Braves quotes after 8-4 loss to Reds

For me, that fourth inning where he could have been out of the inning and gave up two runs. But he gave us some length. They hit some balls not real hard (early) but then they did hit some balls hard. They had two triples and three home runes. But he gave us seven innings. He kept us in the ballgame, kept us hanging around and we didn’t get anything going off of (Jason) Marquis, really. We thought we had him on the ropes when he gets hit on the forearm. And you could see it in the dugout I think it saw swelling. You think, OK, we are going to get him and knock him out early. To his credit or his toughness he stayed in the game and gave them an opportunity to win the game.

On the add-on runs

Yeah, and the shutdowns (innings). Those are the things that we talk about. When we score and you let the other team come back and score it’s hard to keep doing that. And then they added on late with some home runs. A couple solo home runs and then a two-run homer in the ninth.

On Cameron Maybin getting the start and producing

Yes he did. The home run got us close and then he had a single. I think he drove in all the runs for us, if I’m not mistaken. Good for him. He’s a guy that can swing the bat, stay hot. He’s got four home runs in the young season in only 55, 60 at-bats. That’s good. He’s been working his tail off with Jose (Castro) and with Kevin (Seitzer) to get his swing right. He never puts his head down. When he doesn’t play he’s always ready. He’s reaping some of the rewards.

On the end of A.J. Pierzynki’s hitting streak

This is the way the baseball gods are, today I thought he hit the ball harder than the other (games). You can pick two or three games in the hitting streak where he snuck in a groundball some place and get a hit. Today he hit the ball hard on the nose at least two times and didn’t get anything for it. Nice streak. Nice to see that from a veteran guy.

CAMERON MAYBIN

On if it feels good to contribute when he got the chance

Yeah, man. That’s my motto. I don’t complain, just wait and be ready. It’s unfortunate we didn’t win the game but it’s nice to be in the mix.

On Reds starter Jason Marquis

A lot of two-seamers. His typical stuff, two-seamer, slider to me. That’s pretty much it.

On Marquis getting hit with a line drive and staying in the game

I played with Jason. He’s one of the toughest guy around. He’s a no-excuse making type of guy. Something has to be broke for him to come out of the game. So I wasn’t surprised. That’s just the kind of guy he is. He’s a bulldog out there.

ERIC STULTS

On the Reds getting soft hits early

Early on it was just one of those nights where I executed some pitches but I just didn’t get the results. Then as the game went on I elevated a few balls and they hit some. Overall I felt good physically and for the most I felt I executed pitches. It’s just one of those nights where you give them credit. They fought off some good pitches and got enough of some good pitches to get some balls through the infield. That’s just part of the game.

On going seven innings and saving the bullpen

Yeah, you take away eating up the innings. Obviously you don’t want to lose but I’m grateful I was able to go out and pitch seven and try to save the bullpen. Overall, it was just a frustrating night. I made some good pitches but it just didn’t go my way. That’s just how it is sometimes.

On if the soft hits are more frustrating than the long balls

Maybe a little bit. The home runs I just didn’t execute those pitches. When you execute a pitch and don’t get the result you want it’s obviously frustrating. But like I said, you’ve got to give them credit. That’s just the way it goes.

On Jay Bruce’s triple over left fiddler Kelly Johnson

He hit it well. Kelly got back as fast as he could and I think he tough the ball was there, so you can’t blame him for his effort. Early on in the game, that was probably one of the mistakes I made. I left an elevated fastball up and Bruce can drive a lot of balls the other way. A good piece of hitting right there but I’m not really frustrated by that. The next batter I made the pitch I wanted to (Brandon) Phillips and he got an infield hit where he just happened to hit it where we couldn’t make a play. That was the more frustrating part.

A.J. PIERZYNSKI

On the end of his hit steak at 13 games

I didn’t change anything. I was doing the same thing. I guess tonight I ran into some bad luck with a couple diving plays. There is nothing you can do about it. ‘Stulty,’ I think he pitched better than the numbers give him credit for. Tonight it just didn’t seem like it was meant to be for us.

On the Reds getting some soft hits

They had some good at-bats. Got some hits on some tough pitches. Sometimes that’s the way it goes. Give them all the credit in the world. They got some two-out hits, some infield hits with two outs on good pitches. They also hit some home runs as the game went on. We fought and had a chance but came up short.

On what it will take to string wins together

Pitching, obviously, No. 1. But we’ve thrown the ball well. It’s just a team effort. There is no cure-all in baseball. It doesn’t work like this one person or this one thing happens. That’s not the way it works. We’ve just got to play and keep grinding and get things turned around.