class.

Q. How much did you pitch?
MAX SCHERZER: Only a handful of pitches, just got off the mound, but not enough to affect anything at all.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

October 29, 2019

Joe Torre

Washington, D.C.

Washington 7, Houston 2

Q. Joe, can you just kind of walk through the ruling and what the rule actually does say on how the rule reads?
JOE TORRE: I brought it with me. Yes, the ruling was that Trea Turner interfered, basically — not basically, he interfered with the first baseman trying to make a play. In fact Gurriel’s glove even came off at that point in time. He did run to the fair side of those 45-foot line, but really the violation was when he kept Gurriel from being able to catch the ball at first base.

It’s a judgment call on the umpire. Sam Holbrook made the call. It was the right call. Of course then you watch Davey Martinez, and I can relate to that. When you wear a uniform you see — you know what you want to have happen, basically. And when you’re passionate about it that’s what happens. He was arguing, saying the way he saw it. And then he was told by the crew chief, Gary Cedarstrom, that — because he wanted to protest. He says you can’t protest a judgment call.

So he insisted on having them go to the headset. The last thing we tell managers, at least, you know, this is what I tell managers when we have our meeting on the first game of a series, is if you think a rule was misapplied go and ask the umpires to have a rules check. They can go to the headset.

And Davey basically was asking them to go to — just to check on something. And I think he was really aggressive and the umpires basically went to the headset and presented that Davey wanted to protest. And they said you can’t protest a judgment call.

The rule, let me read the rule: In running the last half of the distance from home base to first base while a ball is being fielded to first base, he runs outside, to the right of, the three foot line, or inside, to the left of, the foul line. And in the umpire’s judgment in doing so interferes with the fielder taking the throw at first base, in which case the ball is dead. Except that he may run outside, to the right of, the three foot line or inside, to the left of, the foul line to avoid a fielder attempting to field the batted ball.

So it wasn’t that situation. It was a throw to first base and that’s why it was ruled basically an interference.

Q. When you say they’re trying to reach someone on the headset, who are they talking to?
JOE TORRE: They call replay.

Q. So Chelsea is interpreting the rule?
JOE TORRE: No, they went and told — basically, you know, it’s the World Series. We want to double and triple check ourselves. And that’s basically what — they said that Davey wanted to protest. I made the call. It was a judgment call. They said to the umpires it’s a judgment call and you can’t protest.

Q. Who were they calling to get interpretation of that rule, because we had a long delay there and —
JOE TORRE: I know. It shouldn’t have been that long. I don’t know if it was the noise or whatever it was. I know we had a hard line in our box and we had trouble reaching people because we tried to make some calls, we couldn’t do it. It should never be that long. That’s unfortunate. And certainly we have to take ownership of that. But it shouldn’t have been that long.

Q. Just the bang-bang nature of the play at first base, I would ask where should Trea Turner go once he has to strike the base? The base is only so big.
JOE TORRE: If you notice, he was running inside the line toward fair territory, toward the grass. And he was coming from that angle. If he had been running in the 45-foot line he’d have been coming from a different angle and the first baseman may have had an easier chance catching the ball.

But as you know — as you saw, the glove came off Gurriel’s hand and he wasn’t doing anything but trying to catch the ball. And my view, if he catches the ball, Turner, he’s fast, but he hadn’t gotten to first base yet.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

October 29, 2019

Anthony Rendon

Houston, Texas – postgame 6

Washington – 7, Houston – 2

Q. Obviously you’ve had the kind of series that is frustrating for you offensively. Was there anything about going into tonight’s game that felt differently, enabled you to loosen up or was that par for the course for you?
ANTHONY RENDON: First I want to say welcome, because you didn’t show up the first five games. Where have you been?

Definitely frustration. I think it’s frustrating for all of us. Kevin Long was talking to a few of us before the game, saying that we barreled up. 50 percent of our baseballs or whatever might have been over 95-plus off the bat. And so I think we’ve been trying to put up quality at-bats, trying to put the barrel on the ball, we just haven’t become successful out of it.

The first inning where I had the little dribbler 12 hopper to second base, that’s a hit. We definitely take it, but I think that’s just how crazy baseball is.

Q. What is so different about playing here at Minute Maid than playing back at home, because you have won all three games that you’ve played here?
ANTHONY RENDON: We don’t know, but we’re going to continue to try to ride this wave as long as possible. Maybe they enjoy our park and maybe we enjoy their park. We’re not going to ask questions, we’re just going to try to go out there and just have some fun.

Q. Walk us through your frame of mind as the Trea play is happening and the long delay and replay review, then for you to come up there and hit the home run?
ANTHONY RENDON: I didn’t actually see the play happen. I was sitting in the dugout getting ready to go on deck. And then once they showed the replay on the big screen, then I was like, Oh. I was a little bit more surprised than I guess I had anticipated.

But it is what it is. We’re all human. We’re not perfect people. So we’ve got to take our punches and just continue to go out there. No one is going to feel sorry for us. So we’ve just got to keep on playing.

