NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: BRAVES VS DODGERS

October 21, 2021

Max Fried

Freddie Freeman

Dodger Stadium

Atlanta Braves

Postgame 5 Press Conference

Los Angeles Dodgers - 11, Atlanta Braves - 2

Q. Freddie, can you describe the wave of emotions that it may seem like you guys are on top and it changed so quickly but is that just postseason baseball?

FREDDIE FREEMAN: Yeah, it seems like this whole series we've been switching off games here, winning late, they win late, we score a lot yesterday, they score a lot today. That's just how it's been going. It's two good teams going at it and this is kind of what we figured.

Q. Max, did you just feel like you were a little bit off tonight or what, did you feel good in the bullpen or when you started the game in the first inning it seemed like you were on but what happened?

MAX FRIED: Physically felt great. Just a really good aggressive lineup, hit some pitches over the middle. I wasn't executing on the corners like I normally do and when you leave the balls over the middle, normally damage happens.

Q. Max, obviously a big moment. I know you had a lot of family here and everything. You've pitched here before but is it tough in that atmosphere when you're in your hometown? How did that, if at all, affect you?

MAX FRIED: No, at the end of the day, it's playoff baseball. It's a really good team, won a lot of games, and you got to be on top of your game and bring your best to give your team a chance to win and unfortunately tonight I wasn't as sharp as I needed to be.

Q. Freddie, you guys don't want to hear about last year or any other Atlanta sports history but at the same time do you just have to kill that narrative like you did the Division Series narrative last year?

FREDDIE FREEMAN: I mean, it's going to be the narrative it seems because every day it's brought up the last couple days. So I don't think we have a choice until we kill that narrative. We're up 3-2 and we're going home. That's a great position to be in.

Q. To follow that up, we saw how you responded after the Game 3 crushing loss. How do you think you guys will go home and respond to the crowd and everything there?

FREDDIE FREEMAN: I think we're going to be just fine. We got Ian on the mound. He's already itching to get going. Got a long day tomorrow. Got to fly home. But we all have to do that. So we're going to be looking forward to getting in front of our home fans. Just really two good teams. It's going to be a good series just like we thought so coming down to Game 6 and 7.

Q. Freddie, for you personally I know some of this goes without saying, but you've been a Brave for 12 years. To take this final step that we've been talking about and get to the World Series, what would that mean to you?

FREDDIE FREEMAN: I don't like hearing 12 years. That's a long time (laughing). It means I'm getting toward the end. But it would be nice. We've been so close, obviously with last year, and we were one win away. So it's been a long time since the Braves have been to the World Series, so it's going to mean a lot if we can get there.