Quotes from manager Fredi Gonzalez and several players following the Braves' 11-3 victory over Toronto Thursday at Turner Field.
FREDI GONZALEZ
On different story from last night:
“We swung the bats. We put some crooked numbers up there late. They came back and tie it and it was nice to go back out there and put up three runs the very next frame. I thought Michael (Minor) was outstanding. We misplayed that double-play ball but he held his composure. It gave us an opportunity to score some runs. He’s just been tremendous. A couple guys with big nights. Gattis got three hits, Schafer got a couple, Pena got a couple nice knocks. Reed Johnson with a two-run homer to add on some runs. It was nice also to get ‘Woody’ (Alex Wood) in there and get a chance first day. Don’t let him sit around and think about it. Let him get in there ninth inning. I think there was a lot of Georgia fans in the stadium today. That was good for him, also.”
On seeing Schafer more this season:
“You know what, we’ll see. The one thing you always want to do is put your best team out there that gives you the best chance to win the ball game. He’s playing well right now. We’ll see. We will just enjoy this game here and (then) we’lll see.”
On if he’ll be tempted to fill out the lineup the same tomorrow:
“We’ll see. It’s been a long, tough, day. It was a good win, a good, team, win. Guys swung the bats well and pitched well. To hold this team across the way to just three runs with their sluggers … it’s a good victory tonight.”
On tonight showing the depth of the bench:
“Yeah, it’s a deep team offensively, position-wise. There are some days that the guys sitting on the bench are maybe better than the guys sitting on the bench, or vice versa. You’ve got to take every opportunity. I’m sure that come the end of June, July or whatever it is, the team that is supposed to be out there, the guys that are supposed to be out there, will be out there. Because you’ve got to believe the back off the baseball cards and they are good players. It may not even be the end of June. It might be the middle of June or five days from now. Who knows? But those bench guys are playing well.”
MIKE MINOR
On his night:
“That one inning they scored three I was trying to pick my teammates up because they’ve picked me up so many times other times. I kind of let them down, but then they came back and we scored three more the next inning.”
On allowing only four hits vs. Blue Jays lineup:
“It felt good just to get a win against a tough team like this, interleague play we don’t really know these guys.”
On Fredi giving him green light on the bunt, is that after that home run now, are you now a guy that’s up there swinging:
“Maybe to myself, I might think that. Nah, I think it was a couple starts ago they were crashing in, the Mets at home. D Wright and a couple guys were all crashing in, running a play on us and stuff. They said if I ever see that then I can take it back and swing, so I felt like third baseman was a little bit close and I wanted to swing.”
On matching up with Dickey:
“I’ve faced him before and didn’t have much success against him. But it’s pretty cool for him to win the Cy Young and me face him and see what he’s got.”
On the lift from lineup, Pena, Gattis, Schafer:
“Everybody. There were a couple there that Justin Upton, hard hit balls that had nothing to show for it…. That’s huge for them to pick me up after I give up the three. Tied it up it’s pretty much 0-0 ballgame. They came back in and picked me up.”
FREDDIE FREEMAN
On if learned the homer trick from Chipper Jones’ bobblehead night:
“He hit one more home run than me on his.”
On fun night for offense:
“Definitely. Schafer and Andrelton got us started going and we kept it going for the first couple innings and we slowed it down and we picked it right back up. Mikey pitched great tonight. It was just a great all-around game.”
On Schafer, Pena giving lift every time out there:
“Pena’s on the bottom, Schafer’s on the top and they did a great job tonight. I think they both got three hits (Schafer two) and a ton of RBIs. Then the middle of the lineup just kind of picked up where they were going too. It was just a great game.”
On how to prepare for knuckleballer:
“Swing early in the count. There’s no point. The knuckleball is not going to do the same thing every single time, so that was my approach. It’s been the same approach since I’ve seen R.A. Dickey and it seemed to be working the last couple years.”
On indication of what you can do not just 1-8 but 1-13:
“That’s true, with the guys getting a chance to play tonight, giving our starters a rest, they came up huge. They’ve been doing it all year with a lot of us hurt and on the DL, come up big. Gattis again with three hits. And Pena three hits. Schafe. It’s been impressive to watch.”
On extra-game cushion with Washington coming in:
“Definitely. You always want to have as much of a cushion as you can. But we’ve got their 1-2 coming in tomorrow so we’re going to have to put a battle up this weekend.”
ANDRELTON SIMMONS
On if can have a defensive slump:
“Yeah sometimes it happens. Yeah unfortunately I made Minor work a little harder. He still got a win but put made him throw more pitches than he was supposed to. I’m never happy with that. I’m never happy with making errors and making the pitchers work more.”
On if momentary loss of concentration on the double play ball:
“Yeah, I guess overconfident. The ball was in my pocket I just tried to throw it in my hand instead of taking it out, a split second too soon. I thought I had it already when I saw it close took my eyes I guess off. It happens.”
On the offense responding up and down the order:
“It was nice. Everybody put good swings on. It was good to see.”
On the lift Pena, Schafer, Gattis providing:
“Every time they get a chance they keep showing why they’re here and that they deserve more chances. It’s good to see. If the guys are coming off the bench and not playing every day and doing that, that’s great.”
RAMIRO PENA
On all the bench guys producing on the same night:
“We’re just trying to do our job. The bench wants to play also. I think we got great ABs and we produced.”
On him, Schafer, some of the bench guys producing:
“We’re trying to play as much as we can. We’re trying to get good ABs and trying to get results. I think we’re playing good. We concentrate good for the games, and we practice every day to be ready for the game.”
On three hits, four RBIs:
“I really didn’t hit the best contact but I got the results, so I’ll take it.”
ALEX WOOD
On his debut:
“It felt pretty awesome, especially to get that double play to end the game. I wasn’t sure if I was going to get in there. It was kind of a close game there for a while and the bats came alive and we ended up scoring a bunch of runs. I was fortunate to get in there at the end. It was pretty special. When I walked out there I heard some Dawgs fans barking and everyone cheering. It was a pretty neat moment, for sure.”
On this experience:
“It still doesn’t seem real yet. It still hasn’t sunk in, especially after going out there and pitching. But I will just wake up tomorrow and hopefully do it all over again. I will try to get some sleep tonight after a long last 24 hours. I’m definitely excited to get back out there again. It’s definitely a relief to have the first one under my belt.”
On his night down in the bullpen:
“I was itching down there for a little while I started stretching and getting warm. Then we got a tie ball game and scored two, probably a little too close especially when you are leading the division right now, to throw me out there for my first time. I was definitely happy we scored some runs. It was a great moment tonight and glad to have it under my belt.”
On his Mom seeming excited:
“I knew that was probably coming. They are already talking about it. She probably halfway held it together, too, which is probably the bad thing. I was happy that they were here and they could be a part of this along with a lot of my friends coming down to say hey to me down in the bullpen. It was definitely a great night.”
On her crying the whole time:
“She probably did. I told her yesterday to try to keep it together for me, but that was wishful thinking. I’m excited they will probably be here the rest of the weekend.”
On being in stands at Turner Field before as a fan:
“I’ve been here a bunch, especially in college. I’ve been on a few sorority date nights here and stuff like that in college. It’s great walking out there just for BP and having the view from the field to the stands instead of the stands to the field it was unbelievable. I was talking to Jordan Walden about it during BP and there’s nothing like it. I wish everybody could experience the feeling I had tonight at some point in their lives. It was pretty amazing.”