Q. When all that chaos is going on, how are you able to stay so Zen and locked in to hit a homer like that?
ANTHONY RENDON: I think — I really don’t know. You can’t let any outside elements get into the game. No matter if it’s the crowd. You’ve got 40,000 people cheering against you. Or whether it’s the weather or if we’re in DC and it’s 40 degrees, whatever it might be.

No one is going to feel sorry for you. They’re going to expect you to go out there and just perform as best as you can, and they’re going to expect the best out of you. Because I feel like people put professional athletes on a pedestal, where they say, Oh, who cares, they’re making millions of dollars, they’re playing a game for a living so it’s easy. They should go out there and be successful every day.

We try to just keep our head down and keep playing.

Q. How impressed were you with Strasburg tonight and the fact that he went so deep in the game?
ANTHONY RENDON: Oh, man, super impressed by him. Not shocked, to say the least. I’ve been watching him for a long time now. He’s had plenty of games like that. I think it’s just been heightened since he’s doing it in the postseason now, especially on the run that we’re on.

So for everyone else to appreciate what he has in the tank and what he has accomplished, I think now everyone’s maybe noticing what he can do.

Q. Can you speak to the approach you had against Verlander? That one inning where you and Eaton had 17 pitches against him and both drawing walks. How much did that play a role in getting him out of the game in the 5thinning?
ANTHONY RENDON: Yeah, I think we were just trying to be aggressive in the zone, kind of the same approach that we’ve tried to have all season. Try not to fish too much at baseballs, at sliders in dirt, off-speeds or whatever it might be. If we try to stay within ourselves and try to swing at pitches that we can put a good swing on and not give in, not give in any strikes, I think that we could try to knock around any pitcher. And we just happened to get to him a little bit today.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

October 29, 2019

Dave Martinez

Houston, Texas – postgame 6

Washington – 7, Houston – 2

Q. Strasburg revealed after the game that he had been tipping his pitches in the first inning and a coaching adjustment was made. What was the conversation like in the dugout?
DAVE MARTINEZ: We need to fix — you’re tipping your pitches, we need to fix it. And after that he was lights out. He was really good.

Big pitchers in big moments do what Strasburg did today. I told him after the game, I said, that was tremendous. You picked us all up, and we’re going to Game 7 because of your performance.

Q. Can you explain from your vantage point the Trea Turner play, what you saw. And secondly, what set you off in between innings?
DAVE MARTINEZ: You know, I really — look, I don’t want to sit here and talk about me or the umpires. This is not about me or the umpires. This is about the Washington Nationals and those guys in the clubhouse coming to Game 6 and playing lights out, knowing that this could be it. And I’m super proud of them.

I mean — and in the heat of the moment things get blown out of hand. I saw things differently. But I’m not going to — like I said, I’m never going to criticize any umpires or anything, because they’re a big part of the game.

I’m just really proud of the boys and the way they came out and played today. That’s all I want to say about that. We’ve got another game tomorrow. Let’s come back tomorrow and win again.

Q. I know you don’t want to make it about yourself, but it looked on the replay like maybe someone made contact with you and that was really what kind of escalated it.
DAVE MARTINEZ: Like I said, you know, I don’t really want to make this about me and take away what the boys did tonight. They played really well. I mean, Rendon stepped up big, Adam Eaton, all of them. The defense, the hustling, Strasburg, Doo coming in getting a couple big outs for us.

Let’s just come back tomorrow. We’re going to Game 7. It’s a lot of fun. Let’s come back tomorrow and do it again.

Q. Is Max starting tomorrow? Why was he in the bullpen? Was there ever a chance he was going to pitch tonight?
DAVE MARTINEZ: Max is starting tomorrow. We got him up knowing that if the game is tied or we were up a run we might have to use him. He wanted to go down there and just throw and get loose. We scored some more runs and I immediately shut him down. I felt very comfortable with Doo, Huddie, and Stras right there.

Q. Bregman carried the bat past first base on his home run, later Soto almost carried the bat down there. Certainly seems like there was something going on down there. Did he wake you guys up?
DAVE MARTINEZ: We didn’t like it. And the fact that Soto did it, I’ll be quite honest with you, I didn’t like it when he did it, as well. It’s a conversation I’ll have with Juan. That’s not who we are. I mean, if he feels like he wants to carry the bat all the way to first base, then that’s him.

But I don’t like when our guys do it. I don’t like the celebration outside the dugout. I’ve said that before. That’s just not who we are.

Q. What explanation did you get on the call at first base?
DAVE MARTINEZ: All the explanation was it was just a judgment call.

Q. And have you seen a replay of it?
DAVE MARTINEZ: I’ve seen a lot of replays of it.

Q. What is your opinion of it after —
DAVE MARTINEZ: Like I said, I just don’t — I don’t want to make this about one play. It was a big play. I just don’t want to make it about one play.

The boys, obviously Anthony came up big, hit a home run. And we were celebrating, cheering. The boys were happy. And that’s what this is all about.

