WASHINGTON — Braves quotesfrom Julio Teheran, Dan Uggla, B.J. Upton and Fredi Gonzalez after Saturday's 6-2 win against the Nationals.
**JULIO TEHERAN
On getting an RBI single
“I feel that I need to do other things, like when I need to get that base hit to tie the game.”
On the two-run homer by LaRoche in first inning, then shutting them down
“That was the biggest mistake I made in the game. Then after that I was just focusing on getting people out and trying to keep my team in the game. And that’s what I did. They were making plays for me and I got motivated.”
On Fredi G sending him back out to pitch the seventh after he’d thrown 97 pitches through six innings
“That’s something that I wanted. I just want to go out there and stay in the game as long as I can. I think he saw that in me and he let me go out for the seventh inning. I had thrown a lot of pitches, and even though I didn’t have my best (stuff), I just tried my best.”
“I’m glad the team is doing the job, and I’m trying to do my job.”
**B.J. UPTON
On his strong throw to the plate to complete inning-ending double play
“Any time you can keep runs off of the board, it’s always a good thing. And definitely in that situation, when they can really get some momentum and get themselves back in the game. Yeah, it definitely felt good.”
On Teheran
“That’s what he does. He pitched well for us last year and he’s pitched well for us in his first couple of starts.”
On beating the Nats in first two games, continuing trend from last year
“We’re just playing. Last night we caught a couple of breaks, but played well enough to keep ourselves in the game. Today we strung some hits together and got some timely hits.”
**DAN UGGLA
On offense stringing together a bunch of hits for first time
“It was great. We haven’t really been lighting it up offensively. We’ve been getting enough done to win games, but we haven’t really been lighting it up. So it was nice to get some hits with guys in scoring position and on base, that kind of stuff.”
On Teheran giving up first-inning two-run homer, did you feel like he could shut it down after that and you guys come back?
“Oh, yeah. You never want to give Strasburg too much of a cushion, but Julio, he didn’t have his best stuff tonight but he battled and competed. That’s what we expect out of him every time. We had all the confidence in the world that he was going to hold them right there, and he did.”
On winning first two games here
“Our goal is to win every series. We’ve put ourselves in position to sweep now, and that’s what we’re working toward tomorrow.”
On success against Strasburg
“It’s just one of those things, you can’t explain. Just for whatever reason, when I’ve made contact the ball’s found some holes.”
On the 4-1 start on road
“It’s a great start to the season. Like I said, we’re still waiting to explode offensively, but I think we’ve proven last year and years past what kind of players we are. Our (starting) pitching and our bullpen’s been great so far, and we’ve been getting enough done (offensively), we’ve had some big hits and some big homers. Some big hits tonight to get some runs across.”
On Upton’s throw home for the double play
“That’s one of those things that just pumps you up and gets you so excited, because that is not an easy play. B.J. is one of the best in the game at throwing people out from center field. It’s a lot longer way throwing people out from center. You’ve got to be accurate and have a great arm, and he’s got both of those things.”
**FREDI GONZALEZ
On Julio Teheran
“He was very good. And a couple of late innings, after we scored four runs, he couldn’t get it going against the first couple of hitters. Maybe it was the long innings, maybe it was just the cold. But he really battled through those innings.”
On Teheran working out of jams
“He’s resilient. He seems when his back’s against the wall, he elevates his game a little bit.”
On stringing together four hits in four-run inning against Strasburg
“Then we had a chances to add on late in the game and we didn’t do it. In the back of your mind you’re always thinking that’s going to come back and haunt you, but guys out of the bullpen – Thomas did a terrific job, and Walden got himself in a little jam there but made a couple of nice pitches to Span.
“It was nice to see B.J. get a couple of hits, and Justin. Danny drove in (two) runs.”
On B.J.’s strong throw from center on the inning-ending double play
“That was a great throw, and it changed the whole complexion of that inning. The double play there. That’s what I meant about the guys making nice plays. Again, we took advantage of some of their miscues and end up scoring two runs on that (error) in the fourth inning. That got us tied, then we put up a crooked number in the fifth.”
On continuing success against Nationals after dominating the series last year
“I don’t even want to talk about last year. We’ve pitched well. When you pitch and catch the baseball, it’s a good combination to win ballgames.”
On warming up Kimbrel in 9th, was he ready to come in?
“Span was Walden’s last hitter, the last hitter he was going to face.” (If he didn’t get him, Kimbrel was coming in.)
On sending Teheran back out to pitch seventh after throwing 97 pitches
“Why not? His pitch count was in the high-90s, we were going to go hitter by hitter. If he got the first guy out, we were going to give him the next one. And so on and so on. And I think it might have been one of the best innings he had, really.”
On the effect of Zimmerman’s throwing error
“What it is, it’s more pitches for your starter. All of a sudden, instead of coming out of the inning he ended up cranking up 10 or 12 more pitches. At the end of the day, when your team doesn’t get the outs it’s supposed to get, it puts the stress on your starter. Instead of 15-20 less pitches during the course of the game, instead of going six or seven innings you’ve got to get him out of there in the fifth. But it happens to all of us. When you give outs away or you walk people at the major league level, you’re looking for someone to put up a big, big number against you.”
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