Quotes from manager Fredi Gonzalez, pitcher Mike Minor and other players following the team's 3-2 loss to the Mets Thursday.
** FREDI GONZALEZ
On not taking advantage of scoring chances
“We had 13 hits and only three runs. Yeah, that’s about it. We had some people on base, and we just couldn’t get the knock when we needed to.”
On Minor and pitching
“I thought Mike did a nice job. Gave up (three) solo home runs, and our bullpen did a terrific job. Did something with Walden we haven’t done before, had him pitch two innings, to try to keep the game there, you think you’re a bloop and a blast away from trying to win this game. And Avi (Avilan) did a terrific job in the ninth.
“We just didn’t get that extra run.”
On B.J. going 0-for-5, lining out to short to end game
“That last at-bat, I told him when he came off, it might have been the best at-bat I’ve seen all year, against a right-hander who’s throwing upper-90s. (Parnell.) He kept himself under control, and all his swings were right on it. Again, doesn’t show anything for it, but I thought it was a hell of an at-bat.”
On Pastornicky’s three-hit night
“He got on base, created some stuff. It’s nice to get him in there, get him involved. He’s a nice piece.”
On getting one run in 1st, then striking out twice with runners on corners
“That’s big. You get first and third there and that’s all we got, the single by Justin. You get those opportunities, you’ve got to still keep trying to add on, and we didn’t do that today.”
On Minor giving up three solo homers
“Usually when they say solo home runs don’t beat you … I didn’t think (they would) with nobody on. You think you can score more than three runs. They did a nice job even after Niese came out of the game. They pieced it together. We got people on base, but we didn’t score anybody.”
On going two with Walden, something you’d do again?
“I don’t know. Obviously I didn’t want to go two innings with him. At the time, you feel like you could (come back) with our lineup, one run down… I don’t know, to tell you the truth. You play every game differently. Because now we’ll lose him tomorrow, maybe even the next day, we’ll see. Let’s hope it’s just tomorrow.”
**MIKE MINOR
On giving up three homers and then back-to-back doubles in seventh
“On the two doubles, I felt like I made pretty good pitches. But the home runs were just bad pitches. Hanging curveball, fastball over the middle of the plate, and then a first-pitch hanging slider. Give the credit to those guys – they were bad pitches, they took them out of the yard.”
You’ve avoided homers lately, anything different tonight?
“I just threw more balls over the middle of the plate. I really didn’t have a lot of off-speed, and the off-speed I threw wasn’t very good, it was either for a ball or it was over the middle of the plate. So I threw a lot of fastballs, and I felt like I got guys to two strikes, but a lot of times they were fouling those balls straight back, so I wasn’t really throwing anything at them to get them off the fastball.”
The three homers were all on different pitches
“To David Wright, who’s a really good hitter, I threw a fastball over the middle of the plate. It was up, in the middle. And then a hanging curveball, which was over the middle. So, that’s what that guy does.”
Difference in past couple of starts (Giants and Mets) than in most others over the past year?
“I look back on them, I just feel like in certain situations I make bad pitches. I make stupid decisions, and I really don’t throw the ball down in the zone when I need to. I guess the last half of the year and this first half, I feel like I made a lot better pitches. But the last couple, all the way back to the Pirates and Alvarez, I feel like pitch selection and where I threw it, some of the pitches that (Pittsburgh) game too, were just not where I want to throw them, and I feel like I should have thrown a different pitch.”
**B.J. UPTON
On lining out to end game, on his best at-bat of night
“That’s just the way it happens sometimes. All you can do is put a good swing on the ball. Whatever happens after that is out of your control.”
“We played well. Obviously we would’ve liked to win, definitely would have liked to win the series. Given the circumstances, this series, it’s tough, we lose a couple of one-run ballgames that definitely could have gone either way. We felt like we should have won them, but we didn’t. We’re not going to hang our heads. We obviously still have the division lead, and we’re still playing good baseball. And we’ll get ready to play tomorrow.”
On wasted scoring opportunities, him striking out with runners on corners and one out in 1st inning
“I do feel like that first AB, I’ve got to make something happen, at least put the ball in play (with runners at) first and third, give ourselves a chance to score a run. Other than that, man, you can’t really do too much more. Just keep playing. We have a strong enough group mentally that, give it 30-40 minutes, it’s a wash and we’ll look forward to playing in Milwaukee tomorrow.”
**DAN UGGLA
On his vision problems and today’s doctor visit
“They told me I had a slight astigmatism in spring training but I was like, ‘Ah, whatever.’ I guess now looking back I kind of noticed it last year. It was harder to focus, even on the field. This year I was just trying to battle through it, thinking, ‘Oh, it’s gonna come [around] like it always does,’ not thinking, ‘Maybe I’m not seeing the ball.’ But after bailing out on so many curveballs and taking so many front-door sliders and hanging sliders, I thought, ‘Let me go get this checked out because something’s not right.’ On video, the balls I’m ducking out of the way on aren’t really that close.”
Which eye has the astigmatism?
“I think both eyes. I’m not sure. I just know that I need contacts or Lasik or something like that. So I’m trying contacts first. They felt great all day and I’m excited about it. Hopefully I’ll be able to see the ball better.”
Have you tried contacts before?
“In spring training I tried them for a couple of days. But they weren’t comfortable, everything was blurry and I guess it wasn’t the right fit. We really did a lot of tests today and figured everything out. … I’ve always thought I had pretty good eyes, up until late last year.”
What prompted you to get your eyes checked?
“It’s been building. I haven’t been able to pull the trigger on a lot of pitches that I made my money on and done a lot of damage on. For me to not even be able to pull the trigger for this amount of time and also be ducking out of the way of so many other pitches that are called strikes, it’s like my eyes aren’t telling me the right thing. I’ve got to do something.”
Will you need time to get used to the contacts?
“I don’t think so. I don’t know how long it takes to get used to contacts but I’m ready to go.”
