**FREDI GONZALEZ
On the rapid turn of events
“Just like that. You felt like Marcum had us pretty much under control. He makes a mistake, we hit it out of the ballpark to put us one run up. Avi (Luis Avilan) did a hell of a job coming in to get Murphy (last out of seventh) and you thought you had them set up pretty good. That eighth inning kind of unraveled on us a little bit.
“You come out of here thinking you have a chance to sweep. We still win two out of three. The game of baseball, the feeling is always, what you’ve done for me lately. If we had won the first game, lost the second and won this one, it would’ve felt pretty good. And you’re still two out of three. We’ve got to look at it that way.”
On leaving in Gearrin after gave up a couple of hits in eighth
“Who would you like me to put in? I mean, he’s the guy we give the ball to in that situation. He’s the guy we talked about. It just didn’t happen for him.”
Can get a double-play
“Yeah, he’s got that sidearm sinker. That’s his inning, in my opinion.”
On Teheran
“He did a good job. I don’t think he was as sharp as we’ve seen him. But he battled, and Gerald did a nice job getting him through some of those innings. He scattered the ball around a little bit, but he still left the game after giving up only one run. And I think a couple of hits he gave up were infield singles. He did a nice job.”
On the injury-plagued bullpen not being as loaded and experienced as it’s been in recent years
“When you’re trying to get six outs with a one-run lead, it’s tough at times. You make a mistake and something happens, it’s tough. We just got two runs and didn’t add on, really. Now you’re going to ask to get six outs with a one-run lead. It’s tough, no matter who you’ve got out there.
“But we won eight in a row with the same cast of characters that we have now, and we’ll continue to do that and continue to win ballgames.”
On Marcum
“He was a little bit better than he was the last time we faced him, his breaking stuff. He never gives in. Obviously we know that, that he’s a pitcher and he’s not going to give in. He can throw his change-up or his breaking pitch at any time, and he did that today. He got it over the plate.”
On the strike zone and Braves hitters complaining
“There was a lot of barking going on. I don’t know. I’ll reserve my comments until … later.”
**CORY GEARRIN
On the three-run eighth inning
“I went out there trying to make pitches. They found some holes. I need to make better pitches and pick the guys up.”
You look at it as one of those nights where they found holes, or something didn’t feel right, or what?
“No. I mean, those guys did a good job hitting. I went out there trying to make my pitches, and they put the bat on it and got some hits. I’m definitely going to learn from it and take it as an educational point for sure. Go out there next time and make better pitches and help the team get wins.”
Did having thin bullpen make tonight’s results even harder to swallow?
“No. I think anytime you have an opportunity to win a game, you want to win it. Especially know that Craig’s right there. Our job is to get him the ball. So I don’t think it’s any bigger a deal or less of a deal because of stuff that’s happened to the bullpen. You just want to win games. So, like I said, learn from this game and go back out there, get them next time.”
On Davis’ hard single through right side of infield
“Every guy that comes up, you’re trying to figure out how to get him out. So with him coming up and an opportunity to get a double play, that’s kind of my game. I want to get a double-play ball right there. He put the bat on it and got a hit. You have to give him credit there. I’ll go back, look at it, try to figure out how to make the adjustment, and get them next time.”
**DAN UGGLA
That was a sudden and complete mood change, huh?
“Yeah, it was. Marcum pretty much had our number all night. We were able to go up in the seventh. Teheran pitched a great game, but obviously they came back and put together some good at-bats and took the lead.”
Difference in Marcum tonight
“Marcum changes speeds and locates so well. He knows how to pitch. He’s messing with the runners and he’ll get you into hitters’ counts and speed you up, get you to chase something. He’s a really smart pitcher, and he just really wasn’t making any mistakes. Working both sides of the plate, and keeping the ball down. He did a great job tonight.”
You have three homers in past week, bunch of RBIs. Feeling better?
“Yeah. The average sucks again, but anytime you can produce some runs…. I always throw the numbers out the door anyway. It’s about run production, especially when you’re on a team like this. Getting as many wins as possible and getting runs across the board. The statistics are for the fans and people to look at. I feel great. I’m just going to keep going and keep competing.”
On blowing the lead late
“We battled. Cory was battling. They just happened to put some balls in the right places, you know? Can’t do anything about that. But he battled his butt off. Just didn’t go our way tonight. But we ran off eight in a row, won the series, so you’ve got to look at the positives.”
On the bullpen operating without O’Flaherty and Venters for rest of season, and Walden recently
“It sucks losing those guys. O’Flaherty and Venters are lights-out along with Kimbrel, but our other guys in the bullpen are not slouches. They’re great competitors, they’ve got good stuff, and they’re being thrown into some different roles. I think they’re doing a great job. They’re going to continue to compete, and I think they’ll get more acclimated the more times they get thrown in there.”
