**FREDI GONZALEZ
On performance by Cliff Lee
“Cliff was darn good in a tough night to pitch, a tough night to play a baseball game because of the weather conditions. He sure made it look pretty easy. He commanded all of his pitches. He got into the eighht inning with no problem. He did a nice job.”
On Medlen making it to the fifth after 49 pitches in first two innings
“He competed his butt off today. I thought his last two innings of work might have been his best two innings since last year. I think his delivery got better as the game went on. For him to just give up two runs, he did a nice job. Very easily that game could have been out of hand right from the beginning and he kept us in the ball game. And our bullpen did a terrific job keeping them from scoring runs, and with our firepower two runs it’s a base on ball and a ball in the seats and here you go.
On the conditions
“I think it was one of those raw days that we rarely get here in Atlanta, especially in baseball season. But you sit here and you watch games in Detroit and Minnesota and those places, it happens. It is what it is. I thought we scored some balls up that didn’t go out of the ballpark maybe because it was a little colder and the wind was blowing. And they did, too. Cliff Lee, you can’t take anything away from him.”
Still see it as nice to take two out of three going against Roy Halladay (and Hamels)?
“That’s what we shoot for right from the very beginning is to win series. We won this series and now we’ve got to prepare for the Cubs coming in. Keep doing this things and at the end of the year I think you will be in pretty good shape. “
What was better for Medlen in those last three innings?
“I think the delivery got better. I think he got where he found himself comfortable and he was able to repeat it.”
**KRIS MEDLEN
On settling down after rough start
“I made some adjustments. I felt like I was rushing a little bit in the very beginning. Obviously it wasn’t ideal conditions but this is what we are going to be dealing with in the whole month of April. We are going to Colorado and Pittsburgh and Detroit. So that’s not an excuse at all. You can’t give Cliff Lee a two-run lead in the beginning of the game. It was one of those games you have to battle through. You didn’t have your stuff. More comes out than, ‘Oh, I didn’t have my stuff.’ I think I battled pretty well. Obviously I put myself in a couple jams and got out of it. I think it could have been a lot worse.”
Was the rushing because of adrenalin first time out?
“Naw, my adrenalin is frozen. It’s something I felt the entire spring at the very beginning. I left some balls up. Obviously the walks stood out. I think I’ve been up here long enough that you know that I don’t walk people. I ran into a bad little stretch. I walked Cliff Lee. I think the walk to Utley, too, it was a 3-2 change, I’m trying to make a pitch and it’s an empty base, too. It’s just something that is not necessarily who I am as a pitcher. But if you told me I was going to go five innings and give up two runs today in the first inning, I would tell you you are crazy. I think it ended up OK. But, overall, it was a loss so it’s a bad day.”
What are you thinking when you walk Cliff Lee?
“There’s just those times when you lose feel of the ball. I’ve been having trouble repeating my delivery. I will make a really good pitch and then all of a sudden I throw three bad pitches in a row. It felt like today when I would make a good pitch —I had that eight, nine, 10-pitch at-bat with Chase Utley, I felt like, ‘God,’ I was making some decent pitches and he’s just short and quick to the ball and at least just nicking it and hanging in there. I felt like I had a couple at-bats like that. I had a chance to get some guys out and they just held on and nicked some balls and fouled them off. It’s not completely negative. Obviously we lost and all that but I thought I battled pretty well and hung in there with some jams I was in.”
Can you move on now that the steak is over?
“It was there because I didn’t focus on it. It’s the same thing today. I wasn’t thinking about it. It was another start against one of our division rivals and obviously we wanted to come out a little bit better than we did. We lost today but we took two out of three so it’s OK.”
**JASON HEYWARD
On Cliff Lee
“He’s consistent. He’s in the same area all night, whether it’s on the plate or not – he’s close enough to the dish. He’s aggressive early. After that, he has a lot of weapons.”
That the Lee you saw a couple of years ago?
“Every time we’ve faced him I’ve seen him like that. I felt like last year he was throwing like that, too. He had a little more pressure on him to keep teams from scoring with the (Phillies’) banged-up lineup.
“They got an early lead and he went out there and settled in and did what good pitchers do.”
On positive – a series win
“A series win is a series win. That’s what you want to do, win series. You want to win the games you’re supposed to win. Not to say we weren’t supposed to win tonight, but they did jump out (to an early lead). Good team, good pitcher will win those type of games.
“Tomorrow we’ve got the Cubbies. It starts on Friday night, try to win that series.”
On the conditions
“It was cold, but you’re not thinking about that when it comes to how you’re playing the game. You just keep competing out there. Everybody is. I think they had maybe seven hits. I think we had two tonight. So not a whole lot of hits on either side. Medlen threw well for us tonight. Two runs against that lineup is not bad at all. We just weren’t fortunate enough to get at least three.”
**B.J. UPTON
On his start to season (0-for-11, seven strikeouts)
“I hit the ball pretty well all spring training. It’s just one of those rough spots right now, man. But it’s nothing to get stressed about. That’s why you get 700 plate appearances. Just keep working, it’ll happen.”
Just magnified because it’s at the start of the season?
“Yeah. It’ll work itself out.”
