SAN FRANCISCO — Braves quotes from Williams Perez, Juan Uribe, Jace Peterson and Fredi Gonzalez after Saturday’s 8-0 win against the Giants.
**FREDI GONZALEZ
On Williams Perez’s performance in first win
“He reads bats really, really well. He pitches with his eyes, sees what’s going on, and he’s got pretty good stuff. Has the sinker to get a lot of ground balls, and today we saw that. For a kid who’s only made three starts, he’s pretty composed out there.”
More on that unusual mound presence for someone with so little experience
“Absolutely, you don’t see that for a kid. It sure didn’t look like it in that very first (relief) outing that we saw from him. But you know what, he’s been good (since), he’s been impressive. We’ll keep running him out there, and if he keeps giving us outings like this, he’ll be fine.”
On Jace Peterson’s three-hit game
“A lot of people had good games. Jace Peterson, Uribe, Cam Maybin drove in a couple. We ran Cunniff back out there, get him back in the saddle again; that was good, get him a clean inning. So a lot of good things happened today.”
On Perez not getting hit hard, and being able to get out of trouble
“He has the weapons to get out of trouble. He has a sinker, so you can hit a ground ball. Today he got himself in a little jam, but other than that, he dominated both sides, right-handers and left-handers, too. So it was nice to see. We’ve had three better-than-quality outings from our starters the last three games, and only had one win out of it. Hopefully Julio will go out there and keep the ball rolling as far as starters go.”
How nice to have an offensive outburst like this after how tough it’s been to score runs for you guys lately?
“I sit down in the dugout night after night, and you look at the out-of-town scoreboard and you see everybody else scoring nine runs and eight runs, and you’re sitting there going, man, oh man, we play 2-1 ballgames of 1-0 ballgames every single night. So to watch these guys swing the bat and keep the line moving was really nice.”
On key to having big night against Lincecum, who hadn’t allowed a run in his last three home starts
“He’s been really good. But we were patient with him. He throws strikes. That is the key, be patient and make him throw the ball over the plate. Easier said that done.”
**WILLIAMS PEREZ (through translator Eddie Perez)
Could you tell early on that you had it going tonight?
“From the first pitch I knew I had command of every pitch. From the first inning I felt good today.”
That’s got to be good for your confidence to have a game like that?
“Yes. They have a great team, and I want to thank everybody because everybody helped me get a win.”
“I have confidence from pitching good. I have a lot of confidence that I’m going to pitch good. I want to thank the Braves because they gave me the opportunity to be a starter, and I’ve got everything going my way.”
When did you hone the sinker, get it to the point you knew it was a big weapon for you?
“In A-ball, that’s when I knew I had a good sinker. Last year I worked it really well at Mississippi. I knew that was my best pitch.”
Is this what you expected coming up to the majors, or have you been even better than you expected?
“I wasn’t expecting it. I’m very surprised, and I’m going to work hard to continue to pitch like that.”
**JACE PETERSON
Nice to score some runs for Perez?
“Yeah, for sure. Especially with the way he’s been pitching, we know if we can get some runs we’ll have a good chance to win. So yeah, we came out aggressive and put some good at-bats together.”
How big was it to have a night like that after being so tough to score lately?
“Big. We know we’ve got it in us. Sometimes it doesn’t look like it, but we know what we can all do, and as long as we keep doing our job I think we’ll be able to put some runs together like this.”
On his three-hit game with a triple and double, first three-hit game of his career
“Being in the leadoff spot I need to do a better job of getting on base. That’s what a leadoff hitter does. I’m putting that on me, I need to do a better job of getting on base. So any time you can get on base and let those other guys drive us in, we’ll have a good shot to win.”
On addition of the big fella at third base, Uribe a nice addition?
“Absolutely. We’ve got two great third basemen now, we’ve got Chris Johnson and Uribe Anytime you get another bat in the lineup that can come up in big situations and get big hits – I mean, he hit a home run tonight, so it’s great having him.”
On Perez pitching well with runners on base, being able to get out of tight spots. That sinker of his a bit weapon?
“You saw it tonight. He had guys guessing, guys off balance all night. That (sinker) and the big sweeper he throws. He did a good job of keeping guys guessing. Anytime you can manage that sinker like that, you can definitely have more games like this.”
**JUAN URIBE
On answering the boos
“For me, the main thing today was we won the game. I had a good game, that’s great, it’s good for me and for the team. More important to win the game. I felt good today. I helped my team win the game.”
On Williams Perez in his third major league start
“Unbelievable. I saw their pitchers when they came to play the Dodgers (last week before the trade). I see they’ve got a lot of good pitchers. I talked to him today, just relax, pitch your game, and you see the way it turned out.”
“This guy pitched very good today. The Giants are a good team. You come in against a good team like that, and you win the game like he did today, that means a lot for him.”
