** FREDI GONZALEZ
On Teheran
“Julio did a terrific job, for a guy who hadn’t pitched in about nine, 10 days. He did a terrific job. After the second inning we asked him, or we made him throw his changeup more often to the left-handers. For me, that’s what got him over the hump, to be able to keep those left-handers off his fastball and off his breaking stuff. And he gave us a great outing, he really did.”
Why has he been reluctant to throw that changeup lately?
“Young kids. Young pitchers. Maybe he didn’t have the confidence he had before. You’ve got to make them do some stuff sometimes. Today, I hope he takes it to his next start, because that pitch tonight was an equalizer, especially against the left-handed hitters.”
On McCann’s impact tonight
“That’s what Mac is. A healthy Mac is a guy who can swing the bat and make a big impact in that lineup. He makes our lineup a lot better.”
On improvement of offensive with McCann back, Uggla doing more, etc
“It’s getting there. I think with Mac in there it’s a good lineup. We’ve just got to stop going around the country and feeding people. In Cincinnati we gave everybody pizzas, and here it’s brats for everybody. But if we do that and we get W’s, we can make fun of it.”
On Schafer, second triple in two days
“Run him in there and he does a nice job. Also on that last fly ball that Posey hit, I don’t know if he over-run it or the win just blew it back over, but a lesser outfielder doesn’t make that play. Difficult play. He makes an impact on the basepaths with his legs, and also with his glove.”
On Vogelsong
“He made some mistakes, got into some hitters’ counts, and we didn’t let him get away.”
On Fredi coming out to S.F. for 1 game, then home next 2 for daughter’s college graduation at Georgia Southern
“Absolutely (worth it). And we’ll be back Sunday. There’s stuff you’ve got to go home to take care of. It’s fun. It’s going to be back and forth, but it’s all worth it. Having my daughter graduate and having her walk with the cap and gown, is a special moment in my life.”
**CRAIG KIMBREL
On 100th save
“It felt good. We got a W in the column, that’s always a good thing.”
Nice to celebrate it with McCann being back?
“Yeah, it’s always good to have a guy like him back in our lineup. The way he swings it, and just the leader that he is in the clubhouse, it’s great to have him back.”
On how fast it seems like the 100 saves have gone by
“It felt like 2010 was yesterday, when we were out here in the playoffs. It’s gone by really fast. Definitely taking it in a little bit. It’s nice to get this milestone, and just move on. Still got a long season to go. Hopefully I can rack up quite a few more.”
On getting the save after blowing two of his past three chances
“It was nice to get back out there. I’m still working on a few things. Still haven’t got it 100 percent back where I need to be. But it felt good to go out there and throw a scoreless inning.”
**BRIAN McCANN
Good to get that first homer out of the way?
“Absolutely. I think more importantly, the way Julio pitched tonight was very encouraging. He was working his sinker, four-seamer in there, mixing them up all night, had a good curveball, had a great changeup tonight. He got beat on a hanging slider. I think every time he missed the glove he got hit, and it wasn’t that many. I thought he pitched great, and he can build off this for his next one.”
On the Posey homer
“You can’t hang a slider to Buster Posey or that’s what he’ll do. And he knows that. But you take the outing as a whole, he was on his game. He made one mistake to Posey, that’s about it. He’s going to build off this and keep getting better and better.”
On going back to the old changeup
“He was locating it down in the zone. When you throw a changeup it needs to be down in the zone. That’s what he did tonight, and he got a lot of results from it.”
On the improving offense
“I was down in Florida (rehabbing) and didn’t get to see many games. I just know we’re in first place and we’re playing great baseball. Everybody wants to talk about strikeouts and this and that, but you look at it, we’re in first place in one of the toughest divisions there is. Anything other than that – the whole strikeout thing is overrated, for me. I’m just glad to be back and be a part of the team. That’s my job, to come in here and work good ABs and get hits.”
On his shoulder
“To be where I’m at, honestly, if you had told me a month ago that I’d be feeling this good I wouldn’t have believed you. Because this thing went through its ups and downs. I was able to make some huge gains when I was down in Florida. I’m just excited to be where I’m at.”
“I’m using the whole field again. If you want to hit lefties, you have to be able to go the other way. I’ve really gone back to studying my swing and studying what’s made me so successful in this league.”
On Fredi G saying lineup is lot better with you in it
“That’s a great compliment. I’m just trying to put together good at-bats, and I think you throw me in the mix, I like to work counts and see pitches.”
On Kimbrel getting to 100 saves so fast
“Crazy. I feel like it was just yesterday we were here in the 2010 postseason, and that’s kind of where he had his coming out party, where he let everybody know he’s for real. What he’s done in three years – man, that’s hard to do. He’s going to re-write all of it. I mean, when he comes to arbitration it’s going to be Kimbrel and nobody else.
“I don’t know if he’s the fastest (to 100) or what, but the guy’s got electric stuff and he’s been a pleasure to catch.”
**JULIO TEHERAN
On settling down after his rough first few innings
“The first three innings I was missing a little bit. After that I was using all my pitches, commanding better, and I was able to get it done.”
On Fredi saying they told you to throw more changeups, trust it more?
“I started throwing my old changeup, the one I was using the year before. So I started throwing it today and it worked.”
Why’d you get away from throwing that pitch recently?
“Because I wasn’t throwing it for strikes. So I was trying to get away from it and got another grip. I came back to it today and it worked.”
Just felt comfortable with it today?
“Yeah, I was trying to throw it for a strike to the middle of the plate and over to the right side.”
On five extra days’ rest since last start was rained out
“I wasn’t thinking about it. I was just trying to do my job and pitch like I’ve been doing.”
On going back to the old changeup grip
“Yesterday I was like, I want to throw the changeup tomorrow. I was feeling it before the game, that grip.”
