**FREDI GONZALEZ
On Harang’s performance
“Experience pays off every time. He knows how to navigate – I use that word with him all the time. (Bartolo) Colon does the same thing. We had him on the ropes two or three times. Experience. That’s why those guys, at their age, are still pitching and they’re effective and they give your club a chance to win every time.”
On walks to Wright and Duda that loaded bases in 5th with 2 out; he knows what he’s doing there, right?
“Yeah…I think so. (Laughter.) No, but yeah, he knows who the guys are that can hurt him and the guys that can … I think he was trying to get Duda out. But he knows exactly who he feels he can get out, and he does it.”
On scoring early, quick start
“Yeah, we smoked ‘em tonight.” (sarcasm)
No, but the timely hits early…
“Yeah, we got a couple of runs, and then we got another run, and then we had some opportunities, we had (runners on) first and third later on a couple of times, and we didn’t get it done. But our defense did a nice job, and Harang did a terrific job. And then Kimbrel coming in to get four outs – that’s not easy. Especially with (runners on) first and second in the eighth inning. But a good all-around team win today.”
Perfect opportunity to do that with Kimbrel when he hasn’t pitched in four or five days?
“Perfect opportunity. I think it’s been four days, four or five days, that he hasn’t pitched, so he’s fresh. And I’m glad to see him get it in the least amount of pitches so he can be available tomorrow. Sometimes you crank him up for four outs trying to win tonight and all of a sudden you’re up around 28, 29, 30 pitch mark and you lose him for tomorrow. But I think he’ll be available tomorrow. I don’t think he even got to the high teens.” (Kimbrel threw 21 pitches.)
“And we talked about it, the more he can do that, the more we feel comfortable that we can use him in the postseason that way. I don’t feel comfortable yet using him two innings, but through the course of the year maybe if the situation’s right where he hasn’t pitched in four or five days, maybe you go five outs and keep working him that way (toward two innings). The pitch count is the biggest thing. And sitting down. You talk to some of those closers, they call come in pumped up in the eighth inning, and then they sit down (between innings) and the adrenaline kind of goes away and you’ve got to crank it back up in the ninth. So the more we can get him used to that, I think, the better he’s going to be experience-wise.”
**AARON HARANG
On being careful, pitching around some guys
“Yeah, there were certain situations, you’ve got their big power guys, aggressive hitters that can do damage. Kind of pitched around them. Kind of pitched around Murph (Daniel Murphy) a little bit. Same with David (Wright). But was able to get some of the younger guys to swing at pitches that I was trying to entice them to swing at. I was able to get out of a jam there in the fifth inning.
“The curveball was working well and I was putting my fastballs in the corner and keeping them off-balance. Guys were there making plays behind me tonight.”
Does veteran experience play a factor in your effectiveness on road this year, except the 1 start at Miami?
“Ultimately it just comes down to feeling good and being able to execute when I need to. Guys have been playing well behind me and making plays when I need them to, and making all the routine stuff. That one in Miami was more missing locations and balls were over the plate, and falling behind and having to throw strikes. Other than that I’ve been feeling good and letting the defense playing behind me.”
On going to the All-Star break feeling good, having a strong start before you have a week off
“Yeah, that’s kind of the tricky part is having that long period of time off. We’ll sit down once we get to Chicago and kind of figure out with Fredi and Roger when I’ll slot back in.”
On importance of winning at least one here in a four-game series, avoiding sweep
“It’s huge. Getting swept is tough in a three-game series; in a four-game series it’s like somebody stepping on your throat. So, we were able to pull this one off tonight, now go in and try to finish up strong in Chicago before the break.”
**FREDDIE FREEMAN
On Harang
“He was phenomenal. He seems to do that every night, gives us a chance to win. It’s nice to get some runs early in the game and then to be able to have him go out there and feel confident and go out there settle down and pitch just like he did tonight.”
On having Harang out there to try to stop a four-game skid
“Anybody can go out there on our team and do that; they’re capable. But he’s the veteran guy who’s been there and done it before. He’s been doing it this whole season for us – seven innings, one run, I think he’s done that against the Mets a couple of times earlier this season. He’s doing a great job and we needed him big tonight.”
On Harang working out of jams
“I still get a little nervous. He could just go 1-2-3 and make us all feel a little better. (Smiles.) But when he does get in that jam he gets the big outs, gets the big double play when he needs to, and he was pretty phenomenal tonight. It was awesome. We needed him.”
On importance of ending the 4-game skid so there’s not much time since the 9-game winning streak
“I know we won the nine games in a row and this is the only four-game losing streak that we had (actually they lost four in a row earlier), but you never want to come into a place and get swept four games. Even though we still lost the series, it could have been a lot worse. We’re going into Chicago and hopefully we can get a couple more wins and go into the second half with some momentum.”
On scoring early on Colon
“Yeah, the first inning I think has given him the most trouble this year. For us to be able to get a couple (of runs in the first) and get another one in the third – unfortunately that’s all we scored, but we had enough to give Aaron the boost that I think he needed, so he didn’t have to make the perfect pitch from pitch 1. He did the whole game, but it was nice to get some runs early. J-Hey with the big two-out knock in the first was huge for us in that situation.”
On Kimbrel entering in the eighth
“It’s just nice to see No. 46 in there anytime, because it means we’re winning. He got the four big outs. He was awesome.”
**CRAIG KIMBREL
On getting his second four-out save of season, fourth of career. Feeling a little more normal doing that?
“Tonight was a little different. I hadn’t pitched in a few days, so it was one of those things, just getting back out there and making sure I threw the ball over for a strike and things like that. But yeah, it’s something where they asked before the game if I could go four outs, and I said absolutely. It worked out tonight, and if that comes around again I’ll be more than willing to go out and do it again.”
Done it enough times, or still kind of getting used to that?
“I mean, I don’t think you can do anything enough in this game to get used to it. It changes every single game. I’ve done it a handful of times. But, like, if the situation is there and they ask me to pitch, I go in and pitch and do my job.”
“I think the fact that I hadn’t thrown in about five days made it easier for them to lean towards doing that. I think that’s pretty much the reason why I threw (for) four outs tonight.”
On Harang
“Harang did great. We needed him to go out there and be our stopper tonight and he definitely went out there and did that. He got out of some big situations in the game and had some efficient innings on top of that. He was able to pitch deep in the game, and we definitely needed him to go out there and have a solid start.”
