**FREDI GONZALEZ
On Ervin Santana’s performance
“Ervin was really, really good. He mixed his pitches really well especially to a left-handed dominant lineup. I thought he did a nice job mixing his breaking pitch in. It’s a shame he gives up two runs, one on a wild pitch and one on a (throw to first) in the dirt. It’s a tough play, don’t get me wrong — that 3-6-3 is a hard double play to turn. We just couldn’t convert it for him. If not, he might have thrown the shutout today.
“The top of the lineup set the tone with B.J. getting on base, stealing a base. We did a nice job of situational hitting and got on board right away.
On playing “A-B-C” baseball in the first inning
“We drew it up pretty nice there. It was good situational hitting, then we were able to tack on some runs later.”
On B.J. Upton getting more confidence
“I’ve seen him getting it, but all year really. Even early in the year he was hitting the ball as hard as I’ve ever seen him hit the ball and not getting anything for it. Now he’s getting some of those balls to drop in which is a nice thing to see.”
On whether Ervin Santana has turned the corner after several pretty to real good starts in a row
“Looking back, I don’t think he ever had a bad start. I think he keeps you in the ball game and gives you a good chance to win. I keep saying that for every starter when we go out there, but you feel that way so far. They are feeding on each other and going out and giving you quality start after quality start.”
That same with team in general, players feeding off one another during the winning streak?
“It’s contagious. It really is contagious. You see guys playing situational baseball. Jason (Heyward) later in the second inning got an RBI fielder’s choice putting the ball in play middle of the diamond. Those are good things. I always tell the guys they are not all game-winning RBIs. The guys that drive in 100 every year they get them when the defense is giving them to you. Easier said than done, but I like what I see from our offense.”
On Tommy La Stella two hits and a ball to the opposite-field warning track
“He swings the bat well. He made a nice play on a groundball, too — that wasn’t an easy play, and another groundball that ate him up (initially) but he stayed in front of it and made the play at first.
**ERVIN SANTANA
On his performance
“Everything was working very good, so I just kept going until that last inning.”
On his recent performances
“Everything’s going my way again, so I just have to keep it up, keep my mind positive and keep working hard.”
Early run support helpful?
“Of course. Every time we score first it’s a little better for us, then just make it work, throw strikes.”
On his recent solid starts, including comsecutive wins
“Good for me and good for the team.”
On key to handling Goldschmidt
“Just not give him anything to hit, and I did it today.”
You seem a bit more upbeat after these past few starts, was it getting frustrating for a while there?
“Of course. Every time you have a bad outing you get frustrated, and you keep going and get frustrated again. But at the same time you just take a little breather and then just go up there and (stay positive).”
On team’s eight-game winning streak
“We don’t think about that. We just think about one day at a time, one game at a time, one pitch a time, and we just have to keep our minds positive.”
**FREDDIE FREEMAN
On whether it was important to score early
“I think so. When you come off an off day sometimes you can be a little bit too relaxed. But we came out hot, swinging the bats well, and Magic (Santana) was unbelievable again tonight.”
On scoring runs a little differently than in past
“A little bit different. We’re not scoring from the power like we normally do, but we’re just showing you guys we do all kinds of things up here. But it’s definitely good to see, we’re getting a lot of hits and getting a couple of key hits here and there, and it was just enough for Magic tonight.”
On B.J. at top of the order
“It’s awesome. Once he put him there I think he’s got his career-high hitting streak. He’s doing a great job getting on base, stealing bags, he’s doing what he needs to do up at the top. He’s getting runs scored, he’s getting our offense going.”
**ANDRELTON SIMMONS
On batting second
“I feel like I’m more involved in the game hitting in the 2-hole. I’m just feeling more comfortable at the plate right now, seeing the ball well. And B.J.’s speed, it makes me get better pitches, and Freeman behind me, I’m seeing better pitches. It’s been pretty good so far.”
On Santana tonight
“That slider was pretty good – he can back-door it, he can front-door it, he was playing with them today. It was pretty impressive.”
On the winning streak
“It’s fun. It’s always fun when you’re winning, and when you’re on a streak you just want to keep riding it as long as you can. We’re enjoying it. We’re having right now and we’re getting big hits, and hopefully we keep it going.”
**B.J. UPTON
On getting in a groove, a 10-game hitting streak to match his career high
“Hopefully it’s keep coming. Whether it’s a walk or a hit, my job is to get on base for the guys behind me.”
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