AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: RANGERS VS ASTROS

October 20, 2023

Jose Altuve

Globe Life Field

Houston Astros

Postgame 5 Press Conference

Astros - 5, Rangers - 4

Q. You were asked before the game if you had a favorite playoff moment. Do you have a new one?

JOSE ALTUVE: Yeah, I got to say this one, because it just happened and still have the emotions, the adrenaline in me. Yeah, it was a cool moment, and because we ended up winning.

Q. Do you think your team was fired up by what happened in the eighth inning?

JOSE ALTUVE: I don't know. Hard to tell. We show up every day, like I said, before the game ready to play. We've done it so many times, we never give up until the last out. And that's in our game like today.

Q. You guys have played so well in this ballpark. Is there something about this ballpark that you see the ball better, or what's going on?

JOSE ALTUVE: No, nothing.

Q. Just playing well?

JOSE ALTUVE: Yeah.

Q. Why do you think Garcia was so upset when he got hit?

JOSE ALTUVE: I mean, I don't think anybody likes to get hit, you know, especially a 95-mile-per-hour fastball. So I think -- like I said, nobody really likes to get hit. I got hit before, and it doesn't feel good at all.

Q. Bregman talked about how you remain at all times. How do you remain calm with all the madness that just happened to go and do what you just did a few minutes after the benches are cleared?

JOSE ALTUVE: I really wanted to win this game since the first inning. Obviously, big game. So I was really trying not to let anything distract me or bother me, just really pay attention to the game and be ready if I get in a situation like I did.

I know everybody is talking about the homer, but if you go and see Díaz's base hit and then Singleton walked, especially when he hasn't played in a lot of days, and coming from the bench facing probably one of the best closers right now in the playoff. So I think the key was these two guys and to be able to score all those runs.

Q. You've hit a lot of home runs. You've been hit by a lot of pitches. Was there any way for the Rangers to not interpret those actions as deliberate?

JOSE ALTUVE: It's hard, you know? Like I said, nobody likes to get hit. And like I said a minute ago, I have a lot of hit by pitches in my career, and you feel mad, upset, because it really hurts.

At the same time, there's no reason for us to hit Garcia in that moment because we were really trying to keep the game on the line and to be able to come back in the game.

But like I said, I don't have any comment.