Q. Home-field advantage can often be a deciding factor in the playoffs and World Series. You dropped three games in DC, won three games here. Is there any way to explain what’s going on in the other team’s ballparks?
DAVE MARTINEZ: Honestly, no. It’s weird, really. I mean, we can’t explain it. I know we were trying to win games at home and just couldn’t do it. We came here today and, like I say, behind Stephen Strasburg we played really well.

Q. You said you got Scherzer up during the game and then shut him down. Have you talked to Scherzer on how he felt, how his neck felt after him throwing in the bullpen?
DAVE MARTINEZ: He said he felt good. And he didn’t like warm up to get in the game, he was just throwing to get loose. And after the game he’s ready to go.

Q. Did you see anything different out of Anthony coming into this game? He had a really good game. He was struggling a little bit back at home but this game he seemed to explode.
DAVE MARTINEZ: He’s the same Anthony. He’s really good. He hits the ball where he’s pitched. And he utilizes the whole field. And today his last at-bat, he drove the ball to right center field. I’ve seen him do that all year. He was on time. He was good today.

Q. I apologize for belaboring, asking about this, our job is to try to explain it and be clear. Did you protest the game? If you did, what did you protest and what were you told?
DAVE MARTINEZ: Okay. So I know the rules. I know you can’t protest a judgment call. I wanted him to go look at — just look at the play, and like a rule check. We were told before the series started that we can ask for a rule check. But part of me just said, Hey, we’ll protest the game. I know we can. Just check the rules. And they did that.

Q. Could I just ask what specifically you were protesting?
DAVE MARTINEZ: Honestly nothing, because I knew that you couldn’t. I mean, I wanted them to go look at the replay. Go look and just give me a rules check, that’s all. They came back and honestly, that was it. I dropped it. Done. They went and checked. They spent a few minutes. I’ve done it before knowing that you can’t do anything about it. And then things escalated.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

HEAD COACH MIKE BABCOCK

On the team’s ability to match up physically with Washington: I thought that part was good. There was a lot of penalties, wasn’t there? … It was a hard game that way to play. You sit there for a while on the penalty kill and then you’re not getting out on that, then you get out there, you get a good run and then we get multiple power plays. I thought both teams clogged it up real good. I thought both teams made it hard, it was hard to get the puck to the net. I think partway through the game I looked up and there was like eight shots or something like that. There wasn’t much going on. It was a competitive game. We needed to find a way to win the game, I thought we’d get through when we got through the kill [in overtime] and obviously, we took another one there on that high stick. It’s unfortunate because I thought we did a real nice job on the PK.

On Muzzin’s status: He’s injured, but it’s not his knee or nothing. He’s got a charley horse. I don’t know what that means, though. I don’t know the timeline on that. Obviously, he’s a good player for us, an important player for us. I thought Holl stepped up and played real well.

On what Ovechkin had to say about the team this morning: Well, I don’t know if he’s wrong. I think he knows because he lived it. If you look at Steve Yzerman, he lived it. A lot of guys live it until they’re 30. You’ve got to decide whether you wait until you’re 30 or do you want to figure it out now? It’s the ultimate team game and you’ve got to sacrifice individual rights for team rights. I say it all the time, it’s the two points in the game and it has nothing to do with the points you get yourself. It’s a process for young guys. Everybody in Toronto is in a rush all the time. I get it but that’s not pro sport; not really. You’ve got to keep building and building and building and steady on the rudder, keep going through things. Matchups, learning to play with the lead, learning how to be patient and not turn the puck over, shift length – all the things that you’re just a good player and you haven’t had to deal with, you’ve got to deal with it if you want to win in the National Hockey League. Look at the age of St. Louis. That’s just the reality of the situation. One thing about it is it gets your attention – it hurts your feelings probably a little bit.

On if hearing that type of message means more from someone like Ovechkin: Well, he knows. He lived it. He was the guy. Then he figured out, ‘This is what we’ve got to do to win.’ I mean, that’s why when he sees us – we talked about this last year: fun to watch going 100 miles an hour. You’ve got to learn how to play right.

On Ovechkin referring to mistakes that were later made by the team in tonight’s game: He’s just talking about running and gunning and not being able to play – the bottom line is you’ve got to keep it out of your net. You’re not outscoring anybody at playoff time. You’ve got to out-defend and then your skill comes to the forefront. That’s what he’s talking about. Is that not a fair assessment? It hurts my feelings; I can tell you that. I’m the coach, I’m supposed to get all this organized. But we know this. We’re working towards it every day. We’re talking about it every single day. Just because you’re talking about it doesn’t mean it’s going to change right away. Sometimes it’s just life lessons. But, in saying all that, we think we’re in the right process, we think we’ve got good people and we think we’re going in the right direction.

On the effectiveness of Tom Wilson: You know, [Wilson] played there in Plymouth and I saw him lots as a junior. When he first got to the NHL, I thought they wrecked this kid, they got him here too soon. He’s turned himself – he can play with good players, he’s good talent, he’s mean, he’s hard, he’s physical, he’s a factor, but he can play in your top six. Not many guys like that.

