Adolis García hit a titanic three-run homer to give the Texas a 4-2 lead in the sixth inning of Game 5 of their league championship series with Houston Astros, but José Altuve’s belted his own three-run bomb to propel the Astros to a 5-4 win over the Rangers.
The power-hitting outfielder now has four longballs during the postseason and saw his average rise to .286. García is also slashing .318/.595/.913 to combine with Josh Jung as the main threats in a lineup stack with hitters. Framber Valdez will take the mound Sunday against Nathan Evoldi at 8:03 PM with Houston a win away from returning to the World Series.
The slugger was hit in the bottom of the eighth inning by Bryan Abreu and was subsequently ejected by the umpire after an altercation with catcher Martín Maldonado. Below are the excerpts of last night’s post-game press conference where García explains the situation.
BAT SPIKE! #GoAndTakeIt pic.twitter.com/I6L0KUaggA
— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) October 20, 2023
What did you tell Maldonado after they hit you? It seemed like you thought they hit you on purpose.
I just reacted to the ball that came towards me. It was something in that situation, he could have hurt me, he could have injured me. I just let him know that shouldn’t happen there.
You and Maldonado have talked before. Was any of that a factor in that moment? Because you turned to him instead of the pitcher who had thrown the ball.
It was just the heat of the moment. I just reacted to being hit by the pitch. I just reacted towards him as soon as I felt the hit. It was just a thing that happened in that instant.
Do you regret the way you reacted considering how it played out for your team after the fact?
I think we’re always focused on winning, no matter what happens in what situation. I think in that moment I want to win, I want the team to win, so I would obviously feel bad.
Why did they tell you you were ejected from the game?
I don’t really know. It could have been something — probably, maybe, based on my reaction to what happened. But I really don’t know.
Did you get the idea the Astros might have been upset with the way you watched or celebrated your home run?
I think we’re in the postseason, you know. It’s the moment. You hit a ball like that, you’re going to celebrate. It’s where we’re at right now.
So I don’t think that that’s a way for them — if they’re trying to react to that, I don’t think that’s the correct way.
The home run was obviously a huge emotional lift for this team. You are an emotional heartbeat of this club. So this loss is definitely a letdown. How do you, emotionally, and this club respond?
I think that there’s still games left. There’s another game that we have to turn towards, focus on. I’m going to keep letting the guys know, we still have a shot at this. We’re going to keep grinding, and we’re going to try to find a way to win.
When you came to bat in that inning, in the 8th, just knowing the history between the two teams, did you think there was a chance that you were going to get hit?
No, I was just focused on that moment, my next at-bat. I was just focusing on how I could help the team.
To the question earlier about in the moment, your reaction was to turn to Martín Maldonado. I’ve watched you go back and forth over the last few years. Is it personal between you and Martín at this point?
No, not really. I don’t have anything personal with anyone. My thing is just to go out there and play baseball. I really don’t have anything personal against anyone.