TORONTO — Braves quotes from Jonny Gomes, Shelby Miller, Freddie Freeman, Chris Johnson, Jason Grilli and Fredi Gonzlaez after Sunday’s series-clinching 5-2 win against the Blue Jays.
**JONNY GOMES
On Markakis and Freeman being on base so often in series
“That was pretty impressive. Both of them. I don’t think it’s really a surprise to anyone — those guys are good. But there’s a learning curve, a whole different approach to DHing. You know? You’re not always going to be on. They’re good players, but they stayed mentally into it all the way through the games. That’s tough to do (as a DH).”
What about you, make the young Toronto pitcher pay with bases loaded in the first inning?
“Any time you have the opportunity to jump on the starter and give your starter a little bit of cushion — scoring early on the road is pretty good, when they get the last at-bat. So it was pretty nice to get on the board early.”
Could you tell the center fielder was going to have trouble on that bases-loaded liner over his head?
“I knew I hit it pretty well. Just that inning – there was no one on with two outs, and we got three runs. We capitalized on that.”
**FREDDIE FREEMAN
On him and Markakis being on base so often during the series
“Nick’s being seeing the ball and swinging very well, and I’m just happy to join him in this series.”
On designated-hitter contributions from him today and from Markakis and C. Johnson earlier in series
“I talked to Jonny (Gomes) and he told me every time (the Braves) are playing defense to stand up and move around. Don’t actually hit in-between (innings), act like you’re playing in the game. So I was always standing up, moving around, acting like I was in the game. It obviously worked out, I stayed focus and stayed in the game, and I was able to perform.”
On Gomes making the rookie pay with the bases-clearing double in first inning
“Jonny’s been awesome. He’s been hitting the ball very well lately and he got one to fall right there. We needed it. Jump out early, and that was all we needed with Shelby and our bullpen.”
On Miller being tough today
“Shelby was tough in his first two starts. It was good to see him get six innings, and hopefully next time he can get to seven. But he’s been throwing the ball very well. We were lucky to get some runs for him, and he shut them down just like he did last year.”
How impressed have you been with Cody Martin?
“Very impressed. He comes out there and throws strikes. He’s not going to overpower you; he doesn’t make any mistakes, and keeps his off-speed pitches down, down and away like he was doing today. He just goes out there and fires strikes and gets people out.”
**SHELBY MILLER
On his performance
“Pretty good. We kind of fell behind in counts a lot. Betty (Bethancourt) called a good game, we did a good job getting back into some pitching counts. Made some good defensive plays, some diving stops, got some double plays. At the end of the day, felt good. But still got some room to work.”
On getting through sixth inning today, after going five each of first two starts
“Yeah, that’s going to come. Just keep grinding it out. You’ve got a team with that kind of offense, that’s going to put some good swings on the ball, just try to keep it down, keep our pitch count low, be as efficient as you can. You always try to go out there and go as deep as possible, but at the same time we’ve got a solid bullpen. And with the off day tomorrow, they came in a did a great job and shut down the rest of the game. Our offense did a great job getting five runs right away, and we did a good job of keeping the mistakes as simple as possible, and got a good win when we needed it.”
On early lead not being safe against Blue Jays if you relax
“We’ve seen it. That’s a team that, at any given moment, they’re going to go out there and put a swing on the ball, and with runners on first and second it could be a three-run home run. Especially here. With that offense, that has a lot of power throughout. Like I said, the biggest thing is just to keep the ball down in the zone and be as efficient as possible.”
On the series that Markakis and Freeman had
“Those are two guys that you expect to do those things they’re doing. Freddie is the guy hitting in the four hole, driving guys in, and Nick’s done an unbelievable job getting on base, and another guy with power. We’ve got guys with a lot of power as well. And we hit some home runs this series. The biggest thing is to get guys on and drive them in, and that’s what our offense has been doing. They’ve been doing a hell of a job doing that. Like I said, a nice team win today.”
On starting nine-game trip with a series win
“It’s a long time on the road. To come into Toronto against a team that hits good at home, a team that’s confident in the box at home, we’ll take (a series win). We kind of felt like we gave them a game yesterday, but at the same time, you take what you can get, and we’ll take two wins and one loss.”
**JASON GRILLI
On bullpen bouncing back from Saturday’s rough outing with strong showing
“Always turn the page. Yesterday’s gone, and I’m just glad these guys, they’re not scared. They’re relishing the challenge and taking the ball when it’s given to them. We’re talking about baseball down there (in the bullpen), we’re in every pitch. And they’re learning quick. We’re off to a great start. Like I said, all of us are taking pride in what the front end’s doing. We’re just putting the pieces together. It’s coming together real nice right now.”
On getting series win against a power-laden Blue Jays team
“That’s a good team, a good-hitting team, and this is always a tough place to pitch because the ball flies here. Rightfully so, these guys don’t want to hit it on this new turf. So, just keeping the ball in control, where you want to put it, is key with this team.”
On Cody Martin’s performance so far
“Awesome. He’s waited for this for a while and he’s, like I said, relishing what he’s doing. He’s very deserving. I’m proud of him. I’m proud of him, and it’s fun to watch. It’s keeping me fired up, too.”
**CHRIS JOHNSON
On putting some pressure on Toronto’s defense and pitchers
“We got those big hits with guys on base. Jonny had a big at-bat there early, and we were able to go ahead, and with the stuff Shelby had today it seemed to be enough.”
Good series win against a team that hits so well at home
“They can swing the bat. They’re a good ballclub. Real good ballclub. But we tried to just play our game. No matter who we play, what their game is – these guys like the long ball; we’re not really about that, although we hit some home runs. But for the most part, we’re going to try to win ballgames like we did today, with just getting guys on base and coming up with timely hitting when we do.”
On Markakis getting on base 11 times in series
“He’s a stud. It’s fun to watch, man. It’s really fun to watch. Being a guy that played in the American League, I haven’t seen much of him in my career. But you hear about him, and you see what he does. But then to see it firsthand and it see it every single day, it’s real fun to watch. It’s actually a lot of fun to learn from, too.”
**FREDI GONZALEZ
On Shelby Miller’s performance and the win
“He gave us the innings we needed to get from him today. Obviously I’m sure he’d like to get a couple more, but he did a nice job. Our bullpen did a terrific job, Mac (Andrew McKirahan) coming in and getting those two hitters out, and then Cody Martin was able to give us four outs and get us to Grilli. I’m real happy with the club offensively, I think when you come into a place like this and we scored more runs than they did, I’m really pleased offensively. And we ran the bases today, showed you don’t have to be fast to take the extra base. We did that with Freeman, got in scoring position. Gomes, that’s what he gets paid for, to hit left-handers. What’d he get, four RBIs today? Good for him.”
On Markakis and Freeman being on base throughout the series
“That’s what we need from those guys. That’s why they hit three and four. I know there’s going to be some times where one’s going to hit and one’s not, but that’s about as good a 3-4 hitters as you want in the major leagues, and then you can mix-and-match with the fifth (spot in the lineup) and all the way down. But good series.”