TYSON BARRIE (1 ASSIST)

On tonight’s performance: Yeah, I think we played hard tonight. Obviously, you know, we give up one in overtime. We fought hard to get there and, you know, anytime you give a team like that four straight minutes on the power play they’ll make you pay. So, it’s a bit disappointing but it’s a big point to get.

On if Tom Wilson hits players or runs players: I think he does – I think he finishes checks sometimes and I think sometimes it’s definitely on the line. He plays hard. He’s one of those guys, he’s got a track record, meaning he kind of toes the line but, you know, obviously, he got a charging penalty there so he came a little bit hot.

TRAVIS DERMOTT (12:56 TOI)

On how he feels after making his season debut: It was okay. I felt happy with my game, more or less. I made a couple mistakes that I expected myself to make but a couple of good things. I got my feet underneath of me, got to feel the speed of the game again, got to feel a few hits to get the confidence going with my shoulder. Overall, I don’t think I can take too many negatives. Obviously, we want the two points – that’s the end result we’re looking for. Other than that, on a personal note, I’m not too upset with how I performed tonight.

On the emotions he felt tonight: Anxious before the game. Just wanted to get things going. Really excited just to be here, be in front of the fans. Being able to come out for our home fans instead of being away, so that’s really nice. Just kind of excited to get my feet underneath of me. I think I’ve been waiting for that for a really long time. It’s weird, I’ve played this game my whole life but you almost forget what to expect out there until the first couple of shifts go by, you’re thinking and you’re overthinking. I don’t know, it’s weird – you can’t psych yourself into it. You have to take the first two shifts by storm and play from there.

MITCH MARNER (1 ASSIST)

On his penalty in overtime and Ovechkin’s game winner: I saw an opportunity to try and lift his stick and as soon as I went for it, he moved his stick off to the side. Thinking about it I probably should have left him to Ceci or someone else who had him on a 1-on-1 sort of play. I was just trying to help and unfortunately got him in the face. Holl had two massive blocks there and then unfortunately the third one goes.

On the club’s compete level tonight: I thought we stayed patient with it, there were a lot of power plays and penalties. I think it was hard to get in the groove for some guys. I thought as a group we stayed patient with it, we didn’t force too many things, we came back, we were helping each other out and talking and getting out of our zone pretty quickly. It’s just unfortunate how it ended.

AUSTON MATTHEWS (2 GOALS, 1 ASSIST)

On tonight’s game: I thought we competed well. I thought we got off to a good start. Obviously, important for us to score the first goal there. We played a good hockey team on either side, lots of penalties both ways, forced an OT and then, obviously, a couple penalties in overtime. It kind of cost us because we can’t really get guys out there. But, I mean, overall, I thought we competed well tonight.

On if it’s challenging to get momentum when there are so many penalties: A little bit. I mean, I think it helps when you capitalize on those power plays, I think it gives you a little bit of momentum, a little bit of a jump and we didn’t really capitalize on one until the third period. So, it was a pretty big goal, but when you get that many power plays – obviously, we gave up some power plays as well – it kind of takes you out of rhythm.

MORGAN RIELLY (1 ASSIST, 33:16 TOI)

On losing Muzzin to injury tonight: Yeah, it’s tough, obviously, when someone goes down, but I thought we did a good job of managing it. All in all, I think there were good things done. Obviously, you don’t want to lose with that end result but it is what it is. So, we’ll talk about it tomorrow, we’ll watch some video and try to get better from it.

On what wasn’t working for the power play tonight: You know, I can’t really remember, there were a lot of them. I think that we got chances. We got a goal which was important at the time and I thought the breakout was okay, the exits were okay. I can’t really remember a lot of specifics about it to be honest with you. We’ll watch it tomorrow and probably work on it in practice and that’s an area we want to improve on.

WASHINGTON CAPITALS (9-2-3 – 21 Points) 4 vs.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (6-5-3 – 15 Points) 3. (OT)

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2019

	1	2	3	OT	FINAL
WASHINGTON	1	1	1	1	4
TORONTO	1	1	1	0	3

GAME SUMMARY         |           EVENT SUMMARY        |           FACEOFF SUMMARY

ON THE SCORESHEET

• Andreas Johnsson opened the scoring for the Maple Leafs at 0:40 of the first period. His goal is the fastest goal to open a game scored by the Maple Leafs this season (Previous: 4:37 – Kapanen, Oct. 16 at WSH). Johnsson has goals (2) in two consecutive games. He has three points (1-2-3) in four games against Metropolitan Division opponents this season.
• Auston Matthews had the lone assist on Johnsson’s first period goal and later scored Toronto’s second goal of the night at 19:27 of the second period. He scored the third Maple Leafs goal of the game at 1:46 of the third period. Tonight’s game is Matthews’ third multi-goal game of the season and fifth multi-point game of the season. He has 36 goals in 46 career games during the month of October. Matthews has points (4-1-5) in three consecutive games. He has registered 14 points (10-4-14) in nine home games this season.
• Tyson Barrie registered the primary assist on Matthews’ second period goal. Barrie has registered all five of his assists on home ice against Eastern Conference opponents this season.
• Morgan Rielly collected the secondary assist on Matthews’ second period goal. Rielly has assists (2) in two consecutive games and points (1-2-3) in three consecutive games. He has four assists in four games against Metropolitan Division opponents this season.
• William Nylander recorded the primary assist on Matthews’ third period goal. He has four points (1-3-4) over his last five games. He has seven points (3-4-7) in nine home games this season.
• Mitch Marner had the secondary assist on Matthews’ third period goal. Marner has assists (4) in three consecutive games. He has five points (2-3-5) in four games against Metropolitan Division opponents this season.
• Frederik Andersen stopped 30 shots in the overtime loss.

