World Series Game 2: George Springer postgame interview

October 26th, 2017

Q. Can you take us through the at-bat please, the homer that turns into the winner, and just sharing that moment with your teammates is something that's been so important to all of you guys all season long.
GEORGE SPRINGER: Yeah, you know, the at-bat by Cam was absolutely huge. And him right there stealing second made it easier on me. The goal right there for me was to get him to third base, because we've got the MVP of the league up in a hitter. And the way that Alex has been swinging the bat, I knew if I could get him to third base, he would score. And was fortunate enough to hit a ball well. And get the job done.
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Q. What can you say about A.J., obviously it was just one game, but Game 1, he backed you every time, to come out in a game like this, for A.J. to publicly have your back like that, and you guys to win this game?
GEORGE SPRINGER: It's huge. Obviously didn't have the best game last night. And as a player you tend to know it. And you press. And you want to do things that you can't do. And for him to have my back and to say that, hey, you're still going to hit first, and you're still going to set the tone for us, it slowed me down. I was doing things that I don't normally do. And for him to have my back, it means the world to me. And I'll always have his back. And that just shows who he is.
Q. Is there anything, have you changed your approach at all since the regular season as to now, coming into this game? You broke out and you had three big hits. Did you change your approach at all?
GEORGE SPRINGER: I just think when the lights turn on even brighter you tend to subconsciously press, and you want to succeed so bad that you start to do things that you wouldn't do, or you start to come out of an approach that has worked the whole year. And this is my first experience at playing this far, playing this long and in a game of this magnitude. So for me to kind of experience it and to kind of understand, hey, slow yourself down. I understand now why guys struggle in the postseason and some don't.

Q. Your reaction when Marwin hit that home run, you've seen him in several clutch moments this season, was there relief when he hit that home run?
GEORGE SPRINGER: Yeah, believe it or not, I was actually in the tunnel. And I heard everyone start going crazy. And the ball -- I heard them scream. And that's an at-bat right there. If he doesn't have that at-bat, who knows what happens in this game. That's just a great at-bat. And I don't even know how to explain how we all felt right there. But it was like a sigh of relief, like, okay, we can do it. Here we go.

Q. In a game that had everything, what's it like being a player through the whole range of emotions from start to finish, especially the last couple of innings?
GEORGE SPRINGER: Probably as nerve-wracking as it is in the stands for everybody else. You know who's on the other team, you know who's on deck, and you know who's hitting. And when that last out is made, you finally breathe. But that's an emotional high, emotional high to low to high again. But that's why we play the game. And that's the craziest game that I've ever played in, and it's only Game 2.
Q. At what point did you notice come back in the dugout?
GEORGE SPRINGER: You know what, he doesn't really leave the dugout. When he comes out of the game, he stays right there. He's fighting with us, whether he's in the game or not. And that means the world to us, whether he sees it or not. But he actually doesn't ever actually leave the dugout.
Q. You hit the home run and then you guys won and heading back to Houston. What does that mean for you?
GEORGE SPRINGER: It's huge, for us to come into a tough place to play and play a very, very, very good team and split is absolutely huge. And for us to be going home to our environment, to our crowd is huge to have it tied up at one.
Q. What do you think of the whole concept of momentum? Is it just the word we use? But in a game, game to game in a series, do you feel you have it now, is every game, every a new entity?
GEORGE SPRINGER: I think there's both. There's times when something crazy happens and you can feel a crowd start to get energized, and can feel a fog lift off a dugout. I think it's a real thing. It's a real thing just as much as team chemistry is and all that. I believe in it. That's a momentum swinger on every side of this game. Us scoring two in the 10th, and them coming out and scoring two, and us scoring another one. That's just a crazy back-and-forth game.