**FREDI GONZALEZ
On Aaron Harang coming back from rough start, the kind of veteran leadership you expect?
“It sure seems that way. You start to learn to trust him a little bit. I started to take him out there in the seventh inning, he goes, ‘No, I’m fine, I’ve got another 10 or 12 pitches. Give me a chance to go hitter by hitter.’ And we did that. We turned a double play in the eighth to get out of that situation. He’s a nice piece on our staff right now.”
On keeping the line moving up and down the order
“We did. The bottom two guys, not counting Harang, and the top two guys kept the ball moving a little bit. And then (Jason) Heyward got a nice RBI on one ball. Justin (Upton) with a sac fly RBI before that. We did a lot of good stuff offensively.”
On Andrelton Simmons tweaking his ankle and having four RBIs
“I told him when I went to check on him in the eighth inning on that play at second base, you know if you hang around this game long enough it won’t be the last time you make two errors in one inning. It happens. How you bounce back from those is what’s important, and I thought he bounced back (terrific). He made some great plays after that defensively and he also swung the bat. Kept the line moving.”
On the first four Braves hitters having two hits apiece
“And the bottom two guys, (Tommy) La Stella and (Christian) Bethancourt. We spread it around and kept the line moving. We started from the top or we started from the (bottom).”
On if he saw Aaron Harang get in the groove early
“When he gets all of his pitches over the plate and you get a team that’s aggressive, you get those kind of outings. He was really efficient after (throwing) almost 30 pitches in the first inning. That’s when you have a nice veteran on the mound. He didn’t spook: ‘Hey, I’ll keep pitching, play my game and let my offense catch up.’”
On if he will check to see how Andrelton Simmons feels tomorrow after tweaking his ankle
“I’ll check him. But if you don’t want him in the lineup, you tell him.” (Smiles)
On if he’s seen more confidence from B.J. Upton hitting No. 1
“We’ve led him off and he’s done terrific there. But the play where he got an RBI fielder’s choice, at the beginning of (the season) he would hit balls rocket at somebody and not get any hits. Now the balls are getting through and good for us he’s doing that in the lead-off spot. He’s been swinging the whole year pretty well.”
**AARON HARANG
On lasting eight innings after rough first inning
“I came in after seven and Fredi was ready to shake my hand. I told him, ‘Man, I’ve got another one.’ So we went hitter by hitter (in the eighth), he said probably three hitters that inning. I was able to get out of that with a double play. I got Tommy (La Stella) and Simba (Simmons) a lot of work today. The guys were there. We had a rough first inning but nobody panicked. Our confidence if real high right now. Everybody’s feeling good about how we’re swinging the bat and playing defense. So I knew that guys were comfortable up there and I knew that we were going to stay right in it.”
After they batted around in first inning, could you have imagined you’d be hitting for yourself in the seventh?
“There’s been a couple of times I’ve had that situation happen. I was able to limit it and get out of that first, and then we got some big double plays there, where I wasn’t going deep into counts and making them put the ball into play early.”
Only one strikeout and only one walk will help with that efficiency I guess?
“Yeah, you’re limiting the pitch count, keeping the guys on their toes. We know they’re going to be out there making the plays for us. We’re feeling really good right now with how the whole game’s going for everybody.”
On B.J. Upton
“B.J.’s been really swinging a hot bat and really getting things started for us, even from the get-go of the game. Everybody’s happy with how things are going. We’ve just got to look at it game-to-game and finish up this stretch into the All-Star break.”
**B.J. UPTON
On he and Simmons getting things started at top of the lineup
“Yeah man, we’re just piecing together hits, getting guys on and capitalizing on runners in scoring position.”
On the job that Harang did after they batted around in error-extended first inning
“Great job. He’s been around a long time and knows how to pitch. He didn’t flustered. Gathered himself and came back and pitched a great game.”
On getting hits up and down the lineup
“It’s coming together. That’s about all you can say about it. It’s starting to roll a little bit. Hopefully we can keep it up.”
**CHRISTIAN BETHANCOURT
On working with Harang, watching him pitch eight strong innings despite rough first inning
“He’s a veteran guy. He knows how to control himself in situations like that. My job was just trying to help him try to get through at least seven, eight innings. He made it, so I think we did a good job.”
On Harang’s stuff being better early than 1st inning indicated
“We got a rough first inning. We talked in the dugout and said we’ve got to come right at it for the next few innings so we can get a long way into the game. That’s what he did, and he did a great job.”
On having his first three-hit game and first extra-base hit
“It’s always fun to get two or three hits in a game like that when your team scores a lot of runs, has a lot of base hits and you’ve got a couple. That’s a good feeling.”
**ANDRELTON SIMMONS
On getting the win after being down early
“It felt really good. I started the game with a couple errors. They got a couple runs early. But (Aaron Harang) kept them right there and gave us a chance to come back.”
On if this was one of the more eventful games of his career
“Yeah. I’m just glad we got the win, man. It’s a little tough when your errors are a little costly. But Harang picked me up and kept us in the game and the other guys got on base, we got runs and we ended up winning. So it’s a good day after all.”
The four RBIs feel good, especially after the errors?
“Yeah, they felt OK. They felt good. But I don’t want to give up runs and make (Harang) throw more pitches. But we ended up winning, anyway, so it’s kind of good.”
On if he’s OK after taking a fall and turning left ankle running the bases in the sixth inning
“Yeah. I’m a little beat up. But the soreness will go away by tomorrow.”
On if he hurt the ankle any more when making a defensive play late in the game
“No, it wasn’t worse, it was just still there. It’s nothing big, though. It’s just a little soreness. It will go away soon.
On if he got clipped on the play in the sixth inning
“No, no, no. He didn’t even touch me. I was out of the baseline. I was trying to evade the tag and did too much and that little eventful slide, not-slide, deke, whatever it was.”
On if he hurt his left ankle
“Yeah, left ankle, and fell straight on my buttocks.”
On if he will should be OK to play Sunday
“Oh yeah, should be.”
On what hurt worse when he went down
“My butt. It just numbed up my whole leg. I wanted to get up and run it off but I just couldn’t. I was like, all right, I need a second.”