SHOTS ON GOAL (5-on-5 in brackets)

	1st	2nd	3rd	OT	TOTAL
WASHINGTON	7 (3)	8 (7)	13 (10)	6 (0)	34 (20)
TORONTO	7 (4)	10 (6)	9 (4)	0 (0)	26 (14)

SHOT ATTEMPTS (5-on-5 in brackets)

	1st	2nd	3rd	OT	TOTAL
WASHINGTON	13 (7)	15 (11)	22 (16)	11 (0)	61 (34)
TORONTO	16 (6)	24 (15)	16 (10)	0 (0)	56 (31)

NO PLACE LIKE HOME

Record on the Road	4-2-3 (9 Games)
All-Time Record vs. Washington	63-71-10-5 (149 Games)
All-Time Record vs. Washington at Home	38-27-6-2 (73 Games)
Record vs. Eastern Conference	4-4-3 (11 Games)
Record vs. Metropolitan Division	1-1-2 (4 Games)

MAPLE LEAFS LEADERS

Shots	4 (Matthews, Nylander)
Shot Attempts	7 (Marner, Rielly)
Faceoff Wins	15 (Kerfoot)
Faceoff Win Percentage	100% (Mikheyev, Nylander – 1 won, 0 lost)
Hits	3 (Moore)
Blocked Shots	2 (Holl)
Takeaways	2 (Mikheyev, Rielly)
TOI	32:38 (Rielly)
Power Play TOI	10:10 (Rielly)
Shorthanded TOI	7:12 (Ceci)
Shifts	32 (Rielly)
5-on-5 Shot Attempt Percentage	66.7% (Muzzin – 2 for, 1 against)

RECORD WHEN…

Scoring first	2-1-1
Tied after 1	1-1-2
Tied after 2	1-3-1
Score 1 power play goal	1-2-2
Allow multiple power play goals	0-1-1
Outshot by opponent	1-3-3
Tuesday	1-1-1

OF NOTE…

• The Maple Leafs went 5-for-7 on the penalty kill and 1-for-8 on the power play tonight.
• Alex Kerfoot won 67 percent (8 won, 4 lost) of his faceoffs when matched up with Washington centre Nicklas Backstrom.
• Morgan Rielly was on the ice for a team-high 18 Toronto shot attempts-for. He finished the game with a shot attempt percentage of 51.4 percent (18 for, 17 against).
• Nick Shore won 75 percent (6 won, 2 lost) of his defensive zone faceoffs.
• Jason Spezza was the lone Maple Leaf to not start a 5-on-5 shift in the offensive zone.

UPCOMING GAMES:

• Saturday, November 2, 7:00 p.m. at Philadelphia Flyers (Sportsnet, FAN 590)
• Tuesday, November 5, 7:30 p.m. vs. Los Angeles Kings (TSN4, TSN 1050)
• Thursday, November 7, 7:30 p.m. vs. Vegas Golden Knights (Sportsnet Ontario, FAN 590)
• Saturday, November 9, 7:00 p.m. vs. Philadelphia Flyers (Sportsnet, TSN 1050)
• Sunday, November 10, 7:00 p.m. at Chicago Blackhawks (Sportsnet, FAN 590)

October 29, 2019

AJ Hinch

Houston, Texas – pregame 6

Q. When Stephen Strasburg is on, he’s really locating low in the zone. When you guys are approaching him, what’s your game plan to try to get him out of his rhythm?
AJ HINCH: You know, we have to stay inside the strike zone against Strasburg. We did a really good job of that in Game 2, and made him work almost every inning to get through his innings. You can get these 15-, 18-, 20-, 25-pitch innings and then all of a sudden he can’t vacate the strike zone, he’s got to stay inside the strike. That’s easier said than done.

We have to make him work to get his outs. You can’t go up there swinging at everything because he will feast on that. But you also have to be ready to hit in case that strike is a little bit higher in the strike zone.

He’s tough. He’s really good. But I think a disciplined approach is the best approach against him, with the idea that if he’s demonstrating that he’s going to go to the big part of the plate be ready to hit.

