What manager Fredi Gonzalez, David Hale and Justin Upton said after the Braves’ 10-1 loss to the Pirates Thursday night.
FREDI GONZALEZ
On David Hale
“He gave us a nice outing. We were hoping to get him through five innings. When he left the game it was 3-0. We almost got out of that bases-loaded situation in the seventh and they put a crooked number up. They did it again in the eighth inning. When you get in a situation where (the bullpen) had to cover four innings last night for (Julio) Tehren’s win you get in a situation where your starter doesn’t get you deep enough and we knew we were up against it with David not having started in a while. You get to a certain point where you just got to … if we get out of that situation with Gus (Scholosser) maybe we salvaged that game. We didn’t put a big number up and that was it. That was the game right there.
On whether he might play non-regulars more in final weekend
“(Ramiro) Pena had a couple good at-bats. (Joey Terdoslavich) had a nice at-bat. Tommy (LaStella) hadn’t played in a while and he had a pinch-hit. We’ll play it by ear. These guys want to finish out the season. There is still a lot out there. We’ve got three games and we have to play it out. There will be some lineups where we rest a guy here or there but I’m looking to play some of our guys.”
On Edinson Volquez
“His command today was as good as I seen it. We haven’t seen him ourselves since 12 or 13 when he was with Cincinnati. His command today was pretty good at times. At times you see his command not be very good. His secondary pitch was pretty darn good today.”
DAVID HALE
On first start since June
“I actually felt better than I thought I would. I felt like I had good control of all my pitches. It surprised be a little bit. I felt good.”
On reaching 90 pitches
“I was getting tired. I’m going to be really sore tomorrow. I was surprised to go that long but it was nice to face some of those guys three times.”
On staying in with pitch count rising
“I want that. I think any of us would want that to try to get through five innings.”
On getting some momentum going into offseason
“I’m big on that. I like that. I’m very happy with the way that went, especially after not starting for three months. I was very pleased with that. That’s a good step into the offseason and a good confidence builder for next season.
JUSTIN UPTON
On Edinson Volquez
“He’s got good stuff and he was locating it tonight. Sometimes when you see him he is relying on his stuff. He was relying on location tonight. I think that’s what made him so good.
On playing final week out of playoffs
“You always want to be playing for something. In our situation, we’re not. We have to be mentally tough in this situation and get ready to play every day and make sure you don’t give away at-bats and try to win ball games.”
On David Hale
“He is a starter by trade. He prepared himself well and gave us a strong five innings. There wasn’t much more he could do. If we would have put some runs on the board it may have been a different story.
