Braves quotes after 2-1 loss in 11 innings to Orioles on Monday.
**FREDI GONZALEZ
On Alex Wood’s start
“He’s had a couple outings now that he’s pitched tremendous baseball. It’s a shame that today’s game ended the way it did because it was a well-played game on both sides. (Matt) Wieters just hit it out to straightaway center. Woody was good and competes. He gives you everything he has every time he goes out there.”
On Adonis Garcia
“We’ve seen it now twice where it’s right-center power with some juice. It’s a short, quick bat. Good for our minor league people who are giving us good reports. Our Triple-A manager is saying, hey, give this guy a chance. He’s played well. He’s got a good head on his shoulders. So you bring him up and give him an opportunity. So far he’s got a double and a home run. He’s swinging it real well right now.”
On the ovation for Nick Markakis
“They don’t give people that kind of ovation if you are a (bum). Let’s just say put it that way. He’s a solid guy. The people here in Baltimore love him. He got a standing ovation, the same thing in St. Louis with Shelby Miller. They give that to good people and good players. He deserved that. I’m always happy to see those moments. I’ve only been here twice and I was moved.”
On if it’s tough on his pitchers to always have a small margin for error
“They haven’t showed it. I know it’s tough. Today we get a one-run lead in the top of the ninth. J.J. (Jim Johnson) pitched great. You can’t even defend that ball that Adam Jones hit. He made a great pitch, it’s a chopper. They get a couple hits and they get one run. It sure would be nice to get a couple runs under our belt to give our pitchers some lead. We are getting on base, we are getting base hits, we are stealing bases. We just need to get some people home.”
On Orioles starter Kevin Gausman
“He’s tough, man oh man. I’ve never seen in a major league baseball game so many come-backers to the pitcher’s mound. To me that’s telling me that the hitters are not getting good swings at him, good looks at him. He stayed at 97, 98 (mph) almost the whole night. Mixes pitches well. There wasn’t very good swings from both sides for three-quarters of the game or even nine innings.”
On Alex Wood matching Gausman
“He was good also. The only thing I was worried about with Woody was the pitch count.”
On twice walking Chris Davis to get to Manny Machado
“It’s not easy. You are checking the gas with a match, with a flame thrower. But you believe your scouting report, the stats, the analytics, and say, you know what, he’s not swinging it real good right now. Tomorrow might be a whole ‘nother story. This is the way baseball is. We make some good pitches at him. Believe me it’s not easy to walk Davis to pitch to one of the finest young players in the big leagues right now.”
**ALEX WOOD
On if adjustment to throwing from first-base side of rubber is working
“Yeah, it’s one of those things where I had gotten into some bad habits. It’s kind of almost like you are re-teaching yourself. It’s a process. I feel like the movement on my stuff is a lot sharper. From that standpoint I feel like I’m moving in the right direction.”
On if he’s ever felt better
“You can always feel better. I felt good. Me and Varn (Ryan Lavarnway) were on the same page. I’ve thrown it pretty good to him the last two times out and got to hope it continues.”
On what made decision to switch setup
“You get to certain points in the season where you feel like throwing pitches and you will feel like it’s a good pitch but the action on it, not necessarily the velocity, isn’t where it should be. I felt like the last two the action on my fastball and changeup has been sharper all the way around. Now it’s just keep repeating it mechanically from that side.”
On the ovation for Markakis
“That’s awesome. It’s pretty unique to go from St. Louis with Shelby and coming here with Nick. That’s pretty special. People don’t realize not every place does that for guys. For him to have that moment I’m sure he loved it and appreciated it. For us as players stuff like that is awesome.
**NICK MARKAKIS
On ovation from Baltimore fans
“It was good. These fans have been great to my whole career. Tonight shows what kind of fans they are and how loyal they are. It was pretty cool.”
On if he had an expectation for reception
“I had no idea. I’ve never been through it. It was a first for me. The people here are great and it’s something I will never forget.”
On the ovation continuing as he stepped in the box
“You try to get in there but it’s going. It’s good. I let them do their thing a little bit and I acknowledged them and let them know my appreciation. My main focus was the ballgame. It didn’t turn out the way we wanted to but we’ve got two more and we’ve got to battle.”