Q. What in general when your guys see a pitcher for the second time in a week, how good are they at adjusting and what benefit is it to you guys?
AJ HINCH: It’s usually not as big a benefit when the guys are elite as it is when the guy may not be as elite. But you try to discern whether or not you’re going to be the first to adjust or is he going to be the first to adjust. And we have the same dilemma on the other side of the ball as well with JV as what comes first, their adjustment or your adjustment.

I think the idea is not to get too caught up with what was done last week and try to just stay in the moment and stay in the at-bat and try to win that at-bat. You can overflood yourself with information and he might do this, he might do that.

You do that against elite pitching and you’re already behind a little bit just given the stuff that he can throw up there, and all of a sudden you complicate it with too much guesswork based on limited information. Just go up and compete.

It’s a little bit of an advantage to the hitter in terms of having seen him before, but it doesn’t make it that much easier, as seen by Gerrit Cole, reverse the other day when he went out and pitched great the second time.

Q. You shared a moment with Joe Smith in Game 5 when he came out pitching another scoreless inning. Can you talk about the confidence you have in him and the journey he’s had coming back from his Achilles injury?
AJ HINCH: Joe has been tremendous for us. He goes from not playing half the year to let’s see what he’s going to look like coming off an Achilles injury to he could be a useful part of a bullpen to he’s now a viable weapon late in his career and coming off injury.

Super proud for him and of him and how he goes about it and we have great banter. He and I have a great relationship. He was joking with me earlier in the series that I took him out against Turner. And then I reminded him that he just gave up a bullet to Turner, so that’s maybe why I took him out earlier in the series. We laughed about it.

He’s having the time of his life because of how long it took for him to get this opportunity and how many teams he played on, the disappointment of not being in the 2016 World Series. And then now he’s getting huge outs with the game on the line.

Proud of a lot of our guys but Joe certainly stands out as someone who deserves this.

Q. This is the first inning with Justin, do guys you even address that as a staff or do you just trust one of the greatest of the series?
AJ HINCH: I just address it. The only place I address it is here. I get asked about it every day. It’s not a career trend. It’s been a little bit of an October issue. One of which I’ll take the bullet for him and say I started him on three days’ rest and he had a hard time in the first inning, so that one’s on me.

I think the more you have to talk about it the more you start to look at it a little bit. But these are really good teams that have really good top of the orders. There’s no free pass in the first inning and it doesn’t get easier as the game goes on. It’s part of what his October has been this October so far. But just because it’s happened before, it doesn’t mean it has to define what’s going to happen tonight.

I look for him to be really good in the first.

Q. After Yordan didn’t have such a great ALCS, how did you get him dialed back into the World Series?
AJ HINCH: Just belief in him. I think belief goes a long way. I had a really tough decision at the end of the ALCS and I pinch-hit for him. That was ultimately rock bottom for him because the game was close. The bases were loaded. He’s facing an opportunity to face a left-handed pitcher in Zack Britton and I hit for him.

I think trying to reinstill confidence in him after that was really important. I think his teammates rallied around him. I think he’s got a great support system at home. I just kept giving him opportunity because of the impact that he can have.

National League rules took him out of the lineup for a couple of games. But I think the consistency in how you treat people and how you believe in people and how much opportunity you give them is ultimately how they find their comfort zone.

So it was just a matter of time, and that time was perfectly timed up the other day when he impacted the game the way he did. It’s a no-brainer for him to be in the middle of things.

Q. You’ve been through a lot with this team, obviously you won a World Series. But are there still things that you can learn about this group? And if so, what did you learn from the way they just had such a great road trip?
AJ HINCH: It’s interesting, because I think you loop together an organization. We have done some things around here the last few years, and we’re very proud of that. But every team is different. So I have two sections to answer in this. One section is the group that has been to the World Series and has won the World Series. That’s when you look at Springer, you look at Correa, you look at Altuve, you look at Bregman, JV. These guys were on our team.

But there’s a section of this team that’s not the same in ’17. Gerrit Cole wasn’t here, Michael Brantley wasn’t here, Joe Smith wasn’t here, Osuna. There’s a lot of guys — so I have two sections that you can kind of answer that question with.

What have I learned about the older group that’s been here is their calmness in the World Series has doubled and tripled and multiplied having been there before. What I’ve learned from the younger group or the guys that haven’t been here before — and they’re not necessarily young — is how much fun it is to do this for the first time.

And so I see it as sort of a dual group of guys that have all come together and they’re sharing their experiences, whether it’s enthusiasm, Gerrit Cole’s intensity being in the first World Series of his career to a World Series MVP in George Springer that just stays the course and then hits a huge home run to separate us in Game 5.

That’s been fun for me because this is a true team and these guys are all in it together. They’re not ashamed if they’re nervous because it’s their first World Series, and they’re not overconfident just because they’ve been there, done that before. And that blend that we’ve been able to put together has gotten us to this point.

Q. Two of the trends in baseball have been bullpenning and obviously the eruptions of runs this year with home runs. And yet the two teams that have gotten the furthest here have gotten here with starting pitching. Is that a reinforcement of what it takes to win in October or something more to be said about a correction afoot with starting pitching?
AJ HINCH: I think when you have the type of pitchers, not just having starting pitchers — we can all field starting pitchers, we’re fielding elite ones and so are they. That lends itself to sort of an older school brand of baseball where you hand the ball to a star, to an ace, to someone that you expect to go deep into the game and then you let them pitch.

