Braves quotes from Aaron Harang, Jason Heyward, Luis Avilan and manager Fredi Gonzalez after Tuesday’s 4-0 loss to the Mets, the fifth time in seven games that Atlanta has scored two or fewer runs.
**AARON HARANG
On the wild pitch, allowing his only run
“I was trying to put him away on a 2-2 count. I threw a slider in the dirt and took an awkward bounce and got away from him, but other than that I felt good, kept them off-balance, we just weren’t able to work anything up on Colon tonight.”
On stretch with five strikeouts in a row
“I was just getting ahead early in the count, being aggressive with strikes, with fastballs and then going to the slider to put them away.”
On if feeling this good in Arizona (during spring training with Cleveland)
“Yeah, I was throwing the ball well. I had one game on the backfield where some hits were falling in, made a couple mistakes after a couple errors but other than that I was feeling really good. I was feeling like I could command the bottom of the zone, go up in the zone when I wanted to and was working either side of the plate.”
Given the spring, how happy are you with first two starts?
“Really happy, it’s not easy on Evan and Gerald, to have a new guy that you’ve never caught before, kind of getting on the same page with him but we’ve been able to get on the same page pretty quickly and I sat down and talked with all three of them (including Ryan Doumit), and told them what I’m thinking of doing and what all my pitches are going to do. And they’ve jumped right in there and gone with it.”
On how opening-day experience (five consecutive ODs with Cincinnati) helped with handling pre-game Tuesday
“I’ve done so many of them. You kind of have to learn your timing. I’m not very timing-oriented when I’m going out there to pitch so you have to sit down and almost think about what time you’re going to go out, what time you’re going to start playing catch, get stretched by the trainers, the whole process. I was actually done early and they had to push it back by five minutes, but no big deal. It’s another game for me, and I’m glad I’m able to make adjustments by having the past experience.”
On if this start wasn’t quite as mentally exhausting as matching zeroes with Garza
“Yeah, I think the biggest thing was giving up the hit to the first hitter of the game. that takes the edge off right away, but yeah going out and trying to match zeroes with the other guy, that definitely is daunting as well, but not as strenuous as the last start.”
**JASON HEYWARD
Did you think you got all of that last one (bases-loaded fly out to CF warning track to end game)
“I knew I just missed it. Good AB. I want to be in that spot every time. I like to come through, but no matter how you draw it up it’s not always going to work out.”
On how the whole night changes if that balls carries another 4-5 feet
“Always. That’s the way the game is played. It doesn’t matter what you do in your first few, mentally you’ve got to be ready to come through in that next at-bat. You’ve got to put the other stuff behind you. Again, I always want to be in that spot. I think each one of us does.
“We did a great job right there fighting to get to that situation.”
Can that last at-bat give you some confidence
“If the other at-bats had been like that, for me it would probably have been a better night for me from the start. Like I said, it was a good at-bat. Want to be in that situation. That’s the kind of intensity and mindset you want to have through all (the game). You don’t want to give any at-bats away.”
You’ve been in a little skid, but do you feel a little better after that last at-bat?
“Yeah, that’s where you want to be. Able to take the close ones, try and make sure you’re putting a good swing on the ones that are around the plate. Hopefully when you put it in play something good happens, if you put it in play.”
On offensive woes, you seeing any signs of team breaking out? Still early?
“Yes. No, it’s not spring training, but just like the first week of spring training you have some guys get off to a great start and some guys get off to a slow start. There’s a different bit of timing, different bit of adrenaline when you come into a season. I feel like we’re all showing signs of settling in and just going out and playing. Once you get us in that situation where we can’t really over-think it, I think that’s when we’re showing our signs of where we need to be.”
On Harang pitching well again
“Unfortunately we couldn’t get him any run support tonight. But he was outstanding. Threw the ball, made them put the ball in play. Made them earn some runs. That’s the name of the game. That’s all you can ask from a starting pitcher, give you an opportunity to win the game. He went above and beyond that tonight.”
**LUIS AVILAN
On cramping again like last year, but at least not having to be carried off on cart (he laughed)
“Yeah, I told the other guys I looked way better this time. It was not bad last year, but at least this time I knew what was going on. I’ll be fine tomorrow.”
“I knew it was just a cramp. I’ll be OK for tomorrow. I’ll be 100 percent tomorrow.”
**FREDI GONZALEZ
On Harang
“He was good. A second outing in a row which he gave us a great opportunity to win the game. He gave up two hits, punched out nine, gave up one run, I don’t think you can ask for much more than that.”
On offense’s struggles
“As a team, as a whole, you’re seeing some spurts. You’re seeing some guys come out and get some good at-bats. You see Justin coming up and getting some good at-bats. You see Justin coming up, giving us a good at-bat, Freeman and C.J. That middle of the lineup is starting to….Freeman has been swinging it since Day 1, but some of the other guys are starting to heat up a little bit. Danny (Uggla) had another good couple at-bats, hit the ball hard there in the ninth inning, so you start seeing them. Now we’ve got to put the whole lineup together and keep the line moving a little bit. There are some signs there.”
On Avilan’s cramp
“Just the same thing. I don’t know if you guys remember last year, we thought he would never pitch again after he left the field, and it was the same thing (he missed only four games). We’ll keep our fingers crossed, but Bubba (trainer Jeff Porter) seemed optimistic that it was just a cramp.”
On Heyward coming close to grand slam on final out
“His at-bats are getting better. It’s just a matter of time for him to start getting going. He made a nice throw to cut a runner off at second base so he’s contributing. He’s a guy that doesn’t have to contribute with the bat. He can help you win games defensively or baserunning.”
On whether ball between the Uptons should have been caught, looked like B.J. should have had it
“Well it was up there a long time. That ball was up there a long time. We’ll sit down and look at it, maybe take a little more time tonight and maybe tomorrow afternoon and look at it, see what went wrong.”
