CINCINNATI — Braves quotes from Ervin Santana, Justin Upton, B.J. Upton and manager Fredi Gonzalez after Saturday’s 1-0 loss to the Reds.
**FREDI GONZALEZ
Frustrating for the offense not to get any runs for Ervin?
“Well, we had one chance, with the right guy at the plate with Tommy, who can put the ball in play – and he did. He hit a rocket right to Cozart, and they get out of that jam. And I guess in the eighth inning, with Broxton we had a man in scoring position, and with Simmons at the plate anything can happen. But our pitching was outstanding; their pitching was a little bit better.”
On Mike Leake
“He gives us fits. When you look up and down the matchup stuff, he gives us fits. He changes speeds, he pounds the left-handers in with his fastball and his curve, and again, we had one shot at him, and we hit the ball hard. That’s all we could do.”
On getting leadoff double from Simmons, then two strikeouts (in seventh)
“Yeah, with the middle of our lineup (Freeman, J. Upton strikeouts). That’s the way it goes. That’s when good pitching beats good hitting, in those situations.”
Not often do you see 1-nothing games in this ballpark
“Yeah, this is a ballpark that’s not known for low-scoring games, and we’ve had two here in the last couple of days. That’s how good the pitching’s been on both sides.”
Encouraging to see Santana have another good start in what’s been a long string of them for him?
“You know what, it’s a shame that we couldn’t get him a win, because he pitched terrific. You figure we could scratch one run or we could get something for him to (at least) not get the loss. Their back end of the bullpen is pretty good, when you’ve got Broxton and obviously Aroldis Chapman.”
**JUSTIN UPTON
On Mike Leake, what made him so tough?
“He was actually throwing a lot of fastballs, two-seamers and cutters, and mixed in his slider. He kept the ball down. He was getting some calls down, and that gave him confidence throwing the ball down in the zone. He just located really well.”
On Santana
“He pitched really well. The other guy just got run support. We didn’t support Ervin very much. He went out and gave us seven strong innings. You can’t ask for much more than that. He made one mistake but, hey, that happens.”
On hard-throwing back end of Reds’ bullpen protecting 1-0 lead
“You get the ball to Chapman, that’s their goal, to get the ball to the back end of their bullpen with the lead. Just like it is for us. The roles could have been reversed if we had scored a run. Obviously that’s the name of the game, to get the ball to your shutdown guys.”
**ERVIN SANTANA
On being part of a 1-0 pitchers’ duel at such a hitter-friendly ballpark
“It was a good game. It was tough for us, but at the same time we’re going to be the same way, just have to keep our head up and just keep working hard, get ready for the next day.”
You just had the one inning where the pitcher gets on with the leadoff double
“Yeah, in a situation like that anything can happen. He was dealing, I was dealing, and it’s one shot and that’s it.”
On Brandon Phillips’ RBI single on 3-2, 95-mph fastball with two out
“That was the right pitch, I was just trying to locate it down and away but it ran back to the middle. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes not.”
You seemed to have the breaking ball moving a lot all night
“Little bit. (Smiles.) In the beginning I didn’t have the feel for it, but after that I just got more break on it and used it more.”
Did the 2-hour delay before first pitch affect you?
“Not at all, because I didn’t even play catch or anything like that (before the delay). I just waited until the right time to warm up.”
On watching Minor last night
“He was terrific. He’s been working. Every pitch he threw was outstanding – slider, changeup, two-seamer. It was good.”
He gave you a lot of credit for helping him change the grip on his sinker and slider earlier this month
“Well, you know, I just try to be nice, you know? If anybody needs help I will help them. I don’t mind.”
Encouraging that you and him and the rest of the starters have been pitching so well lately?
Yeah, we just have to keep it up. We have a good team, so we just have to keep it up.”
**B.J. UPTON
Tough night offensively to get anything going
“Definitely. He had the stuff to make us swing and get out of a couple of jams. He pitched to both sides of the plate well, kept the ball down. Any time a pitcher can do that, they’re going to be pretty tough to hit.”
Not many pitchers’ duels in this park, but that was one tonight
“Yeah, definitely. Ervin’s been electric for us lately. It was just one of those nights when we couldn’t get that big run. Tommy hits the ball hard in that situation with the bases loaded, and of course it’s right at them. We hung in there pretty well, unfortunately we just didn’t come out with the win.”
On an unrelated note, what was the impetus for you and your brother to help pay the costs for the Chicago Little League parents to go see their kids play in the Little League World Series?
“Any time you can do something to help, to help kids that don’t get that opportunity much…. From the situation they’re in in Chicago, obviously with a lot of the violence that goes on around there, for them to be doing something positive, to be able to help the families be able to go there and have fun, not a lot of kids get that opportunitiy and to be able to help them and be a part of that, we’re pretty honored.”
On the Chicago team winning the U.S. championship game Saturday against Las Vegas and advance to the final
“Definitely excited for them and wish them the best of luck.”
Did you enjoy watching that game in the clubhouse?
“Yeah, it was a good game. They hung in there and came back, scored some big runs and got some big outs.”
