Braves quotes after Saturday’s 8-6 loss to Red Sox

“Just wasn’t clicking. I don’t know, he’s bound to have one of those. He just had to work so hard over the (three) innings. Just didn’t have it.”

On Newcomb’s early exit leaving six innings for bullpen to cover

“Yeah, but even with the lead and going into the (sixth) inning, I still felt good about what we had. It was big, I think Jesse (Biddle) and Pete (Moylan) are getting us to where we could get at those other (relievers). A pitch away – they got a lot of two-strike hits today. They’re a good hitting club and we just didn’t finish a couple of hitters off with two strikes and it hurt.”

Testament to both Boston’s strong lineup and your bullpen struggling a little lately?

“Maybe a little bit of both. I mean, probably more the fact that these guys are really good hitters. They’re experienced, they’re quality. They’re not leading the American League for … it’s not a mistake.

“Most of our guys that went out there, they’re rested and felt good. But you’ve got to make pitches. We just didn’t do enough of that.”

For a young guy like Newcomb, pitching for the first time close to home, is it maybe natural to try to do too much sometimes?

“Yeah, I’ve seen that story before where you’re at home and you’re amped up for friends and family and all that. But he’ll bounce back, he’ll be fine.”

It was a rough week for Dansby Swanson (two-run homer, two hits Saturday), it had been a rough stretch after the walk-off hit last weekend, but did you see some good signs?

“Yeah, last couple of days. And he played shortstop about as good as you can today, too. But his bat’s been a lot better.”

On being down three runs going into ninth but getting a leadoff homer from Ronald Acuna off Craig Kimbrel, and knowing what your team can do in the ninth …

“Yeah, but that’s a little bit different animal we’re facing right there than anybody else we’ve ever faced in the ninth inning. But that one run is big, we just needed to get another guy on to at least bring the tying run to the plate.”

**SEAN NEWCOMB

What did you feel coming out to the mound, were you able to block out the fact that it’s Fenway and just pitch?

“Yeah, by the time I stepped on the field I felt fine, everything felt normal, just another game for me.”

Your thoughts on how you pitched

“I just chalk it up to having a bad start. A little all over the place, I wasn’t able to find the zone too well with my fastball, and everything kind of just fell from there.”

Did you think you were perhaps trying to overthrow your fastball at times against that tough Red Sox lineup?

“Yeah, definitely. Facing good lineups I tend to try to do too much, try to get the strikeout instead of drawing contact. Trying to overpower them, and I think I just got a little too out of control today.”

Can you attribute it to just having a bad start after having so many good ones in a row?

“Yeah, I think so. I had a handful of good ones, so a little bit of a shaky one was kind of bound to happen at some point.”

The Red Sox lineup got your pitch count up early

“Yeah, they were laying off some close pitches, so it got me into some deeper counts where I didn’t want to be. They did a good job laying off some low change-ups, high fastballs. They did a good job seeing some pitches.”

Did you take any time to appreciate the moment at Fenway?

“Yeah, I think walking out to warm up I just thought about it for a little bit. And before that first inning started I kind of just looked up and thought about it for a second, then kind of locked it back in.”

How many family and friends did you have here?

“I don’t know, I didn’t leave tickets for everybody. If I was to guess, probably close to 200.”

Could you hear them at all when you were out there?

“There were a couple of my buddies near the dugout, so I could hear some of the stuff they were saying. But that was it.”

Did you ever pitch at Fenway, in high school or college or any time?

“No, yesterday was the first time I ever stepped on the field.”

What was it like pitching here, after watching so many games here as a kid?

“It was cool. Lived up to the hype. They get loud when you get a three-ball count or walk somebody. But it was definitely fun. It was cool to have the family and friends able to come watch.”

On lasting only three innings, the stress it puts on the bullpen

“That’s my first thought when I’m told I’m done after three innings, I look at the six innings the bullpen’s got to cover and we’ve got a (day) game tomorrow. So it’s kind of a bad job of helping them out. So, disappointing.”

Were any of your friends showing divided allegiances?

“Yeah, a lot of them said they were wearing Braves jerseys and Red Sox hats.” (laughs)

You said it was a normal start, but from the dozens of people waiting to see you outside the clubhouse afterward it clearly wasn’t

“Yeah, as far as the baseball goes I kind of kept it normal, but everything else was a little bit…there was a lot going on, for sure.”

**FREDDIE FREEMAN

On Newcomb pitching at home, maybe amped up doing that for the first time?

“I didn’t realize he was from here until you said that. ... I’m sure he was. It’s always nice to go home and play in front of your family, but you’ve got to be able to settle down.”

He had about 200 people here tonight

“That’s a lot of people. Hopefully he didn’t pay for all of those tickets.”

On running into a buzzsaw in Boston while the Braves are also not at their best on this trip

“Yeah, Steven Wright was the one that stopped us. (Three innings of scoreless relief from the knuckleballer.) You don’t get to face knuckleballers very often. We got to Drew (Pomeranz, Red Sox starter) and got him out of the game, but they had a stopper in the right guy to stop us. We were able to score some runs but we weren’t able to hold them down today.”

How odd was that game with both starters out before the fourth inning was through and each throwing about 90 pitches?

“Yeah, three innings was like two hours. It was a long one out there. I thought Newk did OK. Obviously he walked a few guys today, but he was a couple of pitches away from getting out of some jams. But I guess we can chalk that up to wanting to pitch really well in front of his family. Newk’s been awesome all year, so one start isn’t going to derail him. We’re looking forward to his next one.”

On the offense struggling lately

“You’re going to run into some tough series here and there, but I think we’re doing just fine.”

On Swanson’s performance past couple days

“That double last night I think was big for him, got his confidence going into today, and obviously had a couple of hits today. You need all the confidence in the world going into tomorrow to face Chris Sale, so hopefully we can get some hits off of him.”