The bullpenning idea for any one game, it’s really good. It’s an effective way to frustrate a really good lineup. And we saw that a couple of different times through the postseason for us. Where our guys didn’t love facing the Tampa bullpen or the Yankees bullpen or seeing guys any one given game.

Where that hurts you from this-is-the-way-it-should-always-be mentality is a longer series. You get into a five- and seven-game series, it’s tough for those guys to keep doing that. When you ask a bullpen to continually get 18 to 27 outs, you’re going to need a lot of guys to be really good in order for you to get to that finish line.

To win in October I think you need a lot of things. You do need starting pitching, you do need a good bullpen. You need an unknown star to step up and start hitting some home runs or making great defensive plays. You need a real team. And you can’t do that just one way otherwise we would just blueprint, copy and paste and do it the next postseason.

Managing your club is based on managing your personnel. In this particular instance, Davey and I have to manage elite starting pitching and we get to talk about old school ways of getting out of their way and just letting them pitch. It may be different next year if we don’t have these guys.

Q. For the group that was here two years ago and for the franchise itself, would a second title three years define the Astros in a way —
AJ HINCH: That’s really deep before Game 6 of the World Series.

I don’t know. I don’t know. Obviously it would be very special. But I don’t know. That’s too much for me. I’m just trying to get Turner out in the first inning for JV.

Q. Washington I assume empties its pitching staff tonight. Is there any way your approach is any different from any other game in this series?
AJ HINCH: No, we’re trying to win today’s game. I’ll empty my own tank. There’s certainly a couple of guys that I’m not going to use; Greinke and Cole. But we’re trying to win today’s game.

I think it’s important for our team to play today exactly how we played the previous 16 postseason games that we’ve played, and that’s try to win today’s game. And kind of all hands on deck, the right mentality, the approach.

There’s no soft landing into a Game 7. We’d be foolish to think that we have some sort of longer leash just because we’re not in an elimination game for us. Anything can happen. And I think if you change your mentality, you might change your results.

Q. Back to Alvarez. Do you remember the first time you saw him hit back in Spring Training? What kind of impact do you think he could have made this year?
AJ HINCH: First time I saw him hit was a couple of years ago he came over as a Minor League fill-in to come over and get a couple of at-bats in Big League Camp. This is a guy we traded for from the Dodgers, the big trade, we tried to sign him internationally, and he signed with the Dodgers, and then traded him for Josh Fields.

We knew who he was. Our Minor League people had continued to tell me his presence was mature, his approach was mature. And he hit the ball harder than any human they’d seen in a long time. All that turned out to be true.

This spring when he started to get more playing time, we played him in left, we DH’d him a lot. It’s great when you have a prospect that comes to Big League Camp because you can really give them a lot of attention and a lot of exposure. He’s going to play the back half of every single game pretty much.

Once he started hitting in the spring we felt he was very, very impactful, to the point of where Major League managers and coaches started begging their front offices to, like, Can this guy break with us? Can he come to the big leagues? We’re ready for him. He’s a left-handed presence. And he still had some unfinished business, and they got to the middle part of the year, and we felt like he was going to come up and make an impact.

When he got to the big leagues it was immediate. He’s handled success with grace. He’s fit into our clubhouse like a mature veteran even though he’s young. And he’s been nothing short of exceptional even in his struggles in the postseason.

Q. You talk about the players who have been here before. You’ve been here before but we know how you tend to grind. Describe last night and this morning for you.
AJ HINCH: Yeah, last night was good because I was tired from getting in at 5:30 in the morning the day before. It was easy. I watched the Rockets, hometown team here, on TV and just got to today’s game.

I think the longest wait is from like right now until game time. That’s where you’re just anxious to get to the game, I want these players to get ready, we’re ready to compete.

And I’ve been here before. I don’t have any nerves. I don’t have any tension. I don’t have any even a lot of stress. We know virtually everything that we need to know going into today’s game. We’ve had five games against these guys, there’s not going to be a ton of secrets. I don’t know exactly when they’re going to start runners or when he’s going to make a move on his pitching.

But we know their players. We’ve worked really hard to be prepared. We’ll talk a little bit about positioning between now and the beginning of the game, and then the real fun begins.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

October 29, 2019

Dave Martinez

Houston, Texas – pregame 6

Q. If there’s a Game 7 tomorrow will Max Scherzer be your starter?
DAVE MARTINEZ: As of right now, yes. I think he talked to some of you guys already. He gave you thumbs up, didn’t he?

Q. He said he’s good.
DAVE MARTINEZ: He’s good. He threw, he felt good. We’ll see what transpires between now and tonight. But he says he feels good. So, yeah, as of right now he’ll definitely start Game 7.

