BJ UPTON
On hearing you’ve tied a record:
“To tie a record like that is definitely pretty cool. We kind of knew we were close but yeah that’s cool. It’s cool to say you did it and hopefully, we’re not going to try to break it, but hopefully we do.”
On Gonzalez saying he had a feeling with you in leadoff spot today:
“Ah, I don’t know man. I just got a good pitch to hit and made good contact with it.”
On from first at-bat, looked comfortable, like said you would in leadoff spot:
“I’ve been feeling more and more comfortable every day. Obviously you hit rough patches where you kind of lose feel a little bit but overall, I’ve hit the ball pretty well, just got nothing to show for it. Today I got a good pitch and they didn’t have the opportunity to catch it.”
On the job Harang did:
“He’s been great. he pitched out of some jams, kept the ball down, he’s been great for us all year. He’s a good veteran guy. He has an approach. He knows what he’s doing out there. He knows how to pitch. He’s been good for us all year.”
On if you and Justin talk about being in the record book:
“No. I think this is just one of those things that kind of popped up, like I said we’re not going out there trying to break any records, just if it happens, it happens.”
JUSTIN UPTON
On both he and B.J. hitting homers in same game for first time since April 23, 2013:
“Both of those runs were big for us and ended up being the deciding factors so it’s always special when you homer on the same night but for it to get us a win too was really nice.”
On the way Harang threw:
“He’s a veteran guy who can pitch, work his way through games and pitch good games for us. He’s taken the ball every fifth day and done a pretty good job for the most part. We’re glad to have him.”
On the pitch he got for homer:
“That was a cutter that was out over the plate. Just put my best swing on it.”
On if tried to hit the train:
“(Laughs) I wasn’t trying to hit the train, but hey, I got it pretty good.”
AARON HARANG
On getting the big outs this time:
“I was able to make a couple pitches, get that big double play in the one inning to get me out of the jam and make another few pitches there to get out of some situations, knowing that they’re a young aggressive team, you can be aggressive early but then try and stay off the middle of the plate later in the count.”
On if got stronger during the course of the game:
“We kind of figured something out. I was drifting towards the plate a little bit there in the middle of the game, so i was pulling a lot of balls, missing a lot of pitches arm side and that’s (a result) of getting out in front and my arm was playing catchup so it was cutting the ball off a lot but yeah for the fourth inning, Roger came in and told me I needed to stay back a little bit longer. We worked on it this past week in the bullpen and it totally changed how the fifth and sixth inning went.”
On if Roger McDowell came in and watched something on video:
“He’d just seen it live. He knew exactly what I did and I could feel it. I could feel myself doing it but it’s just sometimes one of the things somebody’s got to reiterate it to you and you’re able to adjust to make that change.”
On coming back after highs and lows of series vs. Washington:
“yeah i think the biggest thing was getting that off day yesterday. the bullpen was taxed in the middle of that whole stretch and it was just, it was a long, i think it was 17 or 18 days so it was nice to get that off day yesterday, kind of get guys rejuvenated, recouped, kind of have a low key day and come back out and start a new series up with a win.”
On middle relievers getting big outs:
“Varv came in and he got a couple big outs. Justin made that nice play down the left field line that helped Walden out. Then Craig came in and just did what he’s been doing lately and was able to shut the door for us.”
On if missed hitting:
“It feels weird coming to Houston, I’ve been doing it for so long. I said the same thing last year being in the American League. You come here, I’m so used to having to hit, it does feel weird not having to do that.”
CHRIS JOHNSON
On winning after back-to-back losses in Washington:
“Every day we come with the same intensity, the same approach and try to win games. I don’t think we get too caught up in streaks and how many we’ve won, how many we’ve lost. Just come to play every night.”
On if expect Harang to bounce back after rough outing:
“Yeah, he’s been awesome for us. He throws the ball where he wants to. He goes right after hitters and he works fast, which is nice for our defense. He’s been great.”
On fun to be a part of a big night for Uptons:
“It’s really fun. B.J.’s been swinging the bat well, he’s just been hitting the ball at people, but they’ll start falling. And Justin is having a great year and it’s nice being on deck, seeing him hit balls like that. It’s pretty cool to watch them.”
On if that ball ranks up there with ones he’s seen here:
“Yeah, that ball was smoked. It was loud too. I think even their catcher, I walked up to the plate after that, and he was like ‘man, that was loud.’”
On Upton almost hitting the train:
“Yeah I’ve seen some balls go up there. I’ve been up there before, so I’m not too impressed.”
On getting first hit here as opponent:
“Yeah it was nice. I came here two years ago with Arizona and had some stuff going on so I only played one game. I don’t think I got a hit, so it was nice to get a hit. Once I got that hit, i think everything was fine. I don’t, a lot has changed over here since I’ve been over here so there’s only a couple of guys that really I played with, Castro, Altuve, in their starting lineup for the most part, that’s it. And a lot of their front office and their manager have changed. But it’s nice, I have a lot of respect for this organization and what they did for me.”
On Harang getting out of first-and-third nobody out jam:
“He got that groundball and we were able to get the guy at second base and then yeah he went to work. It was big for us. That was huge.”
FREDI GONZALEZ
On another strong outing for Harang:
“He got better, the last two innings for me. He got better, his command got better. He mentioned something about he made a couple different adjustments. He pitched out of trouble a little bit early in the game, which is good. You could see the veteran in him. He didn’t have his good stuff early on he didn’t give in. He kept making his pitches, kept us in the game, and then all of a sudden, in the fifth and sixth inning, his command got a lot better. By that time he had right at 100 pitches, and we didn’t want to take him any further than that.”
On relief pitchers getting out of jams too:
“All three of them, Varvaro and Walden walked a couple guys. We kind of put Craig behind the 8-ball there by not making a play behind him but they got out of it, facing some big hitters down the stretch there so it was good. We would have loved to add on some runs but we didn’t, but it’s over and we don’t have to keep playing.”
On what Harang did to get better:
“He was throwing the ball over the plate. The first three or four innings he didn’t look like he had the command that he finished the game with. Pitchers struggle sometimes, whether it’s mechanically or just the feel for it. He didn’t panic the first four innings and then the fifth and sixth inning he was really really sharp.”
On saying he had a feeling about B.J. in the leadoff spot, and he homered in his second AB:
“Wait until tomorrow. See what kind of feeling I get. Talk to my witch doctor. You know what, he gives us an option up there. Feldman, I think it was a breaking ball he got just out over the plate and he put it in the (Crawford) box there. He could do a lot of stuff up there. If he gets on he can steal you a base. We’ll see how it plays out. I’m not one to give a knee-jerk reaction. I’ll give it a few games, couldn’t tell you off the top of my head how many games. But we’ll let it play out a little bit.”
On Upton brothers hitting homers on same night for first time since April 2013:
“Well both those guys are so talented. And they can really change the game. this was the fourth time they’ve done it. They’re game-changers. Hopefully we can continue and get more of those.”
On Walden getting back to being Walden:
“I think he’s had four or five good solid outings. So that’s encouraging.”
