Quotes from Freddie Freeman, Tim Hudson, Jason Heyward and manager Fredi Gonzalez following Thursday's victory over the Reds.
FREDDIE FREEMAN
On his night:
“It’s something that’s hard to explain but I’m just so thrilled that the fans voted me in, to come out here and get a W tonight is pretty awesome.”
On the ovation for his first at-bat:
“It was pretty cool. Devin took his time too and gave it a little time. It’s a nice gesture the fans gave me.”
On almost like didn’t know what to do:
“I didn’t. I wasn’t expecting that. When you’ve got guys on base, you just want to go out there and get those guys in, that’s where my main concentration was right there.”
On the first inning double:
“It was a load off my shoulders I would say. The fans voted for you. You want to go out there and deliver for them. To come up in the first inning with guys on base and to come through it was nice, it felt like a weight came off my shoulders.”
On chasing Chipper’s 5-for-5:
“Yeah that’s a little hard to do. I’ve never even had five hits in a game, to do on this night would be difficult.”
On if came into the game with a little more bounce, adrenaline:
“I think I have the same thing every single game, especially with guys on base. I want to get those guys in. So I just tried to come in today, tried and push the emotions aside and go out there and just be able to perform.”
On what his dad said:
“He was pretty thrilled. He’ll be there Sunday night just like me. I called him and he didn’t even say hello, he said ‘Congratulations.’ It was pretty cool. I can’t wait to see him in a couple days.”
On way Hudson battled early and picked him up:
“Obviously getting down early it’s tough to come back as an offense and we were able to come back in the first inning and another one in the second and keep adding on. Obviously their bullpen is pretty good and they’ve been pretty good lately. To get runs off Mat who has been pitching pretty great himself is a big lift. And Huddy beared down after the first couple innings and got us through and we got some more runs for him tonight.”
JASON HEYWARD
On how the injury happened:
“I was running and it happened, about a step and a half before I went to slide I felt something sore first, got a little tight, no pops, no pulls, tears, nothing of that matter. It just got painful. As I went down it got more painful. I felt like the pressure release some, tried to get up, get off the field, not hold the game up. We had some momentum going. Walking off it was pretty sore but then as my adrenaline went away, it became more sore. Iced a couple times, evaluate it again. Pretty sore right now, tight but sore. Just got to take it day by day, see what my body does and go from there.”
On laying there thinking worst:
“When I first felt it, it scared the hell out of me because of how much it hurt. But after that I felt it release. I was like ‘OK, maybe I’m good and it won’t be anything torn or anything pulled. It was just pain more than anything. It kind of relaxed, pressure went away and I was able to walk off. Now I’m just sore. So I think I’m going to be OK. I think the worst was avoided.”
On looking back at play:
“I was looking at the play and as soon as I got my head turned back around, a step and a half it was like sore, that’s when it happened right before I slid. So I didn’t do anything running or nothing weird. I didn’t land wrong or anything like that. It just happened.”
On Freeman’s night:
“Great for him. I’m happy for him. First All-Star game, more than deserving to be there at that game. Hopefully he’ll play long enough to be voted to start one or two or a few. Great night for him tonight, great win for us. Great way to start the series.”
On hoping to avoid DL before All-Star break:
“I don’t personally think that I’ll go on the DL right now. We’ll see what anybody says. We’ll evaluate again tomorrow of course. But right now I don’t think it’ll be DL. I think the fact that nothing is torn, nothing was pulled, I think I’ll be OK to just have some rest and get it worked out. Again, I won’t know until tomorrow where we’re at.”
TIM HUDSON
On the night:
“It was a good win for us. They’re a really good team. They’ve got a really tough lineup and we faced a really good pitcher tonight and were able to put together some good at-bats and overcome a little bit of a hole I put us in early on. It was great all the way around for us, tight ballgame. It wasn’t the cleanest of ballgames on either side but it was exciting for sure.”
On Freeman living up to your “Vote Freeman” posters:
“Yeah he finally showed what he can do. I was a little embarrassed in Miami some of the posters I put up. I had to take one of them down halfway through the game but today it was, I could have put them back up.”
On difference after the first:
“Settling in, settling into the game and being a little more aggressive with my offspeed. From about the third or fourth inning on I felt a lot more comfortable throwing some offspeed pitches for strikes. Obviously when you get a lead it’s a lot easier to go out there and try to execute pitches and be more aggressive in the strike zone.”
On getting Freeman into the All-Star game meant something to all you guys:
“Sure. He’s been a great hitter for us pretty much ever since he’s been here in the big leagues with us. I’m pretty sure this isn’t going to be his last. It’s nice for him to get what he deserves. There’s no question about it. He deserved to be there. Unfortunately it had to go down to a vote. He should have been one of the guys in there off the start but it is what it is. It’s a little bit of a flawed system in my opinion, the way things are for the All-Star game but it is what it is. You’ve got to go out there and try to put the best team you can out there regardless whether the fans vote or not. It’s our job to try to put together the rest of the roster that’s going to give us a chance to win the All-Star game and put together a good game for us to get homefield advantage.”
On back-to-back wins after 10 starts without a win:
“It is nice. Obviously there was a little bit of a stretch there that kind of stunk, but that’s how baseball is. There are ups and downs and we’ve been able to put together a couple good games in a row for me.”
FREDI GONZALEZ
On Freeman’s game:
“Three hits and he had a terrific night. After he gets named by the fans to the All-Star team, he didn’t let them down. There was a lot of support and he came through today, got some RBIs and got some big knocks when we had to.”
On Hudson getting past first inning:
“He battled. And we made him work a little extra harder by giving away some of the outs but he really battled and to go seven innings and almost 110 pitches was a hell of an effort for us. We need that tonight after the extra inning game in Florida and Pauly only going 5 1/3 today, we needed that for our bullpen tonight and then the two guys in the back end converted.”
On Hudson getting some run support:
“He is, the last two games. And he’s holding up his end of the bargain, keeping the other team right there and getting a couple Ws.”
On fourth straight good game from Justin:
“He’s had some great at-bats here lately, the last five or six games. That’s the stuff that he can do. That’s the stuff we saw in April and we need that right now.”
On Heyward:
“We’re going to evaluate him in the morning and hopefully it doesn’t manifest itself into something worse than it is right now.”
On him being able to get up and walk off:
“That’s a good sign but those things you just never know how they’re going to get overnight so we’ll evaluate him in the afternoon when he comes in.”
On Kimbrel vs. Choo:
“They scare you. Those guys down there. Even Mesoraco, he’s got two at-bats against him, he’s hit an opposite field home run, he got a base hit to lead off the ninth. They’re a good bunch of guys who can swing the bat a little bit.”
