Braves quotes from Ervin Santana, Jason Heyward, Chris Johnson, Gerald Laird and manager Fredi Gonzalez following Monday’s blown 6-1 lead and 8-6 loss to the Red Sox.
**FREDI GONZALEZ
On the fifth inning coming unraveled on Santana
“That fifth inning, two outs and two strikes on the pinch hitter there and everything just kind of unraveled on him a little bit there. Then we’ve got to go to the bullpen. It’s hard to hold a team down, try to cover four innings and we didn’t do it. And the seventh inning got us there also a little bit with Thomas.”
Can you put a finger on something with Santana that’s gone wrong the past three starts?
“I can’t. I think if you look back, it’s been one inning that kind of gets him. I don’t think it’s mechanics. I don’t think it’s anything other than you’ve got to minimize the damage of the one inning.”
Was there any thought about possibly taking him out earlier in that big inning?
“No. Well, you know what, it’s the fifth inning and you try to get him an opportunity to win the game. Yeah of course, all those things cross your mind, but he’s a guy that has been pretty darn good for you and try to give him a chance to get the win there. He’s a veteran guy that you think knows how to wiggle through the lineup. That inning just unraveled on him a little bit.”
Tough game to get rhythm with all the walks and rain delay?
“Yeah, we didn’t pitch as good as we have pitched in the past. Sometimes it’s the walks but you know what, some of these games you’re going to go through and it’s what you’re going to do next (that’s important). Come back out tomorrow and try to get back on the winning ways.”
Any thought of going to Hale instead of Thomas in seventh inning?
“Hale was our long guy. And Thomas has been a guy that we could use in those situations. We even thought about using Carp (David Carpenter), but where we ended up in our lineup we would have to pinch hit and we really couldn’t double switch to get him in the game. But it’s the same thing that started the bottom of the fifth inning. We get the first guy out and then we’re late covering first base and then we walk the next two batters and you got to face Ortiz in that situation.”
**ERVIN SANTANA
Did you feel good early? Seemed like you were cruising through four innings
“I felt pretty good the whole game. Couple of mistakes.”
On the fifth inning, how things came undone
“I got the first two outs, and then after that I just lost my control. I made a couple of bad pitches and they took advantage of it.”
Putting any pressure on self to get that third out after couple of guys got on?
“No, I was just trying to make pitches and I was a little bit off. That’s how it is.”
Anything the last few starts have in common, reason you’ve struggled?
“No, I think two-out walks, that’s the main issue right now. So we have to correct that and then move forward.”
Mechnical issue that you had last week, did that affect you today?
“No, everything was good (with delivery). Everything was in line.”
On his mix of pitches early on, was it good?
“Yeah, me and Gerald were on the same page the whole game. It was my fault.”
On the pitch that Ortiz hit for three-run homer
“Back-door slider.”
Just left it over the plate?
“Yeah.”
**CHRIS JOHNSON
Scored six runs early, but did you feel like you could’ve made Buchholz pay more for the walks?
“Yeah, we could’ve. I think we did a good job of taking pitches and getting on base. Some guys took some big walks and stuff like that. But it’s a good ballclub; they had some really good at-bats. They got on base and they got some big hits, and then the big one from Ortiz.”
Red Sox came in on 10-game skid, but obviously they’re a better team than that?
“Oh, yeah. We weren’t even thinking about that (skid). You know that they’re going to pop out of it at some point, and hopefully it’s not against us. So we’ve just got to turn it around and try again tomorrow, then go to their place and see what happens.”
Deflating loss?
“I wouldn’t say it’s a bad defeat, it’s just a loss. It’s just one game, and we’ll turn it around. We’ve got our work cut out for us tomorrow with (Jon) Lester on the mound, but we’ll come out here and try to battle and try to do the same thing we did today.”
**JASON HEYWARD
Did you feel like it was a commanding lead, given who you had pitching?
“Yeah, man, any deficit like that is pretty tough for anybody to come back from. But I’ve been on the winning side of one, so you never count it out. As a baseball player you know teams like that always find a way to fight and make the most of extra at-bats, and that’s what they did today.”
How hard to get into a rhythm on day like today, with so many walks, rain delay, etc?
“It’s rough, it’s not the easiest thing to do, but it’s part of the game. Rain delays happen. They battled back real quick before the rain delay, and then coming back out, their bullpen did a good job.”
On how loud the crowd was after Ortiz homered
“Well, I feel like if a Red Sox fan is rooting for the Red Sox, then they’re going to cheer for the Red Sox.”
**GERALD LAIRD
With a 6-1 lead and Santana pitching, you thinking you’ve got this one in hand?
“Yeah, with the way we’ve been pitching all year you think when we score six runs it’s enough. But it’s one of those things where it was a weird game today. We left a couple of pitches up in the zone and that two-out walk hurt us.”
Anything Santana doing his last few starts different than earlier when he was pitching so well?
“I can’t really point anything out. I just feel like, you walk guys, especially with a five-run lead, and you walk the end of the lineup to get to the beginning of the lineup, to the big boppers, that’s when they can put up crooked numbers. Obviously we just didn’t make pitches when we needed to, and it was a perfect example of how walks can kill you.
“He looked good early, he had good velocity, had good stuff. And it was just one of those things, it just kind of fell apart for us.”
On rookie Thomas not covering first base, then walking two
“I feel like sometimes you can see the game getting a little bit fast for some of the (young) guys, but it’s a good learning experience for him. It’s the Boston Red Sox over there, obviously it’s a pretty big situation, bases loaded against Big Papi. I was glad to see him make a 3-2 pitch, thought he threw a good 3-2 slider. I didn’t just want to lay one in there, because we give up one right here we’re still in the game. You didn’t want to just lay one in there because you know what David can do, like he did (earlier). But he settled down, he made a pitch to him, it just wasn’t enough. He did a good job and it was good for him to get out there in that situation.”
