Braves quotes from Alex Wood, Kelly Johnson and Fredi Gonzalez after Thursday's 5-3 loss at Colorado.
**FREDI GONZALEZ
On relievers preventing game from getting out of hand
“It could have gotten realy ugly. I thought our guys did a nice job. Brigham, to get thrown into an emergency start like that and give us four innings – he really set up the rest of the guys. Everybody else did a nice job. We could have used the whole bullpen, and we didn’t.
“We got within one run. They held a two-run lead the rest of the way. The groundskeeper did a nice job getting the game in, really. I mean, that field was almost getting unplayable, and they got the game in.”
Did you feel it was unfortunate to lose Wood to the rain delay, he’s been so good on the road all season
“The weather… I think other than a major league manager, I think the weatherman and the people making that decision (to play) get second-guessed more than I do. In a situation there, a pop-up shower got us. We’re going to bring Woody back (to start) on Sunday, that’s the plan. We’re going to use Banuelos as a long guy Saturday and Sunday, keep him alive there. We don’t just waste away Woody.
“I think it was the right decision (not to bring Wood back). Both managers did it. (Rockies starter Kyle) Kendrick couldn’t come back, either. And then you’ve got a bullpen game, and here we go. This field is unforgiving. But we got through it. We got through it.”
Did it get to point where you were getting concerned about safety of players, due to the wet field?
“I was. And I think, like I said, the groundskeepers were out there. It got to the point where they couldn’t put any equipment on it. It was just shovels and spreading out the kitty litter around just to keep it playable.”
On Peterson with bases loaded, another big hit
“He gives you good at-bats. He doesn’t get rattled with people on base, he stays within his approach.”
On Foltynewicz retiring last six batters he faced, four by strikeouts, after giving up three straight hits to start his appearance
“He did a nice job, he really did. He gets (runners at) second and third, nobody out, and he was able to get out of there only giving up one run. That was nice to see from him coming out of that bullpen.”
Looked like A.J. was showing frustrated there at end over the umpires continuing the game in the conditions
“It’s one of those situations where you’re frustrated. But like we talked to him in the dugout – ‘A.J., if they stop the game, we’re going to lose. They’re not going to re-start this game.’ It’s just a matter of frustration and that kind of stuff. Just a long day.”
“If the umpires stop the game, we’re going to lose. As long as the infield’s manageable, try and keep it going.”
**ALEX WOOD
On decision to start the game with rain and storms nearby
“After coming back inside (the clubhouse during the delay) and seeing what the radar was looking like going into gametime, I was pretty surprised that they wanted to start that game. But that’s the way it goes, and it sucks. I mean, Brigham has to wear it out of the bullpen. I know he’s been a starter this year down in the minor leagues, but he’s been up here however long he’s been up here, and having to go in in that situation, it’s unfortunate.
“You’ve got to deal with it, move on, move forward, and I look forward to taking the ball on Sunday.”
More on decision to start the game on time despite storms approaching
“I didn’t know anything about the rain. I saw it was cloudy when we got out there, and I’d looked at the outside on video (monitor) before I’d gone out and it was a little cloudy. But I didn’t look at the radar and nobody had been talking about a rain delay possibility. So I was pretty surprised. And then, like I said, I came back and looked at the radar, what it was like leading up to the game, and I was pretty surprised that we started that game.
“If it had been less time (length of the delay) I would have gone back out. It ended up being two hours or however long it had been, and Skip (Fredi Gonzalez) and Roger (McDowell) made the decision just to put me in the schedule on Sunday and go with Brigham (after tonight’s rain delay).”
**KELLY JOHNSON
On the long delay and playing in the rain
“They (Rockies) had a rain delay last night, so obviously nobody was enjoying that tonight. What can you do? It’s just a really unfortunate thing it got to that point. It just stinks. It just takes something out of it. That’s all, it just takes a little fun out of it, I guess.
“But you’ve still got to play. I don’t think anybody mailed it in. It’s just frustrating and distracting.”
Especially when you lose Wood, who’s been very good on the road all season
“Yeah, he’s been very, very good on the road. Recently, all of it (home and road). It would’ve been a good way to come in and get some momentum in the series. But, I mean, shoot, hopefully no more rain.”
“It’s just weird. You take everything into account, that was just a weird night. It’s not really a lot of fun, to be honest with you. That’s really about all there is to say about it, it’s just not fun and unfortunate. I don’t know who’s fault it is or what you can do about it, but it shouldn’t happen. I wish it wouldn’t happen. But it did.”
**MIKE FOLTYNEWICZ
On bullpen not allowing things to spiral out of control
“Yeah, Jake (Brigham) goes out there, he battled his butt off. The rest of us guys just have to go in there and clean it up. We did a pretty decent job with those conditions. Now we’ve just got to go out there and play with what we’re given.”
Especially nice to work your way out of that jam?
“Yeah, especially (with runners on) second and third, no outs. I kind of just settled down a little bit, breathe a little more and just took my time between pitches there, and really concentrated and focused, and got out of there with one run, which could have been a lot worse. I was happy to get out of there with just one run.”
Does it feel like that’s what what you can do, once everything starts to come together for you?
“Yeah, especially after I got the first strikeout, I really settled down more, and the next inning I went out there and I really concentrated between every single pitch. Usually I’m up there rapid-fire, rapid-fire, but I just took my time and really thought about what pitch I wanted to throw, where at, and I just got my confidence back in the second inning (that he pitched).”
On topping out with a few 99-mph pitches tonight in relief role
“I had a couple of innings there, and was just going to go out and attack hitters, just go right at them with my best pitch, which is the fastball. If they’re going to put it in play, put it in play. I’ve got eight guys behind me. I knew this was going to be my role for a while. I’m just going to go out there and attack guys with my best stuff and go at it like that.”
