Braves quotes after 2-1 victory over Phillies Sunday at Turner Field.
**FREDI GONZALEZ
On if walk-off hit overshadows Julio Teheran’s performance
“No, I don’t think so. It was a great ending for us but I don’t know if you can overshadow that. That was a tremendous performance all the way there to the end. Nice way to get the W after we had given up one run there in the ninth. He pitched great, he really did. He had a perfect game going through six innings. He was good, really good.”
On if Teheran is back to form
“Yeah. He’s rattled off now four or five in a row that we’ve seen like we did the last couple years. Hopefully we continue doing that here the next couple of his starts.”
On Teheran’s confidence being back
“Yeah, and he’s been able to command his fastball on both sides of the plate. He’s been able to throw his breaking ball. But today about as good as I’ve seen him in a long time.”
On if he has an update on Christian Bethancourt after he left the game
“It’s a muscle. He’s going to take some more x-rays. The initial x-rays were negative. I just saw our hand doctor and we are going to take it day-by-day.”
On what happened
“Without looking at the tape, I think maybe the slide, the foot got him. I didn’t talk to him (about) exactly what happened.”
On A.J. Pierzynski’s game-winning hit
“Here’s a guy who sat around since 10, 11 this morning and all of a sudden we’ve got to get him in the game. He hits during the course of the game but your legs are not loose as a catcher. We’ve got to get him in the game and they’ve got the winning run at third with a side-armer (Peter Moylan). Simmons hits that ball off the plate, gets to second base, steals third. Petey (Jace Peterson) had a great at-bat after getting down 0-2, didn’t swing at any pitches. I knew A.J. was going to put the ball in play. It was just a matter of if it was going to find some grass.”
On players hustling
“I like the way we’ve been playing this series. We won three 2-1 games. We’re playing well. Playing good defense. I thought (Todd) Cunningham had a shot at him at (Aaron Altherr) the plate but the ball was just up the line a little bit. If you look back at all the three games we won we got good starting pitching and that’s what set the tone.”
**JULIO TEHERAN
On his outing
“Everything was working today. I was ahead in counts. I was in the zone, attacking hitters. That was the difference. I know I didn’t get the win but I’m glad the team got the win and the sweep.”
On if he was cruising along
“I was relaxed. Even when I got a couple runners in the last inning, I felt I could got out of that. In the last one, I wanted to stay but that’s a decision I can’t control. I just go out there and pitch. That’s my job.”
On if he started to think about the perfect game
“Not really. You don’t think about it. You just are trying to get outs. That’s when the game goes fast.”
On if he really didn’t think about it
(Laughs) “I tried. That’s something you don’t want to put in your mind. I was just trying to make pitches like I was doing. He (Galvis) got a pretty good pitch and he hit it.”
On if he’s taken a perfect game this deep before
“I had a no-hitter a couple years ago I went to the eighth. I never got a perfect game going (this far).”
On his confidence
“I am feeling confident. I feel like I’m at my best right now. I feel like I’ve got all of my stuff together. I’m competing. You can see whenever I step on the mound, everything is working. Sometimes I make a mistake but that’s normal because we are all human and make mistakes. I stay just stay focused and don’t’ make any more mistakes.”
On changing his mound set-up
“Now that I moved on the other side that’s the biggest thing. Just trying to get everything together. Since I moved to that side everything is going together.”
On his strong second half
“I’m just glad I was able to make adjustments. This level it’s how quickly you make adjustments and I was able to do it. Trying to finish strong.”
**A.J. PIERZYNSKI
On the walk-off win
“Any time you win game it’s obviously fun. To win the game like that is good, especially after the way Julio pitched and to give it up the way it did and (then) win the game, its’ fun. I feel bad for (Bethancourt), I don’t want him to be hurt. I feel bad for Julio with the way he pitched and not get the win. It was a team win and hopefully it will carry over to New York.”
On having to come into game to catch side-armer Moylan and then hit
“Right off the couch, pretty much, right into the game. It’s fun. You just stay ready. You always know as a catcher you are one pitch away. Luckily Jim Joyce let me catch a couple from Peter before I had to go right back there. Peter made a pitch and got out of it, and then we found a way. Simba (Andrelton Simmons) obviously with a huge stolen base. It was a good win.”
On if his approach changed once Simmons stole third
“I was just trying to get a ball into the outfield. You are not trying to do anything else. They’ve got five infielders and you are trying to get it over their heads. You know if you get it to the outfield there’s a pretty good chance it will either fall or he can score. It worked out.”
On if this was perfect day because he got to relax in clubhouse and then hit game winner
“It would have been better if some football games had ended differently.”
On if he was near the bench when Bethancourt got hurt
“Oh, yeah, I was right there. As soon as I saw him got hurt I ran down and got my gear on.”