Q. How much does that change how you may deploy starters like Anibal and Patrick out of the bullpen tonight?
DAVE MARTINEZ: I’ve talked to them all and they’re all ready to pitch tonight if need be.

Q. You say Max is available to start the game. Do you have a sense of how far you could push him? Is this a full Max start or potentially something less than that?
DAVE MARTINEZ: If Max tells me tonight that he’s good then Max will pitch until his neck decides he can’t pitch anymore. I can’t see myself telling Max, you’re only going to go 75 pitches. He’s going to want to go out there and go as long as he can.

Q. Any scenario in which you could use him tonight?
DAVE MARTINEZ: No, that’s — I feel that will be pushing it. Like I said, he threw flat ground today after not being able to move his neck or trap for two days. I just wanted him to get through these next couple of hours and see how he feels.

Q. What’s been the process for Max since Sunday, since he had the injection? What other things has he done to feel better? Did he feel better immediately? What did he do yesterday? Did he fly with you guys? And what has he done today prior to throwing?
DAVE MARTINEZ: He couldn’t do anything for 24 hours. He definitely flew with us. We put him in a neck brace. We sat him up in first class, so he had a lot of room (laughter). So he woke up today, wanted to throw. Came out and threw flat ground. He let it air out and he said he felt good. Right now, like I said, we’re at the point now where let’s see how he feels in the next couple of hours. I just left him. I think he was doing a crossword puzzle right now and getting ready to do some treatment.

Q. Sunday he mentioned the possibility of long-term damage, which was a consideration when you’re going through the whole thing, and he couldn’t raise his arm. Where is the organization and him with that concept as it relates to throwing until his neck tells him he can’t?
DAVE MARTINEZ: Like I said, we’ll — if you know Max like I know Max, everything is — he’s got to look at the whole big picture. He feels good today. And that’s all I know. So we’ll see, and we’ll determine how he feels come tomorrow.

Q. You saw him throwing off of flat ground and airing it out. How do you know or do you know if you get the same Max Scherzer that you normally do coming off of this injury in Game 7?
DAVE MARTINEZ: Today he looked normal. Just like any other day he throws flat ground. He looked really good. Hoping, like I said, hoping he progresses from here to tomorrow. My guess is he comes out tomorrow and he’s going to get prepared like he prepares any other game and he’s ready to go and you’re going to see Max be Max.

Q. With these two teams has been scoring first been more important than even it is normally? And if so, why?
DAVE MARTINEZ: Yeah, absolutely. We preach scoring first all year long. But when you’re playing in these types of games I think it’s important that you get off to a good start and you want to score early. You want to put the pressure on the other team right from the first inning. Our focus today again is to get on base, create havoc and try to score right away.

You see these pitchers as the game gets going these pitchers are really good. As the game gets going they seem to get better and better. And they start getting in that rhythm. We want to kind of disrupt that early.

Q. With the situation that your team is in tonight and as well as he’s pitched all season long, how comforting is it for you to have Stephen start Game 6?
DAVE MARTINEZ: He’s been one of the best all year long. It feels good knowing that he’s going out there to start Game 6 for us and he’s going to give us whatever he can and keep us in the ball game.

Q. How is Kurt doing? Is he available at all tonight? Would you expect him to possibly be available tomorrow if you guys are going to play to start?
DAVE MARTINEZ: Yeah, Kurt is doing better. He came in yesterday, got treatment, worked out, did some running. And he felt better than he did the day before. If we are need him today, pinch-hit-wise or even to catch he’s available. Barring nothing happens come tomorrow, you know, I’m going to talk to him in the morning and see how he’s feeling and if he’s up to it, yeah, he’ll catch Game 7, catch Max.

Q. With the experience that you’ve had here last week winning a couple of games here, does that help at all with nerves going into tonight?
DAVE MARTINEZ: I think it helps our players knowing that they got a chance to play here for a couple of days. They know the environment. They know the field. And I think that definitely helps them out a lot.

Q. Is there anything about the Astros that has surprised you the first five games that maybe you didn’t see in the scouting report or didn’t expect?
DAVE MARTINEZ: No, they’re really good. We knew that coming in. You don’t win over a hundred games and not be as good as they are. But they’re a good team. Run by a good manager. Have a lot of respect for them.

And up to this point it’s been a fun season. I told the boys, we’re down 1-0 in a two out of three series. We’ve been here before. So let’s just focus on today. Win today. And then win the series.

Q. How crucial has your team’s defense been to your success this season?
DAVE MARTINEZ: They’ve been unbelievable, especially when we got healthier early in the year. I don’t remember if you guys remember, we had no Anthony and no Trea for quite a bit. And when they came back those guys solidify that side of our infield. But our defense, we’ve been playing well.

Look, we’ve been playing well. We’ve just got to score. I tell them, it’s not about scoring a whole lot of runs, it’s about scoring one more than the other guy, and that’s what we’ve got to focus on.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Video below.

Max Scherzer is throwing off flat ground in Houston. pic.twitter.com/zSTlsONd1O

— Nationals on MASN (@masnNationals) October 29, 2019