FREDI GONZALEZ
On Teheran having runners on base all night but minimized damage:
“He did. He did a nice job doing that. They had some opportunities to put a big number on him and he didn’t let it happen. I thought our bullpen was terrific. I thought our bullpen was the key to the game, really, with Walden coming in first and second one out and getting out of that jam and then giving us a clean seventh. And then O’Flaherty and Kimbrel did what they always do, give us a chance to win the ballgame. And we played good defense. Simmons did a nice job there slipping on that ball and still making a play and Freeman picking that ball at first base. It was nice. We manufactured a run there in the seventh inning and gave the ball to O’Flaherty and Kimbrel and they converted.”
On liking Schafer at top of the lineup:
“Yeah, I think ‘Schafe’ is doing a terrific job. He gives us speed; he stole two bases today. He got on base four times with a couple of walks and a big hit. He’s doing a nice job. Tomorrow they throw (left-hander) Gonzalez tomorrow so we will put Reed Johnson in the game. But (Schafer) is always lurking around. Between him and Reed they are giving us a nice duo until J-Hey gets back.”
On getting lead-off batters on, good approach against Strasburg:
“We’ve had some good approaches against him always in the last two or three years and maybe it’s just a byproduct that we see him six times a year and guys get to know him a little bit. He was good. Everybody is talking about Strasburg this, Strasburg that—we only scored two runs off of him in (six) innings. I mean, holy cow. That’s not like we ran him out of there in the third after giving up nine. We had a good approach but we still only scored two runs off of him.”
On if Teheran pitched better than 10 hits would indicate:
“What did he have, one base on ball? You can get away with giving up 10 hits and minimizing the damage as long as you don’t walk four or five along with those 10 hits. He’s a kid that we are watching him grow right in front of our eyes. I said that last year with Minor and two years ago it was Beachy. People think I’m crazy when Laird catches him, but I think Laird does a hell of a job with him. Makes enough pitches and keeps him in the ballgame.”
On Walden’s changeup:
“Left-handers are having a really, really tough time against him. It’s acting like a split-finger or a fork. It just gets to the plate and it just disappears.”
On if Freddie got back to first on pickoff play:
“I thought that he got back easy. But I haven’t seen the videotape.”
CRAIG KIMBREL
On getting win to turn around losing streak:
“It’s nice to get back in the win column, especially against the National who we’re going to be fighting against all year.”
On if anxious to get back out there after blown save in Denver:
“Definitely. Huddy’s back on the mound tomorrow and going after 200 again and I definitely want to be out there and get it done this time.”
On Simmons’ play:
“I think that’s the first time I’ve ever seen two guys do the splits on the field at the same time. But it’s usually Freddie. It was awesome. It was a heck of a play.”
On if any benefit to the rest he’s gotten last few days:
“I enjoy pitching. I enjoy being out there. Sometimes you can go too long but we haven’t come across that case this year. It’s always good to get back out there.”
On the two relievers before him:
“Walden was spectacular tonight. His change-up was, hitters were looking at him like they didn’t know he had it. He’s going to be a big part of the bullpen if we’re going to keep winning and keep having success. O’Flaherty just went out there and did what he’s been doing all year, getting guys out and setting it up so I can come out and pitch the ninth.”
On coming home after long road trip:
“It was great. We want to win all the game we play against the Nationals. We’ve done that so far this year and hopefully we can keep it up.”
On winning all of Teheran’s five starts:
“He battled tonight. As you can see in the line he gave up a bunch of hits and a lot of baserunners but throughout the entire game he battled and that’s the reason we won the game because he didn’t give in. He competed the entire game. Hats off to him. He’s doing a great job. I’m sure he can keep it up.”
DAN UGGLA
On Teheran:
“He was battling the first couple innings, got out of it and held them right there. He pitched a great game tonight. Once again showed his competitiveness and his will to get through innings.”
On approach against Strasburg:
“With a pitcher with the kind of stuff that he has, you want to get his pitch count up as quick as possible and get him out of there. He still went six innings but we were able to run his pitch count up a little bit and get a couple across. Teheran held us in there and we ended up getting one late.”
On if different feel to rivalry with Nationals, winning all four so far this year:
“It’s always been a tough rivalry and a fun rivalry, a competitive rivalry, even back before these past couple years. Washington has always played – even when I was with the Marlins – the Braves really tough I remember. It’s fun and I don’t know about any more fun or competitive but right now we’ve got to keep it going this way.”
On his success vs. Strasburg:
“Who knows? Because he gets nasty on me and makes me look as dumb as anybody can. For whatever reason when I make contact with him sometimes it finds a hole. There’s no, I don’t think, any rhyme or reason for it.”
On if one win allows them to distance themselves from rough trip:
“We already put that behind us as soon as we showered and washed it off in Detroit. It (stunk) and it was a crappy end to a crappy road trip but that’s baseball. You’ve got to come back the next day and bounce back regardless of what time you get in, regardless of how bad you got beat the day before, or the day before that. It was definitely nice to come out, kind of refreshed and be at home and get a win tonight.”
JULIO TEHERAN
On battling:
“Just trying to compete. I didn’t have my best stuff (but) I was trying to compete with all my pitches. I wasn’t commanding like I was in Colorado but like you said battled.”
On the life on his fastball:
“I was using more of my four-seam fastballs because my two-seam fastball wasn’t the best. I was trying to battle with my other pitches.”
On if enjoy facing Strasburg:
“Yeah the first at-bat was like I didn’t see the ball, seriously. The second one I was just trying to use my hands and I got the double.”
On if he’s been holding out on being a good hitter:
“I was good when I was in school but I left hitting and started to concentrate on pitching.”
ANDRELTON SIMMONS
On the small ball:
“It’s always nice to win no matter how. It doesn’t matter how – with errors – it doesn’t matter. I had a talk with a friend and he was saying ‘Good players get it done no matter what.’ So it’s nice to get it done no matter how we do it. If we strike out 20 times and get a win, we don’t care. We’re going to be happy.”
On breaking losing streak with win vs. Nats:
“It’s great. It’s becoming a pretty good rivalry. They’re going to stay with us during the season trying to get into that No. 1 spot in our division, but it’s always nice to beat them to make the distance even bigger.”
On if he slipped to make that play look harder or what:
“Yeah I did it on purpose. Nah. I just lost my footing. It was a little muddy. I was talking to TP about it. I might have stayed up too much. I should have maybe stayed on the balls of my feet a little more. I would have stayed away from that slip but fortunately we’ve got Freddie Freeman helping out too so it was pretty good.”
On if ever thrown a ball from his rear end in a game before:
“Um, I probably have but not in a game. You’ve got to improvise. You’ve got to get it done somehow.”
On the lift from Schafer:
“He’s been great for us, coming off the bench. Every time they put him in he pretty much does the job. He’s been helping us a lot. He’s been key, especially for this game today.”
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