WASHINGTON — Braves quotes from A.J. Pierzysnki, Manny Banuelos, Matt Wisler and Fredi Gonzalez after Sunday’s 8-4 loss at Nationals Park.
**FREDI GONZALEZ
on Wisler pitching in relief today after struggling again in his most-recent start Thursday
“Run him back out there today, gave us two solid innings in the middle of the game, and it helped us come back a little bit. We had some opportunities there, and we made a game of it. We didn’t play real good, solid baseball. Sometimes we’re short on talent, but never on effort. Guys are giving good at-bats. They had to use their best two relievers in the game, so that’s a good sign.”
On having chance to do more damage in first before Garcia left two in scoring position, an area where he’s struggled all season
“A lot of guys (have), really. We’ve gotten a lot of people on base throughout this losing streak, but you have to have somebody drive them in. We haven’t had that person consistently drive those runs in. But today we played sloppy. We lost a ball in the sun that led to a big inning. We had a (misplayed) ground ball that led to a run. Even Manny didn’t help himself when he gets the pitcher 0-2, then he hits them on 3-2 (count) with a fastball in. Werth hits a three-run homer.
“So we didn’t play good baseball, but we played enthusiastic.”
On giving up so many hits with two strikes and with two outs
“I’m sure my dad is watching games at home and going, ‘Man, how many 0-2, 1-2 hits are you going to give up?’ It’s a lot this series. It seems like every time you look up there’s those type hits given up when the pitcher’s ahead in the count. And I think it’s a young thing, missing location.”
On going with Wisler, that to try to win this game and also somewhat to help him?
“Yes, to help him and help us. To get him back in the saddle (after Thursday’s bad start), get him back out there. And I really liked the way he responded. This guy looked totally different in those two innings. He pounded the strike zone. Got some ground balls. I like that, the young man showed character to get back out there after just two days ago not even getting out of the second inning. Run him back out there against the same team, I like what I saw (from him) today.”
Tuesday starter now in his place?
“We’ll TBA it, I’ll probably let you guys know tomorrow.”
How tough to stay positive during stretch like this and reinforcing to the players that this will turn eventually?
“It’s tough. It really is tough. I got in a conversation with (friend and Detroit Pistons coach/GM) Stan Van Gundy this morning about this. I said, Stan, I almost did something uncharacteristic yesterday, I almost took a player out of the game. And he said, ‘Why, because of lack of hustle, lack of intensity?’ I said, no, just because he was making mistakes. He said, ‘No, don’t do that. That’s out of character for you. You can take a player out of the game because of lack of hustle, lack of intensity, that kind of stuff, but when you start (doing it for other reasons)…. Sit back and evaluate. I had last year with the Pistons two 10-game losing streaks.’ That’s 20 games in the NBA, where they only play 80-something. He said, ‘Just evaluate. Know who you guys want next year, who you don’t want. Character counts, intensity counts, and make those decisions in the offseason.’”
On Garcia’s defensive problems at third base
“I don’t know, maybe he’s going through some stuff. I think the day before he made that diving play towards the line on the backhand. Maybe the ball just came up a little bit (today). But there’s been a lot of errors coming from that position. We’ll just keep working.”
On Swisher’s improved bat speed this season and performance since getting healthy
“Unbelievable. He gives you day-in, day-out tremendous energy. He gives you great at-bats. Whether he draws a walk, gets a base hit or makes an out, he gives you great at-bats. And the encouraging thing is, we’re going to watch him play the rest of this month, and we’ve got him for one more year. And he goes into the offseason and heals up a little bit more (from) those knee surgeries, gets stronger, and maybe we’ll have even a better player.”
Could Olivera (bruised foot) be back in lineup after missing just Sunday’s game?
“We’ll evaluate. I haven’t even talked to Bubba (trainer Jeff Porter), but I’m thinking it’s just a foul ball off the ankle.”
**A.J. PIERZYNSKI
On Banuelos’ struggles
“I don’t know if his arm is 100 percent healthy. I don’t know what the deal is; he missed some time. He’s a little bit limited obviously with his pitch count and all that stuff, trying to build that back up. I don’t know. He had a hard time throwing off-speed pitches for strikes today. Behind in the count a lot. The first inning was positive, then after that it kind of got away from him.
“Sugar (Ray Marimon) did, I thought, a good job. The rest of the bullpen did nice job trying to keep us in it and (us) trying to get back in it. But we came up short.”
On Wisler’s two scoreless relief innings after his rough stretch of starts since end of July
“It was good. Hopefully it’ll help him continue to grow. Two scoreless is nice; we needed it. But if he’s going to start we need him to pitch the way he pitched today, aggressive, pound the strike zone from the first inning through the ninth inning, or whatever (innings) he pitches.”
Can that be a good thing for Wisler, get him in there in relief to help him change his approach and be aggressive?
“Yeah, do whatever you’ve got got to do to get these guys confident and get back to where they need to get to. That’s the bottom line, that’s what we’re trying to do. We’ll try anything we can.”
Ever been through anything like this in all your seasons in the majors?
“No, never seen anything like this. Just keep battling, come tomorrow and try to win.”
**MANNY BANUELOS
On getting in trouble with two outs, hitting the pitcher; are you struggling to make pitches right now?
“In the first inning I was pretty comfortable. In the second inning with two outs, the bad pitch when I hit the pitcher, I tried to be too perfect with that pitch.”
Are you still trying to shake off some rust after being on the DL more than a month? (This was his second start since returning)
“Yeah, I’ve been trying to work on things in my mechanics and all that. I’m just thinking too much. In the first inning I was just letting it go, then when I got in trouble in the second inning I tried to be too perfect with pitches.”
Does your elbow feel OK, are you healthy?
“It feels OK, yeah. I mean, I’ve been pitching like this for a long time. It feels pretty good.”
More on his problems today
“I tried to pitch in but missed most of the time. And I didn’t have my changeup today.”
**MATT WISLER
On his two-inning hitless relief appearance
“I felt good. That’s the reason they put me in, to kind of help my mentality. I’ve been struggling so much lately they just put me down there, clear my head out, let me come in the game and be aggressive. I finally got back to that today.”
Did you do anything different to get ready?
“They get the call (in bullpen), you warm up, you stop thinking when you come in the game, you know you’ve just got to be aggressive and know you can get those guys out. It helped my mindset.”
Can that help your confidence to have some success like that?
“Yeah, to finally have a scoreless day. I haven’t had a scoreless day in, I don’t know, two months. It was nice to go out there and have a little bit of success. Hopefully build on that. I have a long way to go still, but it’s a step in the right direction.”
