Braves quotes after Sunday’s loss at Arizona

“The effort that we got after that seventh inning when they scored six runs — most teams would roll over there. But our guys came back and made it a one-run game with the top of the order up, and we were really proud of our guys for doing that. There was still fight left after that seventh inning. We could have just rolled over and we didn’t. We’re going to hang our hats on that. We battled and just came up a little short after that.”

On Harang escaping several jams before it finally seemed to catch up with him in seventh

“You’ve got to run him back out there (in the seventh). He’s got a two-hit shutout, and we’ve been watching that seventh inning where we can’t bridge it, so we tried to run him back out there and let him get us through that seventh inning somehow. Yeah, he had some walks, but you felt comfortable that he could maneuver through the lineup. The base hit and two-run homer ties it, and that seventh inning just unravels on us. Avi walks a left-hander, then David comes in and gives up three or four runs and we just couldn’t get out of that inning.

“But again, we go back out there and made it a good baseball game offensively.”

“We had some great at-bats. Tommy had a great at-bat to keep that inning going. Even Gerald, you felt good that Gerald there with the bases loaded was going to give you a good at-bat, and he did. Marshall made a hell of a pitch on him to strike him out, but nobody gave any at-bats away. That’s something that I’m really happy to see.”

On Justin Upton’s performance in second trip back to Phoenix

“I love the kid. I hate for him to get booed here. He didn’t leave, he got traded. The kid was an All-Star a couple of times here, and he’s a terrific player. I thought he had a good series. He gave us some great at-bats, had some really good at-bats and gave us the lead there today with the two-run homer. I’m glad he’s wearing an Atlanta Braves uniform.”

Re: seventh-inning troubles you mentioned, will it be nice to get Walden back this week with Carpenter struggling, etc.?

“Yeah. I think we’re running 2 ½ rookies out there with Hale and Simmons, and they’re doing fine. I say 2 ½ because I’m not sure if Woody’s considered a rookie or not (he’s not), but they’re doing fine. Walden will come back and give us a little more depth, a little more experience. He had a nice inning today (for Gwinnett on rehab). I haven’t heard anything other than what I saw in the boxscore, so we’ll see what tomorrow brings.”

How concerned are you with the bullpen now as you head to Colorado for four?

“It’s always concerning. You feel like you never have enough pitching when you go to Colorado. Maybe we’ll make some adjustments to the roster if we’re capable of doing it, maybe add another pitcher, but we’ll see. I’ve also seen games (there) where you win 2-1 or 1-nothing. But our starters are going to have to give us – maybe I’ll lean on the starters a little bit more in Colorado than I would have in another place.”

**AARON HARANG

On the seventh-inning wall Sunday

“Pitching out of the stretch in stressful situations just finally got to me and wore me out, and I wasn’t able to execute those quality pitches in the seventh.”

Fredi wanted to give you chance to go out and pitch seventh, you had about 100 pitches at that point, how’d you feel?

“I felt good, but obviously wasn’t that sharp. I don’t know if pressure situations earlier in the game must have ended up taking a toll. I left a couple of pitches over the plate.”

Do you feel like there’s small margin for error due to lack of run support?

“You’ve got to go out there and, no matter what happens, I’ve just got to keep us in the game. The guys are going to battle. They saw me battle and they were really fighting there at the end to try and make a comeback. We just weren’t able to pull it off.”

Did you think you were just a little off with the two walks back-to-back twice early against Goldschmidt and Montero?

“I felt like I was a little bit off, but obviously those two, that’s their main big run production. So to miss and end up walking those guys doesn’t hurt, if you can limit their run production out of their big guys and make everybody else really work to beat you.”

Did you get hit in the hand early?

“No, actually on the first bunt attempt the guy’s sinker ran in on me and hit off the tip of my bat and tip of my thumb. It was nothing that affected anything after, it just caught me by surprise.”

**JUSTIN UPTON

On his weekend back in Arizona

“Personally I’m just trying to turn things around, had a rough couple of weeks. But as a team we played pretty decent baseball. Made a few mistakes here and there, didn’t drive in a few runs we needed to drive in.”

On team not giving up, fighting back to make it a one-run gave after the six-run Dbacks 7th inning

“We know the game’s never over, and we know what we’re capable of doing if we put a few good at-bats together. We made a run at it but came up short. All in all, we battled and that’s all you can ask for.”

On smattering of boos every time he came to bat

“Everybody’s entitled to their opinion. But I’m playing in Atlanta now. It was a blessing to get a chance to play with these guys over there, too. So at the end of the day I can’t hang my head. And I’m happy exactly where I’m at.”

Fun to come back here?

“Yeah, it’s a place where I shared five years. I enjoy it. But a lot of people obviously didn’t enjoy seeing me back, so….” (Laughs)

**DAVID HALE

On making a mistake pitch in a hitter’s park

“Yeah, and that’s the wrong guy (Goldschmidt) you want to make a mistake to. I just left a fastball over the plate.”

On how the inning snowballed

“It was quick. It really did, it happened fast. We had a lead going into that inning and all of a sudden we were down by four, so yeah, it’s not ideal.”

Are you still getting used to your role?

“Yeah, I’m getting used to it. But I felt comfortable going out there and everything. It was just one of those days.”