Braves quotes from Freddie Freeman, Alex Wood, Phil Gosselin and manager Fredi Gonzalez after Friday’s series-opening win against Oakland.
**ALEX WOOD
1 strikeout tonight, 12 in last game, similar results otherwise
“Baseball’s a funny game sometimes. That’s how it goes. I felt like I battled. It’s one of those things, I don’t even know why you guys are talking to me, the offense was so good tonight. We scored a bunch of runs and it felt like old times tonight. Hopefully that’s a good sign of things to come the rest of the weekend and down the stretch.”
On getting more efficient after the 45 pitches through 1st two innings, including 20 pitches for last 2 outs in 2nd inning
“I was kind of searching for it the first couple of innings. You can really tell the difference between AL and NL teams, too. I thought I threw some good breaking balls those first two innings, two-strike breaking balls, and you can tell they see a lot more of that by some of the takes they had. They didn’t chase a whole lot. It’s a pretty patient lineup, they have a good idea what they want to do and if you don’t throw them the pitch they’re looking for, they’re probably not going to swing.”
Nice to be the guy out there when your team’s pounding homers like that?
“That’s always nice. Any time we get a lead like that and swing the bat like that, it gives me a lot of confidence, too. Little more room for error, so to speak. A little more room to work with. So it’s exciting when we swing the bats like that. Hopefully we’ll continue to do it the rest of the weekend.”
On the pickoff of Gomes at second base in the first inning
“Big. We’ve got a real active middle infield. I think that’s one of the ways we limit the running game, too, is having an active middle infield and keeping guys from stealing a lot of bags. Not that Jonny Gomes is going to take third on us, but that early in the game, that big a lead at second base, we just kind of went for it and it kind of took us out of a real sticky situation.”
**FREDDIE FREEMAN
On the four-homer barrage
“That was a good night. Justin jumped on them early, Gatty followed. We got some guys on base and got them in today. Hitting was awesome today. Nice to get a win.”
On starting series against A’s with a big win
“Definitely. Best record in baseball. We seem to always play those teams the hardest, and it was no different tonight. We came at them real tough early and kept going all game. That’s what we need to keep doing the rest of the way.”
On Wood
“He’s been doing that all season long. You kind of almost start to expect it from him when he goes out there, he gives you a chance to win every time he goes out.”
If Gattis gets back in groove like he was before DL, that’s a big component for team?
“Oh, that’s big. Him in the middle of the lineup swinging it like he normally does is a huge boost for us. Obviously that DL stint kind of got him off track. Home run to center field is usually a tell-tale sign that he’s starting to feel good again.”
On Gosselin’s solid game, first homer of career
“That’s pretty big for him. It’s tough to not play every single day and then come in and get some hits off a very tough pitcher, and he was able to do that tonight and help us win a ballgame tonight.”
**PHIL GOSSELIN
On his homer and two hits in win
“Nice just to be able to contribute to a win and get the series off on a right foot.”
Do you remember a hit or homer that felt that big?
“Probably in college, I hit one off Strasburg when we (Virginia) beat them (San Diego State) in the NCAA Tourney. But this is the big leagues, so this one’s on a little bigger stage. So I think that was definitely the biggest one I’ve hit.”
On playing behind Wood tonight
“It was great. Lot of ground balls. Kept us involved in the field. And he worked quick. Me and Tommy were saying earlier, it’s so fun to play behind him because he just gets it and goes and just goes right at guys. It was lot of fun to watch him tonight.”
On looking comfortable at shortstop despite not playing it as much as some other positions
“I probably played about 20 or 30 games (there) at Triple-A, but I take ground balls there a lot and I played there growing up, and even in college a little bit. So I’ve got some familiarity with the position. That helps.”
On Freeman’s pregame comment about the Braves needing to get it going now, not wait any longer
“Absolutely. You want to get it going but you can’t press. So we were just trying to stay loose and have good at-bats. Justin got us off to a good start and we kind of built on it from there.”
**FREDI GONZALEZ
On offense showing its potential
“We swung the bats well and got on the board early. We were able to add on some runs with the home run by Gosselin. We hit four home runs. We kept the line moving a couple different times. We got some people on base and got the big blow. Hammel gave up three home runs and then Goose came up with that big home run later in the game to add on some runs. That allowed us not to use some of the bullpen guys that needed rest.”
On Freeman’s pregame statement about the urgency to start playing better now
“April, May is a marathon you (talk) about, but all of a sudden you are in the middle of August and it’s a sprint. We’ve got to get going. We’ve talked for three or four games how the approach has gotten better and better, maybe not the results. Today, we hit some balls hard, even some of the outs were hit hard. Justin had a line drive to third and CJ nearly decapitated the second baseman; their guy made a great play. He hit that ball better than the ground-rule double because obviously the guy lost it. You see come good ABs.
On Alex Wood
“Woody, we were going to keep him right there (pitch limit). We were going to keep him under 100 pitches just because of his last start was 124 pitches. We wanted to keep him there at six innings and we were able to accomplish that. In the first couple of innings, I didn’t know if that was going to happen or not. Those guys were pesky and kept fouling balls off and the pitch count kept getting up and up. He caught up the last couple of innings and was able to keep the pitch count low.”
On Gosselin’s game
“I’ve seen him play (shortstop) in spring training and our minor league coaches give us a good report every time they come up. You can play him at shortstop. He is going to make all the routine plays. He has played three different positions for us – third, short and second. He’s got a nice, little short stroke. He is athletic. It’s nice to see that. It’s nice to have that piece in your dugout that you can run out there with Simmons, or whoever in the infield, give them a day (off). He’s pretty good.”
On role of Russell coming in and pitching a clean inning
“He has done that two outings in a row. It’s something that I wanted to do better — put him in those situations to be successful. That’s what we always talk about. Maybe we find a nice little niche for him.”
On Gattis ending his home run drought
“I liked his approach, especially when he hit it to center, a little left center. As long as he stays in the middle of the diamond. He is so short with his swing and so strong that he don’t need to be pulling balls. He can hit it out anywhere in the ball park.”
