MIAMI — Braves quotes from Evan Gattis, David Carpenter, Alex Wood and manager Fredi Gonzalez after Saturday’s 10-inning win.
**FREDI GONZALEZ
On Gattis homer to straightaway center field
“He’s maybe one of – him and Stanton may be the only guys who can go out at that part of the ballpark. He got a good pitch. I think four of his five at-bats were really good at-bats. And that one, I don’t even think it was a mistake (pitch). I think he just got a ball that he could handle and hit it out of the ballpark. He’s that strong.”
On Alex Wood
“With all this (late-innings drama) we’re going to forget how good Woody pitched. He gave us a chance to win in regulation. You walk the first two guys in the eighth inning, you’re asking for trouble. Carpenter did a nice job getting out of that inning, and then Gattis hitting the home run.”
On two replays going Braves’ way in last two innings
“And then one (call) at the plate – it was safe originally, they challenged it and we won that one. So yeah, it was good replay. And that’s what it’s there for, to get the plays right.”
Did you see right away that Gattis’ ball hit off that space just above the yellow line?
“Yes, I did. And I think they did, too, because (crew chief) Jerry (Layne) came walking towards me right away and they were going to take a look at it. And at that stage of the game, why not take a look at it. Even if they were sure that it wasn’t a home run, make sure (by looking at the replay). I thought from where I was, it was above the yellow line. Now I couldn’t tell you how far above the yellow line, but I was going to challenge it.”
On Walden issuing another big walk, throwing another potentially costly wild pitch
“He’s got that nasty split. It’s a tough pitch not to keep from going in the dirt. That’s what you want, you want that pitch to start as a strike and end up as a ball and have the guy swing at it. It’s a tough pitch to command. Maybe in his defense, he hasn’t pitched in a while. We’ve kind of been nursing him a little bit, maybe he was a little bit rusty there.”
More on Alex Wood, who’s been pitching like a veteran lately, doesn’t seem like a guy with barely more than 30 starts
“No, it doesn’t. That’s what you’re so impressed by, his demeanor and his character and his work ethic. He’ll come in here tomorrow morning ready to (start preparing) for his next start. He’ll be ready to roll.”
Is this what you had envisioned when you brought Wood back to the rotation in late June?
“Yes. If you remember we had Floyd in the rotation (before Floyd got hurt), and we didn’t want to use (Wood) in the ‘pen. We wanted to stretch him out in Triple-A. And sure enough, two starts later he’s back up because Gavin broke his elbow. But he’s been terrific, he really has been terrific.”
**EVAN GATTIS
From your vantage point, could you tell right away it was a homer?
“No, not at all. I saw it kick off (the wall) and he didn’t have the ball as I was rounding second, so I had to go to third. I put my head down and ran.”
Upset you had to run that much on a homer? (kidding)
“No, not at all. Not in that situation. I was stoked to just put us ahead.”
On feeling good to come through after striking out and popping up in earlier chances with runners in scoring position
“Absolutely. That’s kind of been a theme – we’ve had opportunities. But we did hit the ball today. Something to build on.”
Nice helping to get the win after Wood pitched so well?
“Absolutely. Let’s try to carry it over. Quick turnaround, tomorrow we’ve got a day game, so hopefully we just kind of feed off this and get a win tomorrow.”
Can a game like this be big down the stretch? How good does it feel?
“It feels great. It was hard-fought, for both sides. It was a really good game.”
On Carpenter’s big performance
“He threw unbelievable.”
And he showed some agility, some nimble feet, with that tag?
“Yeah, his feet work – he’s a catcher.” (Carpenter was a former catcher.)
**ALEX WOOD
On outcome making it a lot easier to swallow the blown lead, etc.
“Absolutely. All I care about is us winning. Gattis had a big knock there in extra innings, and the rest is history.”
On his two-RBI single, not a bad time for it
“Not at all. (Laughs.) I owed Eovaldi one, so I was glad I was able to get it when I did.”
How good do you feel this late in the season, never having been through all this before for a full season?
“I feel good, knock on wood. I’ve just got to continue doing my routine in-between and stay on top of everything, and just continue to pitch well down the stretch.”
What was working well for you tonight?
“All my pitches were competitive. I thought I was a little erratic, I didn’t have command of all three (pitches) like I did last week. But I made some pitches when I had to, and they swung at some pitches out of the zone, which helped me out a little bit. It ended up turning out alright.”
On walking Yelich to start the eighth inning, last batter he faced
“I missed with a change-up to Yelich and ended up walking him. That was the end of my day.”
On shaking his head as Gonzalez came out to get him after that leadoff walk in eighth
“It was more frustration, that I walked Yelich. At the same time, ever since my first outing against them, I’ve made it to where he’s one of the guys I’m not going to let beat me on a 3-2 pitch down the middle, especially in the eighth inning. I’d honestly probably rather walk him, because he’s a great hitter, that’s when he does his damage, is in those hitters’ counts – 3-2, 3-0, 3-1, etc.”
When was last time you drove in two runs with one swing?
“Senior year in high school.”
What position were you playing that day?
“DH. So it’s been a while.”
How exciting or fun is it to be contributing during this playoff race?
“It doesn’t really get much better than that. Kind of when your backs are against the wall a little bit, fighting for one of those wild-card spots. And also it’s nice to be playing for something, it kind of brings everybody together. Every game matters. This is a big win tonight, and hopefully we come out and win the series tomorrow.”
**DAVID CARPENTER
Big win after letting 3-0 lead slip away?
“You get down to this point in the season they’re all big. We’re just trying to take it one inning at a time, one at-bat at a time, one pitch at a time. Guys are really coming together. We’re grinding at-bats, grinding on the mound, that’s what it’s all about. As long as we continue to do that – like I said before, if we take series we’re going to be alright.”
On Gattis coming through again with a homer
“You have a really good feeling whenever he comes up in those situations. The guy — he’s Paul Bunyan with a bat, that’s basically what he is. Any time you get to see something like that, it’s special.”
