WASHINGTON — Braves quotes Gavin Floyd, manager Fredi Gonzalez, Freddie Freeman and Chris Johnson after Thursday's 3-0 win against Nationals.
**FREDI GONZALEZ
On Floyd’s injury
“He’s got a broken elbow. He’s going to fly back to Atlanta tomorrow morning and have our guys look at it, and see where we stand.”
How did it happen? The one curveball?
“I don’t know. That’s one pitch. What a shame. To come all the way back from Tommy John. It’s two different things, is what Bubba (Braves head trainer Jeff Porter) told me. One doesn’t affect the other.
“I think in the big picture he’s going to be OK. But again, let’s let him fly back to Atlanta and have our guys look at it.”
You mean they told you he’ll probably be able to pitch again next year?
“Yeah, I think so. And this is preliminary, too. The whole thing. We’ve got to wait till he sees the doctors. But it’s a shame. I just spent some time with him. He’s in a good mood. The best mood he could be in. I feel for the young man.”
On Floyd’s performance
“I thought he was dominant. He really was.”
“He had command of all his pitches. He started the seventh with (63) pitches.”
“That’s how tough this pitching gig is on the elbows, the body, the arms. We’ll see. We’ll see what the doctors say in the next couple of days and give you guys a little bit more information.”
On everything that’s happened to the pitching staff this season
“Well, everybody goes through it. Every organization goes through some injury bugs. Somebody will step up. We went through it last year with Huddy. Somebody will step up.”
**GAVIN FLOYD
Said there had been some soreness before the injury, but nothing like what happened when it broke
“On that last pitch I felt a pop. It wasn’t painful, at least.”
On the emotions of the night, pitching so well and then getting hurt again
“It’s disappointing not to be able to … well, we’ll see what happens with the doctors and everything like that, see what’s going to happen from here on. But knowing that I’ll at least be out for a little bit, it’s disappointing that I can’be there for the team to help out.”
On pitching well before he got hurt
“I feel like I was getting better and better. So it’s definitely disappointing, definitely not what I envisioned happening. I hadn’t had any pain since the surgery and coming back. So it was one of those things, the surgery felt good and the doctors look at that and said the Tommy John, the flexor, everything was good even after (the fractured elbow).
“I had X-rays and (showed) a fracture in the elbow, the olecranon. Just going to go back and see the doctors tomorrow in Atlanta and see what happens, see what the next step is.”
Ever hear of a broken olecranon?
“No, I never would have thought… I just hadn’t heard anything about that kind of injury.”
You’re from around here, did you have family here?
“Yeah, all my family. My wife, my kid, my side of the family and even my in-laws were here. It’ll be nice to see them.”
When you came off the field what did you think it was?
“I thought it was scar tissue or something. It wasn’t painful, it was just kind of surprising. And I knew when something pops, something is releasing or… but we looked at the X-rays and obviously it was different.”
Did it come from snapping off that curveball?
“I have no idea. Just kind of a random spot, random for me.”
Surgery, etc?
“I’ve just got to find out tomorrow when I fly to Atlanta and get our doctors on it. I’m sure there’ll be more imaging and stuff. Hopefully get back as soon as possible.”
Have they given you any indication as far as timetable, when you might pitch again?
“I’ve got to find out tomorrow. It’s obviously getting (the Braves) doctor and we want to make sure we probably get more imaging and make sure everything is what it is. We’ll find out tomorrow.”
**CHRIS JOHNSON
On Floyd injury
“Yeah, and that’s the best I’ve seen him look too. For those six innings, I mean he was dealing. He was nasty. It’s really a tough break.”
“Hopefully we get some good news, because he was looking really, really good.”
His curveball as good as you’ve seen it all year?
“Yeah, his curveball, and then he was throwing it for strikes. And when he was ahead he’d thrown those ones that would drop off the table and go in the dirt. He was tough. He looked really good.”
On all that’s happened to the pitching staff, were you thinking, not again?
“Yeah, it’s been a tough once. Since spring training. But we’ve got to keep moving forward. Hopefully it’s nothing too bad and we can get him back soon. But we’ve got to keep going.”
On stringing together four straight hits against a good pitcher (Zimmermann)
“Yeah, that’s the way we’ve got to do it. When you face a guy like that, and going into tomorrow, too (against Strasburg), it’s likely you’re going to go up there and get a ton of big balls against that guy. Because he’s really good. He can throw it wherever he wants. He’ got really good stuff. So I think that’s kind of the recipe to beat him is to string together some hits and good at-bats.”
On what a win like this can do after rough stretch
“Yeah, it’s always good to beat this team. They’re a really good ballclub, and then they’re in first place. So when you can string together a good win against a team like that and gain a game, especially at their place, and beat a good pitcher too – it was a lot of good things tonight.”
On beating the Nationals so frequently
“They’re a really good team, so I’m not sure. We came off a really tough series at home, and I think we kind of wanted to get it going against anybody we were facing. It just happened to be these guys. It’s still a long series, a four-game set, and we’ve got our work cut out for us tomorrow.”
**FREDDIE FREEMAN
On Gavin Floyd
“He was pretty filthy tonight. He was pitching great, he was cruising, and we had some runs on the board. I feel so bad for him. He’s pitching probably the best game of the year so far. That cutter he had going tonight was pretty impressive. I just feel for him.”
On Span hitting the only ball hit hard against Floyd
“Gavin kept making the right pitches at the right time. I don’t think I’ve seen so many swings and misses in a while. Gavin had his A stuff tonight, it’s just too bad the way it ended.”
How big was this after the couple of weeks
“Yeah, it’s big. Not even thinking about the last couple of weeks, just thinking about the last three games (swept by the Phillies in Atlanta). To come out here and get the win and get momentum back on our side, it’s definitely a big start to this series.”
On Braves getting four straight hits in fourth against Zimmermann
“Yeah, you don’t ever think you’re going to get that many hits in a row off a guy like Zimmermann. In my opinion he’s the ace of their staff, he’s the most consistent guy. You don’t ever think you’re going to put up a crooked number against a guy like that. So to be able to do it definitely got the momentum for us.”
