Braves quotes after their 6-2 loss to the Marlins on Wednesday at Turner Field.
FREDI GONZALEZ
On Marlins starter Dan Haren
“He puts a little on, takes a little off, hits every location. Guys were coming back shaking their heads. He hit his spots. It’s hard to score some runs when you’ve got three hits. We didn’t get very many people on base. They took advantage of having their lead-off guys on base most of the night. Other than that, we didn’t swing the bats with people on base.”
On Marlins first baseman Adeiny Hechavarria
“He’s getting better. We’ve seen him now three years in a row and he’s getting better offensively, better defensively. He’s going to continue to get better and he’s dangerous at the plate. Their bottom of the order did some damage. They got on for the top of the order.”
On the homestand
“You always want to win the series. We didn’t win the first one. Now we’ve got an off day tomorrow to kind of regroup for a long road trip. We’ll see if we can get back to winning series.”
On Eric Stults
“Other than a couple pitches, I thought he did his job. That’s what he normally does. I don’t think we’ve seen the Stults that we want to see. He’s a guy who can get you deeper in the ballgame, similar to Haren. Those two guys matched up today. If there are any young kids out there watching, two guys pitched. You don’t have to light up the radar gun. Stults I think was 90, 91 (mph) and Haren wasn’t even close to that. The both pitched, changed speeds and located their fastballs.”
On if he’s looking forward to sending out ace Julio Teheran on Friday
“Yeah, get back to the top of the rotation. We’ve got a three-game series in Toronto. We’ve got the DH we can get a couple guys off their feet, especially on that carpet.”
On hits not falling in for Freddie Freeman
"He's hit the ball hard all homestand. The only time he gets credit for it is when he hits it out of the ballpark. Everything else is a line drive (out) here, a line drive there. Those are good things. You've just got to be patient and you will be rewarded because he's got good swings right now."
FREDDIE FREEMAN
On hitting a lot of balls hard for outs
“Nothing is falling right now. But it’s still early. I’ve just got to keep grinding, keep putting good swings on the ball and hopefully they’ll start falling in Toronto.”
On the homestand
“That’s the goal, to win the series, and obviously we didn’t get it done this time. But so far, so good. We are off to a good start at 6-3 so hopefully we can get this off day, get some rest and get up to Toronto and hopefully win the series there.”
On if the road trip can be good for team
I think so. You get to be together. Some wives get to go on the trip. Team chemistry is going to be big for us. We’ve only been playing together for seven weeks so hopefully we can get some nice team bonding together and get some wins out of it.”
On Marlins starter Dan Haren
“He hit some good spots. He keeps you off balance. He’s got cutters in, cutters away, change-ups, curveballs. Whenever you think something is coming, he throws the opposite. He’s been on. He was on last start against the Rays and he was on again today.”
ERIC STULTS
On his performance
“Obviously the results weren’t there today. I felt like just a couple pitches up in the zone, especially to (Adeiny Hechavarria) in the last inning I had. Overall, I feel good. It’s a long season. I’ve just got to continue to work and get better. Youv’e got to give Haren a lot of credit. He pitched well today. He was better.”
On bottom of Marlins order producing
“You look at the lineup and you worry about the 3, 4, 5 guys but today the bottom of the order did a good job. They hit some mistakes and drove the ball. That falls on me. I just didn’t make good pitches. I’ve got to do a better job of executing pitches and you’ve got to give them credit for doing what they are supposed to do when you make a mistake.
On the homestand
“It’s unfortunate we didn’t win the series but that’s the way it’s going to go sometimes. We are still playing good baseball, we are still playing good defense. Today the pitching wasn’t good enough. We’ve just got to continue to do the little things and pitch well and get hits in big situations.”
CHRISTIAN BETHANCOURT
On Marlins starter Dan Haren
“He’s not a guy who is going to throw 95, 96. He knows how to pitch. He knows how to locate pitches, how to take advantage of the (fastball). He tries to make you think away, away, away and then he’s going to bust one inside. Even if he hits 85 or 86 he’s still going to get you because your mind is setting up for the pitch outside. He did his part in the game.”
On how he feels about team headed to road trip
“Even the two losses in a row, we’ve still got to think positive. We can’t go into a road trip and think about the past two games. Those two games are over. We’ve got to start over. We are going to have a day off to get some rest and be ready to go on Friday.”
On throwing out Dee Gordon trying to steal
“I know every time he is on base it’s going to be a challenge for me. I played with him before and he knows about my arm and I know his speed. For me it is a challenge and it’s a challenge for him. It’s going to be a long season and I know he’s going to be trying to run and I’ve got to be ready for it.”
