**FREDI GONZALEZ
On Wood winning second consecutive start
“Two nice outings. He did a nice job today mixing his pitches. Threw the fastball in on right-handers, using real good changeups. That was a good outing. I thought Mac did a nice job with the game plan, with Woody and everybody else.”
On working out of jam in fifth
“He got himself in a little trouble but got out of there. He did a terrific job.”
On B.J. Upton hitting would-be opposite-field homer (call reversed by umps, made a double)
“That’s what you’re looking for (opposite field). He had two good at-bats today, drove the ball to right-center. Chris Johnson had the two-run single in the first inning to get us going. We had some good at-bats up and down the lineup.”
On Wood not letting situation rattle him (ESPN audience, facing Cliff Lee)
“That doesn’t surprise me about him. The little time I spent with him in spring training, he pitched a couple of games – I remember a game in Tampa against the Yankees, he threw the eighth and ninth innings, pretty exciting, and he got himself in a jam in the ninth with some singles and never even rattled. That one caught my eye back then.
“I don’t think he’s a guy who rattles too much.”
On sweeping a road series
“We’re playing good baseball right now. Coming into this trip we hadn’t been playing good baseball on the road, but we had good pitching, had good pitching, played some good defense – (do that and) you get a chance to do what we did.”
On Johnson’s two-strike single through right side in 1st setting tone against Cliff Lee
“Usually he gets eight or nine innings with 90 pitches. (Lee threw 95 in five innings.) We were patient with him. I thought Chris Johnson’s at-bat kind of set the tone for the whole game.”
**ALEX WOOD
On his performance
“I thought me and Mac had a good game plan. We talked and I watched a little bit of video between my last start and this one, and we just attacked them and made some good pitches. Mac called a great game. It was fun, no doubt.”
On team’s winning streak
“We’re just playing great now. Talking about the offense, that two-out knock (by Chris Johnson) off one of the best pitchers in the game in the first inning. I mean, especially with a guy like me out there, it gives me a little extra confidence. I mean, that was a huge knock, and a great way to start the game before I even set foot on the mound.”
On what the two-run lead in first did for you
“Any time, no matter what time it is in the game, you get a two-run lead against a guy like Cliff Lee, you feel like you’ve got a little room to work with and it gives you a little more confidence to maybe try some things and throw some pitches to hitters more that you would in a (scoreless) ballgame in the second or third inning when you’re going against a guy like Cliff Lee, who’s an incredible pitcher.”
On making his third start filling in for Maholm, easier being in a routine instead of spot start like your first one?
“Second week in a row I was able to get my work in and do the things I need to do to be able to prepare between starts. I felt real comfortable out there. I was just excited. I didn’t want to be the one to lose the streak for us. So I just wanted to lock in, compete and keep us in it. As long as we’re in the game, whether it’s the first inning or the ninth, we have a chance. That’s the biggest thing. It gives you confidence when you go out there pitching and have those guys playing behind you.”
Able to block out all the noise – national TV audience, facing Cliff Lee, etc?
“It’s hard to block it all out. I mean, you think about it. My mind was somewhere else, especially the last 24 hours. But in terms of Cliff Lee, it was pretty cool. I was out there stretching before the game and he walked up into the bullpen and gave me a head not, told me, ‘good luck.’ I thought that was pretty cool to have Cliff Lee tell me good luck before the game.”
On the initials B.M. on his cap, a tribute to a friend
“I won’t use his name, but a close friend of mine is in a coma in the hospital. He got into a canoeing accident Saturday. So my mind’s been a little elsewhere. It’s hard not to think about him. Tonight was definitely for him and his family, for sure.”
**B.J. UPTON
On the umps reversing the call on opposite-field homer, changing it to double
“I’m just happy I drove the ball that way. I looked at it (on replay). It was debatable. I guess they thought otherwise. We ended up scoring, that’s all that matters. I think I would have been a little more frustrated if we don’t come up with a couple of runs that inning. But it worked out in the end and we won the ballgame.”
On doing what he said he wanted to do after coming off DL, whatever he could to help team win
“I’m not trying to do too much. Just doing what I can. Obviously you’d like it to be a lot more than it has been, but whether it’s defensively, offensively or on the basepaths, any way I can help us win. Our man goal is to get to the postseason and play that last game of the year.”
On Alex Wood
“He mixed his pitches well, made pitches when he had to make them. That’s basically what he did tonight.”
“He’s around a good pitching staff and a great pitching coach. Rog (Roger McDowell) has got a pretty good track record. The pitchers speak very highly of him. I’m sure he’s done some things with Woody. It’s definitely starting to show.”
**CHRIS JOHNSON
Nice to get out to early lead instead of having to come back again?
“Yeah, especially against a pitcher like that. You want to try to take advantage. You don’t get many of those opportunities against a guy like that. I was just trying to battle and make some good contact. He had two strikes on me. I just tried to use the whole field and got one through there.
On Alex Wood
“You can tell he’s a little more comfortable now that he’s back up here. He got his little taste and then went back down (to Triple-A). Now he’s back and he’s throwing the ball really well. He’s attacking the zone. He’s throwing all of his pitches for strikes.”
On playing better on the road
“That was a big focus for us to start the second half. We had a little rut there in the first half on the road, so we tried to lock it in in. We’ve still got a ways to go, but it’s a little better start for us on the road in the second half.”
On B.J., nice to have him back and get contribution from him?
“Absolutely. Good swing, too. Going the other way, going up the middle. That’s the old B.J. He’ll be back. We all know he struggled, sometimes it takes a little while to get it back. If he keeps swinging like that, he’ll be fine.”
