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AL DIVISION SERIES: RAYS VS ASTROS


October 7, 2019


Kevin Cash


Houston, Texas - postgame 3

Tampa Bay - 10, Houston - 3

Q. Kevin, your thoughts on Charlie Morton giving you five strong.
KEVIN CASH: Outstanding. Certainly we weren't expecting that after the first two innings, he had 50-plus pitches. They had good at-bats, but take away the Altuve home run and them putting pressure on him, he still got his strikeouts, I don't know if it was eight or nine. But similar to the Oakland start, really turned it up when he had to and got efficient for us. Because the pace of the way we were getting through the first two innings, you're wondering are we going to be able to get past three with him.

Certainly, I mean, just what Charlie's done all year long. He's got that knack for doing some special things for us, and he did again.

Q. Kevin, there was a little bit of a time lag before he went out for the fifth. The bullpen was ready, Stan was looking down there. Was there a discussion you two had?
KEVIN CASH: Well, when we got Chaz up? Yeah, he had sat for a while. We started to separate the game a little bit and kind of contemplating what made the most sense.

But, you know, given how we're going to go to a bullpen day tomorrow, we need as much -- we needed as much as possible from him. That extra inning, that fifth inning really helped us out.

Q. Kevin, what are your pitching plans? Who do you start with tomorrow?
KEVIN CASH: We'll start with Diego. From there, depends kind of where we land in the batting order. But with the performance from Charlie and the rest of the guys, Oliver Drake super efficient today with his two innings, able to bounce back. We're capable of multiple innings from a lot of the guys in the bullpen.

Q. You knew you were going to have to face Verlander again. He's pitching tomorrow. Your thoughts on facing him again.
KEVIN CASH: He's tough. We've got to enjoy what we accomplished today and certainly hope we can have better at-bats, production, get something going against him. We'll worry about that tomorrow. Right now, the guys are pretty pumped about what they just did tonight.

Q. Kevin, what was the impact of that Kiermaier swing and that home run in the dugout to the psyche, the momentum, everything?
KEVIN CASH: It was big. The crowd was tremendous. Thank the Bay area fans. It was awesome. That really got it going before the game and then Altuve comes up, does what he does. Doesn't quiet us down. But for us to, you know, get a lead and, albeit a three-run homer was huge. Then seemed like we kind of fed off that momentum right there for multiple innings. I think we scored in consecutive innings, two or three in a row.

It was good for the guys to add on. The bats have been quiet. We talked about it for good reason. It was good for them to continue to add on and find a way to separate the game. Really, when they made it 8-3, for us to answer back again was nice.

Q. Kevin, as well as Charlie was pitching, was there any discussion about maybe sending him out to see what would happen in the 6th?
KEVIN CASH: There was a thought. I think he kind of emptied his tank in the fifth inning. Maybe if we're a little more efficient in the first two innings, there's a different thought process. But didn't want to push it. He had such a good outing, great outing for us. I thought that was enough.

Q. Coach, any update on Díaz? How's he doing?
KEVIN CASH: Sore, but I think he's okay. The play in the first inning that Alvarez hit, that was our concern going in and playing him, whether it's first or third base, just that quick agility movement. When you're running, when you hit a ball, you kind of have the thought process to go run.

Well, when a ball kind of comes off a bat, you're not sure which way it's going to go, I think that really grabbed his foot. But we went and had the doctor look at it. He seems to be fine.

Q. Kevin, going back, you mentioned the crowd. You think the team kind of responded to that, like pregame and when you started the game?
KEVIN CASH: Definitely. We're very appreciative of the crowd. I thought that the crowd was outstanding. We saw what the Houston fans did for that club. Feel like ours just did it for ours.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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