SAN FRANCISCO — Braves quotes from Freddie Freeman, Jace Peterson, Julio Teheran, Andrelton Simmons and Fredi Gonzalez after Sunday’s ninth-inning comeback win at San Francisco.
**FREDI GONZALEZ
On the comeback win
“You can say a lot of stuff about our team, that we’re short and we’ve got some deficits in certain areas, obviously, like every other team does. But one thing we’re not short of is fight. And willingness to not give up. These guys battle and battle. After we take the lead, the Giants take the lead again, and we didn’t give up. We had two more innings to try to get back in the game, and we did.
“What a great effort by the team. Freeman doesn’t get to start, and he comes in and makes a big contribution to get us within one run. And then that ninth inning we just kept the line moving. We had some great at-bats. Petey splits the gap with a three-run triple, and Grilli gets the last out in the ninth inning.”
On capitalizing on mistakes and putting the ball in play
“A lot of stuff can happen, and it did. There’s a (would-be) double-play ball, game over. But you put the ball in play, bad hop, Crawford can’t come up with it. All of a sudden, here we go. We’ve got some more life. Pierzynski bloops one in there, and we get a chance to shake hands after going down two runs. Coming here against the defending world champs and splitting the four-game set against some pretty good pitching – I’m really proud of our club.”
On Teheran’s performance
“I don’t know if it was… I didn’t feel comfortable the whole game with Julio, to tell you the truth. I know the numbers show a little different, but it wasn’t a normal Julio Teheran outing that you feel pretty darn good about, where there’s going to be seven or eight innings with nothing going on. And I know his line looks pretty good, but I just didn’t feel comfortable. It might have just been the other three starts, the Thursday, Friday, Saturday starts (by Braves pitchers), that you expect a little bit more (from Teheran), but…
“He gave us a good chance to win the ballgame.”
Do you think Teheran is OK health-wise?
“Yeah, I think he’s OK health-wise, I think it’s just a matter of the game plan, or the way he’s going about executing his pitches, is not the same Julio Teheran. Health-wise, he’s fine. But it’s not the same Julio Teheran from a year ago, where you’d give him the lead and it’s over with.”
Does it seem like he’s losing focus?
“I don’t know about focus. It’s something that we need to work on, some that Julio needs to work on and Roger will work on, because we talked about it almost the whole game in the dugout. Whatever it needs to take, maybe with the off day Thursday it gives him an extra day, maybe just a little extra work in the bullpen.”
On what this win can do, for momentum and such
“It’s (big). Momentum is the next day’s starter, and our next day’s starter is Woody tomorrow, so that’s good momentum. And we’ve had a great pitching performance coming here, even going back to some of the games in L.A. So momentum’s good. Now we’ve got to fix some pieces. Like I said earlier, we’ve got some warts, some pimples that we need to address.”
No Avilan today
“Yeah, we used him two days in a row. (Wasn’t available today.) God almighty, we’re going to kill him. Can’t keep going to him.”
**JULIO TEHERAN
On his performance, early struggles with the homers
“I had a slow start. I tried to be calm, make my pitches, and after I gave up two home runs I started to be aggressive and that worked better.”
Was it just a matter of being more aggressive?
“Yeah, I kind of got a little more aggressive going after hitters. I think that works better. That’s what I need to keep doing.”
Feel good to keep team in game after giving up the homers?
“Yeah, I was a little excited playing against this kind of team. I give the credit to our offense, they’re doing a great job. I kept my team in the game, and they had my back out there.”
Do you feel good, strong?
“Yeah, I feel good. Sometimes I save my velocity until the end.”
**ANDRELTON SIMMONS
On blowing lead, then coming back in the ninth inning
“It’s pretty great. It was a tough game, tough pitcher to face. Julio didn’t get off to a great start, but as the game went on he beared down and kept us in the game, went deep in the ballgame. We fell behind and came back. Freddie hit a big homer right there, and guys just keep the inning alive, and Jace came up with the big hit.”
What did Freeman’s homer do to the mood in the dugout
“It was a one-run game after that. You know you’re one swing away, so you’ve got high hopes. When you’re that close, your hopes are higher. And it worked out great.”
On winning two in a row to split four-game series with Giants
“It’s always nice to win the last couple of games. Getting even in the series is pretty big, and ending the series, getting on the flight with a win, is even funner.”
On Uribe’s impact
“He’s a veteran that knows the league, he knows how to hit. He’s still got a lot of game in him, and he’s ballplayer, man. It’s fun to see him take at-bats.”
Did you notice a difference in Julio after the home runs?
“Definitely. He wasn’t locating, he was falling behind early in the game. I guess the ball was slipping out of his hand or something, but after a couple of innings he figured it out. He was throwing strikes, making his pitches, and him and Bethancourt got it going.”
**JACE PETERSON
On the ninth-inning comeback including his three-run triple
“Freddie got the home run and got it going. Simmons had a great at-bat, drew a walk. Bethancourt put it in play, and when you put it in play, good things happen. And then A.J. got a hit. I had the bases loaded, went out, put a good swing on it, and it worked out good for us.”
What did you tell yourself when you went out there to hit in that situation?
“I was trying to get a fastball out over the plate and put a good swing on it, and I was able to hit it in the gap.”
On the two big wins and his contributions to them the past two days
“Yeah, no doubt. Carry some momentum to Arizona. Like I said before, this ball club, I love this ball club. We’ve got a lot of fight in us. We’ve got a lot of good players, and I can’t wait to get to Arizona.”
On falling behind
“I don’t think anybody in the dugout really ever feels out of the game. Everybody’s going to keep competing and keep battling, so no matter what the scoreboard says, we’re going to keep fighting, for sure.”
**FREDDIE FREEMAN
On late-innings role being a good fit for him (joking)
“I’m not a big fan of it, I like to be in there for the whole game. But it was a good comeback win by us today against a really good team. I hope we can take that momentum and take it into Arizona.”
On big comeback against a tough pitcher, Casilla. What were you looking to do there in ninth?
“I was just trying to get a good pitch and just try to get on base. That’s the goal right there. I was thinking I was going to take a strike, but I was hoping he thought that too, so he was going to groove one. That’s why I went up there swinging. I was lucky to get it over the fence. I maybe got him out of his element a little bit, and Andrelton with the great walk got the inning rolling.”
Can hitting a homer be more of a mental break than being out of the lineup for 6 ½ innings?
“Yeah, I think it’s the homer. Mental breaks can come on off days. I’m not a big fan of (not starting a game). But I guess it was a good idea today. Hopefully I can carry the momentum of hitting that homer, and obviously the last one, too, a couple of days ago to center field, hopefully I can carry that into Arizona.”
On Jace Peterson’s impact last two nights
“It’s been huge. He’s been playing great defense, too. I think that one took a bad hop on him, but he’s been playing great all-around defense, he runs well, he’s a very athletic guy, and he came through in the clutch with a big triple.”
On his reaction when Pence chased Peterson’s ball into the gap
“My hands were up in the air and I was jumping up and down. That was pretty cool. There’s a lot of fight in this team.”
