**BRANDON BEACHY
Did that feel satisfying?
“Yeah, it felt good. It did. It was all for Jason’s birthday (Heyward standing nearby). My little present for him.”
Were strides made as big this time as from your first to second start?
“Yeah. I commanded my fastball and changeup pretty good. I still have a lot of room for improvement with the curveball and especially the slider. Fortunately I was able to command the other two well enough to where I can get by, and then continue to work on the others and hopefully piece it all together little by little.”
On his velocity
“I have no idea what it was, but they weren’t teeing off on it. That’s good enough for me.”
On his thoughts about going eight innings in third start back
“We got a win. That’s 14 in a row. That’s fun. Hopefully we can keep it going.”
On the run support
“It’s a little easier to pitch when those guys work their tails off and put five up there for me earlier. I don’t have to be fine; I can go right at guys.”
**CHRIS JOHNSON
On staying sharp, continuing to push with such a big lead
“We have a lot of respect for the teams that are behind us. We just played Washington and we went in there and won three games, but we have a lot of respect for that ballclub and how good they are. We know they can get hot at any point, so we don’t want to take anything for granted. We want to keep getting better every single day we come to the park, and try to keep our foot on the gas as best we can, and get to playing good baseball going into the end of the season and the postseason.”
On giving Beachy an early lead to work with
“It’s always good to jump out to an early lead. Usually it’s those guys (pitchers) giving us time to get comfortable. So it’s nice to repay them every now and then, get some runs in the first inning so you can go out there and be confident and under control, and he did that tonight.”
How much does team think about the winning streak?
“Not much at all. We come in every day just trying to win ballgames. It’s a loose group. Whether we win or lose it’s kind of the same in here. We’re working hard and having fun. We have the same attitude every day.”
On winning first game of homestand
“We got to have an off day at home (Thursday). I think guys were rejuvenated today. There was a lot of energy out there.”
**JUSTIN UPTON
Do you get a sense that as you go, the club goes?
“Not really. I mean, throughout the last homestand and road trip, everybody’s been really swinging the bats. You can’t point to one guy. We’ve played really good.”
Do you guys feed off each other when so many guys hitting at same time?
“Yeah, I think it helps out when everybody’s going well, because it definitely puts pressure on the pitcher. He’s got to make his pitches, knowing the next guy coming up his pretty dangerous, too. There’s no holes (in lineup) to give that pitcher a break. That wears on him, and that allows us to settle in and get good pitches.”
On giving Beachy an early lead in his first win post-surgery
“In his last outing we saw him starting to get it going. Today he was on fire, and we were able to give him an early cushion so he could get to work. And he worked well the whole night.”
**FREDI GONZALEZ
On Beachy’s performance
“He was very good. For him to get into the eighth inning – we were trying to keep his pitch count right where he was at (99). Not only did he mix his pitches well, his command was getting better, and he also helped himself defensively. He made a couple of nice plays fielding his position, getting him out of a couple of potential jams. He did a nice job. Couldn’t be any happier with his performance today.’
On jumping out to a 4-0 lead on couple of first-inning homers
“Turner made some mistakes over the plate and made him pay for it. And I think that gave Beachy a chance to kind of catch his breath a little bit, and cruise on. We added one more later on, and he made it stand. We made, what, three double plays, if I’m not mistaken? Right off the (first inning) with Simba, then Beachy made one with a man on first base, then the last one to end the game.”
On the good defense
“I think that’s a common denominator when you have these kinds of streaks, you get good pitching and good defense, and hit the ball like we have.”
On team not seeming too excited, taking it in stride
“That’s a good thing. Our goal is to wins series. It just so happens we’ve won a lot of games in a row. But go out tomorrow, Woody give us another opportunity to win a game, and see what happens. We had a chance to not use some of the (bullpen) guys that we’ve been using in this 14-game winning streak, with Avilan and Kimbrel and Carpenter and Walden. And got an opportunity to get Downsy and Ayala in there, who hadn’t pitched in a while.”
On ump warning both benches after Turner hit Uggla in 1st inning following the homers
“I think the way the whole thing (happened, and reaction). And you can’t blame Danny at all, whether it was on purpose or not – I don’t think it was, because they talked a little bit after that inning was over – but you give up four runs, two home runs … nobody likes to get thrown at, especially up and in. Again, I don’t think it was on purpose, I think it’s just the way the umpires are going to protect themselves and keep the game going without any more instances.”
On Beachy’s pitch repertoire, is he holding back on slider?
“He’s thrown a couple of them. That might be the last one to come, his slider. But I’m really happy with his changeup, and his breaking ball is getting better, and his fastball command was good. Again, it’s only his third start back from surgery, at the major league level. I think his velocity will pick up a little bit, the more he goes out there and starts feeling comfortable. But if I start saying about his slider I think I’m nitpicking a little bit. He’s done a great job.”
Has he made big strides in each start?
“I think so. He got an out in the seventh in Philly, got all the way through the eighth here. Yeah, very good. I’m pleased.”
