**FREDI GONZALEZ
On Hudson’s tough-luck loss
“Huddy was outstanding. Give up one run, seven innings of work – you can’t do much better than that. Usually when you give up one run, you’ve got a real good chance to win the ballgame. But we didn’t.”
On wasted opportunities
“We had some people on base. First and third with nobody out, and couldn’t get a run. Those situations come back to haunt you every single time. And then that eighth inning, our bullpen couldn’t keep them in check, to give our offense a fighting chance. One run or two runs is a lot different than being down five.”
On the Ethier fly ball going for a double between Heyward and B.J. Upton, leading to situation where you pinch-hit for Hudson down one run in seventh with his spot due up to start inning:
“Well, you don’t know, who knows how that situation might have (changed). It might have been bases loaded with two out in the eighth (and him up). Or, yeah, it’s 0-0 and you let him stay in the game and lead off that inning. Down one run, you’ve got to take a shot. You’ve only got six outs left, you have to try to score a run.
“He was outstanding, he really was. That’s a couple of outings in a row where he’s given us a real good pitching performance. I’m looking forward to him going back out there in five days and giving us another opportunity to win a ballgame.”
Was Heyward just not sure at last moment if B.J. was going to try to catch it, or maybe collide with him?
“With those two guys, there’s no excuses. I asked them in the dugout and they said they should have caught the ball. That’s the way those guys are.
“That was one run. We can kind of sit back here and talk about how many opportunities we had to erase that one run, and we just didn’t get it done.”
On Uggla striking out with runners on corners and nobody out
“It’s an out, but a productive out is better. We (could) get something done there, but we didn’t.”
On Gearrin having another inning come unraveled on him, like the one at New York couple weeks ago
“Yeah. It’s a situation where, that’s his inning. Especially with four out of five right-handers coming out. Getting right-handers out. Just didn’t get it done today.”
On Puig, the Cuban rookie who hit the grand slam
“He’s a good player. From watching him. What’s he got, 15, 16 at-bats, something like that? On both sides of the ball – offensively, and he made a couple of nice plays defensively to cut balls off there on the right-field foul line. It looks like he’s got a pretty good arm. He’s a good baseball player.”
**JASON HEYWARD
You’re coming, B.J. is coming from center, was that Ethier fly ball in no-man’s land or what?
“Yeah, it was absolutely in no-man’s land, but I take responsibility for not exactly knowing, for sure, 100 percent, which side of (second) base he was on there, as far as playing him a step to the left or a step to the opposite field. We were both kind of playing away from each other – I was playing (Ethier) a step pull, because he was ahead in the count; and B.J. was playing him a step to the left-center gap.
“A ball where both of us could have caught it, but one of those where you don’t have time to speak on it. If I’m going to catch that ball (regardless of Upton’s location) and making him call me off, then it’s definitely a catchable ball.”
Loud at that moment, can you hear him?
“Oh, it’s definitely loud. You have to check the whole game to make sure you communicate visually with an atmosphere like that. But that’s the way it goes. It’s my responsibility.”
On Greinke
“He’s Zack Greinke. He didn’t get paid for no reason. He has five above-average pitches. He’s got his fastball — the four-seamer and the two-seamer. He’s got the cutter, he’s got the good changeup, he’s got the curveball. And he mixes pitches when he needs to and is very rarely in the middle of the plate.”
On Hudson
“Outstanding. Outstanding job by Huddy. Unfortunately we couldn’t get him any runs tonight. We had our opportunities. You don’t blame it on any one situation; that’s not the way the game works. But he threw great for us, and I’m happy for him. But again, I wish we would have got him some runs.”
**CORY GEARRIN
On things coming unraveled with couple of hits and walk before slam in eighth
“Yeah, just got to make better pitches, get the ball down more. The first two hits kind of fell in there and got it going. Just have to make better pitches. I’m a groundball pitcher; there’s no excuse for that. I’ve got to learn from it. Went back and looked at the video, and I know what I need to do. I know what I need to do to get outs, and I’m just going to keep going forward.”
On rookie Puig, knew anything about him before?
“I know my game. Knowing what information we had on him going in, and what I wanted him to do in that situation – that obviously wasn’t it. Didn’t make my pitch. Left it up and out over the plate, and he did what he’s supposed to do. You tip your cap to him, but it’s something I’m definitely going to learn from, how to make better pitches, just execute better in those situations.”
Was it a slider over the plate?
“Yeah. It was a slider. Just didn’t get it down enough.”
**TIM HUDSON
On his outing
“I felt pretty good. I seemed to start locating and mixed some things up, had a pretty good split, located my sinker. It was a good night. They scratched out a run in the second inning. Schumaker did a pretty good job of handling that inside sinker, putting it in play and getting a run. Turned out to be that’s all they needed.”
On tough-luck loss
“It was one of those games where I was making pitches, Greinke was making pitches. You would hope that, for us, one run wouldn’t lose the ballgame for you. But it turned out that’s how it was. There’s going to be games like that. Unfortunately it happened tonight. Just got to come out tomorrow and put it behind us, hopefully play a little better and get some runs.”
On his last two strong starts, and the adjustment he made after the four four-start stretch previously
“It’s just staying tall over the rubber and not overthrowing, staying behind all my pitches. And just trusting it. That’s what it boils down to.”
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