WASHINGTON — Braves quotes from Julio Teheran, Evan Gattis, Freddie Freeman, Justin Upton, Chris Johnson and manager Fredi Gonzalez after Saturday’s 3-0 loss at Nationals Park.
**FREDI GONZALEZ
On Teheran not seeming to be himself showing emotions and all that
“No, I thought he was fine. I really thought he was fine. I think what you’re talking about is a couple of times stepping off and the signs – we go on multiple sets of signs, and I think a couple of times it was not quick enough to get back to what he wanted, after shaking off. But as far as that, I thought he gave us a great opportunity to win the ballgame.”
So it was a little different tonight with the multiple signs?
“No, we’ve been doing it for a while. But sometimes it takes a little longer to get back to what you wanted after a shake-off. I think that’s what the issue was with that. But he went seven innings, gave up three runs, I thought he did fine. Maybe the balk, is that what you’re talking (about)? … But he was fine. He gave us an opportunity.”
Seemed like Nats took advantage of their scoring opportunities with big two-out hits, and you guys didn’t
“Yeah, they had a couple of them. I thought we had a great opportunity to start the game, we got first and third with one out and Fister shut us down there. He was pretty good. He was commanding the outer third of the strike zone with his two-seamers to right-handers, and really cutting the ball in to left-handers. We didn’t get very good swings at him after that first inning.”
What did you say to Teheran after the balk?
“That’s just a lack of concentration, but I didn’t say anything. He knew that he balked there.”
More on Fister
“We knew we had a battle going in. His command – he’s one of the best guys at bringing the ball to right-handers on the outer third. He had all his pitches working today.”
**JULIO TEHERAN
On the balk and showing emotions
“I let my frustration show. I was working really hard to concentrate, to control my emotions. Today was the first time it’s happened to me.”
Was the frustration over not being able to get signals coordinated, to get on same page?
“I was trying to just make a pitch, and I (stepped off and balked). That was my fault. I just tried to come back after that. That cost me one run right there.”
How did the balk happen, just frustrations kind of boil over?
“I was just trying to get a pitch. I know I have a lot of pitches, sometimes it’s difficult to see what I’m going to throw, what I want to throw, and I was shaking (off pitches) and that’s when I started getting frustrated. Because I wanted the pitch that I was thinking about, and we weren’t on the same page right there.”
“Multiple signs was kind of confusing a little bit. We were trying to work on multiple signs. I mean, I don’t know what happened. We (used them effectively) in other games before. That didn’t happen.”
Never had signs with the multiple signs before?
“Yeah, I don’t know what happened today. I was really focused on the game, maybe that was part of it.”
So it’s not a big deal?
“No, that’s part of the game. Sometimes I just really focus….”
You’re saying it wasn’t Gattis’ fault, right?
“I was the one who made the (balk) move. If we weren’t on the same page, I’m the one who’s got to step off and talk to him.”
How many starts have you used the multiple signs?
“Maybe half.”
Did you realize after you stepped off the rubber than you had balked?
“Yeah, after I did that dumb move I was like, ‘Oh, my God, what did I do?’ I wasn’t surprised that they called it, because I knew I did something wrong.”
**JUSTIN UPTON
You get through it OK healthwise?
“Yeah, had some at-bats. End of the day I feel good, so that’s a good sign.”
Fister pretty tough?
“Yeah, his ball was moving all over the place. He made it tough on us to square him up. He beat us.”
They took advantage of some scoring opportunities, Braves did not?
“We had a couple of opportunities to push a run across, and we just didn’t square him up.”
On Teheran
“He just made a few mistakes. He pitched well, gave up three runs. That was just too many for tonight. We didn’t do our job as an offense, and they came up with the big hit.”
**FREDDIE FREEMAN
On Fister
“You know, he’s funky. He’s a big guy. Seems like he’s releasing the ball right in front of your face and he’s got that quick motion. It’s tough to be able to slow him down, because he’s so quick he makes you want to kind of rush things and get things going. As a left-handed (hitter) he has the two-seamer and the changeup that looks the same. It’s tough, and he was able to command both sides of the plate, just like they’ve been doing. But we weren’t able to sneak anything out today.”
On Gattis-Teheran apparent communication problem tonight
“I just saw that as they weren’t on the same page a couple of times, you know? I think that’s going to happen in the game. It happens all the time. That’s just something that they need to figure out, obviously it’s just part of the game – they’ve got to be on the same page. And they were able to do it in the middle innings. Sometimes a couple more shakes than normal tonight, but they’ll figure it out for the next start.”
On Teheran’s performance
“That’s kind of what you’re starting to expect from him. He might be the ace of our staff when he goes out there and does it every night. He’s going to pitch deep into ballgames and give you a chance to win. He did that tonight, it’s just we weren’t able to score any runs tonight.”
**CHRIS JOHNSON
On Fister
“He was throwing Wiffle balls up there tonight. You know those balls with the holes in them, that you throw in the backyard? That’s what he uses. I’m serious.”
Justin Upton also said his pitches move everywhere
“Everywhere, man. He throws balls inside, outside. His changeup is like one of these (waves hand around in a sort of figure 8), his slider goes that way. He’s 12 feet tall. He works fast, you know, as soon as you get in the box it’s like, ‘Hey, I’m coming again.’ So, he’s good.”
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