**FREDI GONZALEZ
On Minor
“Michael did a nice job. You saw him give up that solo homer, and he never even wavered after that. He came right back at it and got out of the inning. And then a couple of great things — shutdown innings; we go out and score a couple of runs and he shuts them down. He did a nice job. Fantastic job, really.”
Was his curveball particularly effective?
“All of his pitches. He threw a couple of changeups. He had four pitches going for him tonight.”
On Francisco’s bases-loaded, two-out, two-run single
“That was the at-bat of the game, for me. He gets bases loaded, 3-2 count, and he battles and battles, flares one in there and gives us a little wiggle room just in case something happens.
“And it was a nice couple of at-bats by Justin (Upton). We stole three bases today. Manufactured a run with a stolen base, a wild pitch, and then Justin hits a sacrifice fly to give us another run. So a lot of good things out there today.”
On Gattis getting three of team’s six hits
“He’s our second fourth hitter; that’s why he’s hitting eighth. Threw a guy out. Blocked some balls. He did a nice job blocking some breaking balls in the dirt. Yeah, he’s doing just fine.”
More on three stolen bases
“That’s one thing that’s real exciting about this ballclub, it’s athletic. We’ve got three guys who’ve stolen 20 bases in the major leagues, those guys in the outfield. And Simmons can do it also. So it’s nice to have that in your back pocket in case you run into a situation where you can’t hit balls out of the ballpark. You can create it with your legs a little bit.”
On Simmons sliding hand-first, you stop cringing yet when he does that?
“Every time he does something. But what are you going to do? You can’t shrink-wrap him.”
More on Francisco’s big hit
“I think it was just an at-bat where he was trying to put the ball in play and not hit one over the scoreboard. Now he’s gotten an opportunity to play a little more, so maybe he’s maturing as a hitter. This guy, he really hasn’t gotten a lot of at-bats at the major league level, and he’s getting some opportunities now.”
**MIKE MINOR
On his performance
“I feel like I picked up where I left off from the Mississippi (exhibition game against prospects last week). I felt pretty good that game and carried it over into tonight.”
On settling back down after giving up leadoff homer to Hairston in the fifth
“It was a bad pitch. It was slider in on a 1-2 count, more plate than I wanted. But I knew I hung it, so I just had to come back in and battle throughout the rest of the game. Juan got the clutch hit, got some runners in, and there was a little bit of relief right there.”
You said during rough spring training that you weren’t worried
“I was telling the truth. I was working on stuff. I wasn’t really throwing the pitches that I would in normal counts and working batters like I would during the season. I’m not going to say I’m going to have a game like this every time, but I had the confidence going into the season that I was going to attack the hitters like I did last year and throw more breaking balls, and I didn’t throw any two-seamers tonight. It (two-seamer) is kind of a work in progress, maybe throw in it bullpens maybe and kind of work on it, and then bring it out if I need to.”
On working well with Gattis tonight
“Yeah, he’s really open to criticism of anything. And he’s willing to work with pitchers, and if Roger (McDowell) or whoever tells him something he’s willing to change something.”
Confidence from second half of last season carrying over?
“With spring training not going as well, I still had that confidence (from second half). I guess that was a big part of it tonight.”
On the team effort
“The outfielders, the defense tonight, I think everybody had a big play for me. Had some double plays that they turned. A lot of warning-track balls – that’s why I’m working on this two-seamer, so hopefully it will limit those.”
**ANDRELTON SIMMONS
On helping manufacture run in third after his leadoff walk and stolen base
“It feels good. You always want to contribute to your team. I felt good for that pitch, so I took off. Fortunately I got there safe, and then a wild pitch, then the other guys did the job with the (Justin Upton) sac fly.”
On Justin Upton
“It’s even fun seeing him hit in the cage. You just watch and try to pick up stuff from him. He’s really talented, and he has a nice swing. Everything’s nice and smooth. He’s going to do this all year.”
On Minor
“He looked really good. From last year, he hasn’t lost a beat. Hopefully he keeps doing what he’s been doing, or even get better.”
On communicating with Heyward about when Simmons might steal base
“We talk about it. He’s comfortable with me going whenever, so he doesn’t have a problem if I’m kind of bouncing around the bases. We’ve talked about situations where I might be able to run, and he’s OK with me moving around the bases.”
**EVAN GATTIS
He came back from lifting weights after game.
I asked if that was because he had all singles:
“Yeah, that’s it (laughs). No, I’ll take a million of them (singles).”
How’d it feel to have a three-hit game in your second start?
“Good. The last at-bat I got some good pitches to hit and stayed aggressive. It’s good. Excited. More excited about catching.”
On working well with Minor tonight
“He had good stuff. He commanded the ball well and just executed pitches.”
On throwing out a runner trying to steal
“That was cool. I can’t believe he ran. I’m glad he did, but… Pinch-hitter, the second catcher running in a 4-1 game. I don’t know what he was doing. We weren’t even supposed to throw, but Simmons was covering, saw it early enough. I’m glad we got him.”
Homer in your first game, three hits in your second — you getting acclimated?
“I hope. We’ll see. It’ll take a while, regardless of how I do.”
On Upton setting tone with first-inning homer
“That was awesome. Whenever you get the early lead like that it’s clutch, especially for the catcher and pitcher. At least we had some momentum and something to build off. But our lineup is scary and we need to keep it in mind that we can always score a couple quick.
“But yeah. Braves win.”
**CRAIG KIMBREL
On the team so far
“It’s a lot of fun when you see a lot of runs going up in the first inning. We sit down in the bullpen and talk the whole game about how much more relaxed we are knowing that our guys are going to score at any point during the game. No lead (by the other team) is too big; that’s always fun. We’ve got a good feel so far this year. We can feel it in the clubhouse that we’re going to have a lot of fun this year. We’ve just got to show up every day and play. It’s been fun so far.”
“We know we have a good team. We know we have a chance to do things. But it’s not going to happen if we don’t play one game at a time and focus on one game at a time, and not get too far ahead of ourselves.”
On Justin Upton
“He’s got me a few times for base hits. I think he got me last year for a base hit to win a game. So I’m definitely glad he’s on our side.”
Good all-around hitter?
“Oh, all the way around. And not only is he a good hitter, he works hard at it, too. I hear them (Heyward, Uptons) over there all the time talking about hitting, all day long. About things they need to work on and things they need to do. That’s good to hear. They’re non-stop trying to get better. It’s kind of dangerous.”
On Minor
“Mike threw well. I thought it was a good sign when he gave up that homer and a base hit, it didn’t faze him. One pitch, double play, he gets right out of the inning. He’s really come around. We saw it last year, how well he started to throw. He’s carried it over to his first start this year.”
(Note: Justin Upton and Juan Francisco, who had two RBIs apiece, left before reporters could interview them after the game)
