Red Sox - 3, Yankees - 1
Q. Just to see Garrett have that kind of performance, 117 pitches, career high, and his last pitch was the hardest. What did you think of what he did tonight?
ALEX CORA: Amazing. I was just telling Bregs there was going to be starts in the regular season, that we have to take care of guys for this. 85 pitches against the Mets. Keeping a star hand there, the All-Star break, doing all of that stuff is for this to happen.
You have to make sure you stay with the process. That's the most important thing. For how great he was tonight, I tip my hat to the medical staff. They have done an amazing job with a guy that has never pitched 200 innings, had never made more than 30 starts, have never pitched seven and two-thirds in the playoffs.
It is a total team effort. I made sure the training staff, you know, knew how I felt.
Q. Alex, when you guys acquired Crochet, you knew he was good. Did you ever in your wildest imagination think he would be this good?
ALEX CORA: In my wildest imagination, yes, I did.
Q. When he comes out for the eighth at 100 pitches, and then it's 105, 110, 115, are you taking it batter to batter at that point, or is there a point at which you --
ALEX CORA: No. Not really. Matchups. I think that was it. It wasn't batter to batter. We felt that was a good pocket for him and the stuff was really good, knowing that we had Whit and Chapy ready. In case if it was first and second, probably Whit. Man at first, two outs, it was Chapy. Never hesitated. Never felt like this is too much because of the reasons I just told you.
We did a good job throughout the season for him to be fresh going into the playoffs, and he proved it today.
Q. In the brief history of the Wild Card Series, the winner of Game 1 has won every time and advanced to the Division Series. What do you think of that?
ALEX CORA: Hopefully we can continue that. We have a tough one tomorrow again. Rodón has been amazing throughout this season. They are obviously going to have their left-handed hitters in the lineup. We have Brayan, who likes it here, pitched well throughout his career. I expect the game to be just like this one.
Q. Alex, we ask a lot of analytics questions to you about baseball, but how much would you say was just your gut with Crochet today, your baseball mind, or did you kind of know all of the scenarios, or was it your gut in how he looked in play today?
ALEX CORA: I think it was him.
Q. What do you mean by that?
ALEX CORA: He was throwing 97, 98. The previous inning was a quick one. Gave us a chance to push the envelope. In the eighth, it was a quick inning against a pocket that gave him kind of trouble early in the game. So I didn't hesitate. I told Bells he is going out. He did his job.
Q. In an era where pitchers almost never pitch that long, what is it in Crochet's makeup that you saw him having the ability to do that?
ALEX CORA: It started yesterday. We were joking around. For some reason our front office was in the bullpen checking something out there. He was in the dugout with me. I told him, We should call the bullpen.
He said, Tomorrow you are going to make one call to the bullpen.
Said, Maybe two.
He's like, No, no, no, one. It's going to be straight to Chapy.
Okay, I'll take that.
That's how it worked out.
Q. What is it in his makeup?
ALEX CORA: He is a guy that wants it bad, to be honest with you. He was in a situation last year that he was learning how to become a starter. He got traded to become the ace. He got paid like an ace, and since day one he has acted like that.
Q. Alex, with the ninth inning and the bases loaded, no outs, what is going through your mind right there?
ALEX CORA: Stay calm. Stay calm. That's all you can do. Make pitches. They were aggressive. Didn't hit the ball hard in that inning, but they were getting hits. You trust the guy. He has been one of the best, if not the best closers in the game. So just let him go. He made some pitches.
Q. When did you decide that you were going to do the Chapman thing and stay away from Whitlock?
ALEX CORA: When there were two outs, got some good left-handed hitters on the bench. Rice was there. It is not that I don't trust Whitlock against him, but I trust Chapy against the righties. That's something we talked about in preparation before the game, hey, our lefties are really good, Wilson and Chapman and Matz. If there's a chance we can keep the righties in the lineup and take our chances, we are going to do it.
Q. Down 1-0 in the seventh, you get an 11-pitch walk from Rafaela, you get Sogard going, getting a double on what looked like a single, and then Masa's pinch hit. What did you think about that?
ALEX CORA: I felt like second time through a lineup, we were putting better at-bats. Narváez had a tremendous game today, being patient, taking his walks. Ceddanne did an outstanding job. Sogy was frickin' amazing. Nate did the same.
I felt like if we keep pushing, you know, that pitch count, we are going to get to the bullpen. Ceddanne down 0-2, I think it was, gets on base, and from there it was about mixing and matching and trying to maximize the roster.
Q. Sogard stretching that --
ALEX CORA: Yeah, that's preparation. We talk about their outfielders and what can we do or what we cannot do, and he saw it right away and took advantage of it.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports