Braves postgame quotes after Friday’s win over Angels

“Yeah, runs early are always good. Especially when you know they didn’t score in the first inning. It’s good to jump out.”

On finishing what Justin started in the first inning:

“You know luckily got to see some pitches he threw for balls and you know timed him up good enough and felt confident swinging 3-0.”

On what feels good at the plate during this streak:

“Everything, right now. It’s just good to keep it going and get some knocks today, I’m glad we won.”

On the job Harang did against 3, 4, 5 guys:

“Aaron had good stuff. He’s got a good cutter, fastball, slider, curveball, change-up. Kind of just mixed it up. Trouty got jammed a couple times and still almost hit the ball out of the yard. He fouled off some tough pitches. I know these guys can hit.”

On if going out and talking to Shae Simmons was to settle him down:

“I kind of switched up signs maybe just in case in that situation. He’s always up in high pressure situations and he did great today. Jam job here and there. That could have gone either way and I thought he pitched great.”

On for him to swing 3-0, if it’s got to be in the exact location for the right pitch that you’re thinking:

“I’m looking for a pitch to handle…you know, nah not really.”

On where the pitch was:

“Middle, away, somewhere in there. Not on the outside corner. But you know, decent pitch. Down the zone, away.”

On Andrelton’s defense:

“Unbelievable but it’s not shocking.”

On if play he made on Hamilton might be his best of the year:

“All year? Yeah, maybe so. I mean the seat of the pants thing was cool but just because he threw it from sitting on the ground. But yeah he makes unbelievable plays, nothing shocks me anymore. It’s just awesome. Everybody just kind of stops and says ‘What just happened.’”

On how important to win this first one?

“It’s good. It kind of got sloppy there for the last two games (in Colorado). That team hit, you got to hand it to them, the Rockies hit. Whether it be the ballpark or whatever but they did what we didn’t for two games. It’s good to get out in front.”

AARON HARANG

On what was working tonight:

“Just able to mix in some pitches, get ahead early was the big thing. Lately, the last couple outings I’ve been falling behind and having to pitch from behind. Today I was able to come out and get strike 1 and then try to get strike 2 right away and try to put them in a hole and make them hit my pitch.”

On if that was a matter of focus or something mechanical:

“I think I just had a couple extra days between the last start. I ended up having a week off. Just a couple extra days will throw you off sometimes. I was able to stay in a routine this week and be able to do the same thing looking into my new start.”

On if that much more important to work ahead in a lineup with this much thump:

“Definitely. If you can get them in 0-2, 1-2 right away, they’re kind of at your mercy and have to go after your pitch because you put them in a hole right away. With those guys, that, and then trying to keep runners off base is a big thing with power guys. If they’re going to get you for a homer you hope it’s just a solo shot other than a two-run homer or three-run homer.”

On four runs on the board early:

“Yeah, the guys came out swinging well and we knew that C.J.’s tough. You have to get to him early because he just gets tougher as the game goes on and gets more pitch-efficient. The guys came out swinging right away, Gatti had that big homer for us, put us in the lead and we were able to keep it.”

On just getting batters to hit it to Simmons:

“Yeah. It’s always great to have a guy like that behind you. That play on Hamilton was probably one of the best plays I’ve seen in a long time so it’s fun to have him back there, because he’s so sure-handed and he’s got a big arm behind him so. It’s nice when you can get those guys busy all night.”

On if he varied speeds on his fastball tonight more than he usually does:

“That’s something that’s usually consistent with my approach. I’m not trying to be a max effort guy all the time. It’s nice to know that if you get ahead and you get in a situation that you’ve got a little something extra in the tank to throw at them. But location was a big key and just varying the speeds and pitches.”

On facing big boys with runners on first base:

“Yeah, you’ve really got to stay focused in those situations and execute your pitches. When you start thinking too much and pressing too much, that’s when you make a bad pitch. And when you’ve got big power hitters like they’ve got, those are the guys that really hurt you so if you stay focused and execute your pitch, you’ll be fine.”

FREDI GONZALEZ

On the Braves’ first inning:

“I thought we had a great approach off of him. In the first inning we had a couple beat counts out of him, then Gattis got him with the three-run homer. I thought Justin got him just before that but that ball didn’t carry. Aaron gave us a terrific chance to win the ballgame. To maneuver through that lineup, he did a terrific job. And (Shae) Simmons did a nice job. We got him a little bit of a jam there but he did a nice job getting those two hitters out. That was a dangerous spot there.”

On Jason Heyward’s hand injury:

“Jason is day-to-day. The X-ray came back negative, which is always good. I will check with him tomorrow to see if there is any soreness or anything.”

On Heyward wanting to stay in the game:

“He said, Let me go play defense. By that time it was another five or six minutes. When he came in he went downstairs real quick because he was up second. He tried to grip the bat and he couldn’t do it. Good thing our hand doctor was here.”

On Simmons in the field:

“He made three or four plays that were game-changing plays. You want that ball hit to him. He will find a way to get the ball hit to him. He made some terrific plays.”

On Gattis having the green light on 3-0 pitch:

“The way he’s swinging the bat right now, why not?”

On Harang first win since early May:

“And you know what, he’s pitched about as good as anyone in the major leagues. I don’t know how many exactly he’s left leading the game, but he’s pitched really good for us.”

On getting outs with men on against big hitters:

“He did a nice job a couple times against Hamilton throwing him slower and slow. That’s what, 10 years in the big leagues, and hundreds of starts to get that experience.”

On Shae Simmons learning from experience:

“I think every single one of his games it’s been something happening behind him or people being on base. He’s handled it with flying colors.”