Braves quotes from Justin Upton, Julio Teheran, Ramiro Pena and manager Fredi Gonzalez after Friday night’s walk-off win against the Nationals.
**FREDI GONZALEZ
On importance of pinch running Schafer
“You have him available on the bench, why not? Even if he doesn’t steal the bag, you’ve got to keep an eye on him, as a pitcher. He’s a threat to steal a base. And maybe that takes a little concentration from the pitcher to the plate and maybe get a good pitch to the hitter and he hits a double, that’s why he’s here. He was running on the pitch and scored on a ball that was just 120 feet. And Dougy did a terrific job at third base, keeping him coming. I would have liked to see if Harper picks that ball up clean what kind of play at the plate – but it was a strange enough night without trying to get that one also.”
Would Simmons have come in at shortstop? (after Johnson left for pinch-runner; Pena would’ve moved to 3B)
“If the game was tied, Simmons would have hit in the nine hole and the pitcher would have hit in Johnson’s spot.”
On crazy game all the way around
“Four replays I think. We (considered whether to) challenge three at second, if I’m not mistaken, and they got one at the plate. They got them all right. Angel gets smoked at second on a line drive, two hits later, obstruction at second between Span and Uggla. Yeah it was a weird game and guess what, we got to play these guys 16 more times. Like we talked about earlier in the day, when you play a team that’s as good as yours or us, it’s pretty equal, a mistake can cost you. And it did cost us today. Julio got behind the 8-ball there after we didn’t get the third out and Zimmerman hits a three-run homer to get them back in the game but there are going to be more games like this than not.”
On heads-up play at plate with Walden and Gattis
“Other than the ball getting away it was crazy but we got the out. Gattis going after the ball and going after it aggressively and making the throw to the plate, those are never easy for a pitcher who’s, they never use that. The only time they really get that play is in spring training when you practice that play. Other than that you may get one every 100th game or so. Good play on both ends.”
On Justin Upton getting into one of these hot streaks
“The ball he hit to straightaway center to tie the game was about as pretty a swing as you ever want to see taken. We saw it last game, he’s starting to get hot.”
On Johnson’s three-hit night
“Big at-bat there to drive in a run earlier in the game. He’s a guy that he battles, he doesn’t give any at-bats away. And you want him in those situations.”
Was Teheran not quite as sharp with his pitches?
“A little bit of everything with Julio. That one inning he would have been out of the inning and all of a sudden he’s got to throw another eight, 10, 12 pitches to get out of that inning. He battled.”
Did B.J. have some trouble getting out of the box on double play he hit into?
“I don’t know. I was arguing that Rendon was off the bag. I really couldn’t tell.”
On whether he can argue that play if it’s ruled it’s not a neighborhood play, if it’s just a bad throw
“That’s correct. You could challenge that play as long as it’s not a neighborhood play. You feel like he came off the bag, you could challenge that one.”
**JUSTIN UPTON
On what he does when he gets in a hot streak like this
“You try to stay in your routine, get your work in, and take the same mentality to the plate every night – go up there and fight and get what you can get.”
One of the more eventful games you’ve been involved in?
“Yeah, it was up and down, the game swung both ways. We came out on top. That’s always good when we can grind out a win.”
On hitters picking up the pitchers and covering for some defensively miscues
“Sometimes that how you’ve got to win ballgames. It’s not going to be pretty every night. Mistakes happen. We just can’t get down when the game doesn’t go our way. Just continue to fight like we did tonight.”
You think there was any way Schafer was going to score from first on bloop single?
“I’ve seen Schafe run before, so I was hoping he would. I knew he had a chance if that ball got down and got away from him a little bit. That’s why we put the speed at first base, and he made a good play for us.”
On all the close games between these teams
“Two good ballclubs, you never know what’s going to happen. Good pitching on both sides, so the better team that night is going to win. I don’t think either team going into a series has the upper hand. It’s going to be a dogfight every time we play these guys. That’s what we’re going to have to do, continue to scratch and claw and try to win ballgames.”
On hitting the homer to tie in eighth
“Any time you can keep your team in the ballgame and give your team a chance to win, it feels great. These guys pick me up all the time. We pick each other up all the time.”
**JULIO TEHERAN
On only one strikeout tonight
“I just tried to make pitches. They know what I’m going to throw and what’s my best pitches. When I don’t have my best, they know how it’s going to be.”
“On the difficult days when I don’t strike out people much, I try to get outs with ground balls and fly balls. My change-up was working.”
On the Uggla error extending the inning
“That’s part of the game. I tried to pick him up. Just some mistakes that I made cost me (three) runs.”
**RAMIRO PENA
On what it is about him and the Nationals
“It was a good day. I felt good today. And the most important thing is we won.”
Do you bring confidence to plate against Nationals given success last year?
“I felt like way better today, because yesterday, I hadn’t played in a while, so yesterday gave me more confidence and I felt good today.”
