BOSTON — Braves quotes from Julio Teheran, Chris Johnson and Fredi Gonzalez after Tuesday’s 9-4 loss to the Red Sox.
**FREDI GONZALEZ
Seems like always one or two bad innings are Teheran’s downfall
“That’s what it seems to be like here in the last couple of starts, whether it’s the seventh inning or the eighth inning of a game he’s pitched well, or an inning where the game is tied or one-run and we just can’t keep it there. We need to do something against those left-handed hitters. They’re just wearing him out. I don’t know if he’s just leaving balls over the plate. That’s why we took so long (before letting reporters in postgame) because Roger (McDowell) and I have been in here talking about that for a while and we got carried away. But we need to do something to equalize those left-handers a little bit.”
What was he doing last year differently?
“Well, that’s something that we’re talking about, and I don’t want to talk out of turn until we make sure we’ve got all the ducks in a row, because they (left-handers) still got to him last year a little bit, but it wasn’t at the pace that they’re doing it right now. So we need to do something, whether it’s pitch selection of command. Looking at video on the jumbotron, it’s balls right down the middle. I’m not going to sit here and B.S. you guys, it’s balls right down the middle of the plate that we need to locate better.”
On Teheran’s work in second through fifth innings (no runs in that span)
“I think he settled down after giving up a couple of runs in the first inning. I thought, OK, we’ve got ourselves a nice matchup going. We did a nice job coming back to score two and tie the game. Even with all that stuff (three runs in Red Sox sixth) we had runners at first and second in the top of the seventh, it was (just) a three-run game, that why we pinch-hit with Pierzynski, we felt like this is our shot to get back and tie it or keep the line moving. So that’s why we did that. But we’ve just got to figure out getting back to the old Teheran.”
And he’s good health-wise, velocity still up?
“Health-wise, he’s fine. Velocity’s fine. We’ve seen it, we’ve seen it crank up. So…”
On Miley’s performance
“He had great stuff. He kept everything down. We were swinging at fastballs down, he didn’t give us anything to hit. And also that made his change-up, his off-speed, even more effective.”
**CHRIS JOHNSON
On Wade Miley’s performance
“He was good. Personally, I was horrible. Lefties are my thing, that’s why I’m supposed to do, that’s why I was in there today. I gave away some at-bats, didn’t have good at-bats today.”
On the loss
“It’s a split. I think we’ll take care of stuff at home. We’ll be alright. (Miley) is a good pitcher. You’ve got to tip your cap. He’s not a 5 ERA pitcher. But I can’t speak for anybody’s else, but personally I should have had better at-bats. I’m a bit disappointed there.”
On Julio Teheran’s struggles
“Guys go through struggles, it’s part of the game. Just have to keep grinding and work and try to figure your way through it. But I don’t think anybody in here doubts what he’s capable of doing.”
Got to be tough on him, going from All-Star and opening-day starter again to struggling like this
“Just a bump. Nothing huge. He’ll be alright. He’s a talented guy. He works hard, too. I don’t think anybody in here is worried about this being who Julio is. We know it’s not. He’s just going through a little bit of struggles.”
**JULIO TEHERAN
On the three-run sixth inning, after looking good from second through fifth innings
“Just one bad inning. I made a couple of pitches and they got me. Other than that, I shut them down for a couple of innings, and in the sixth and seventh innings I got in trouble again. I think I made a couple of mistake pitches and they hit me pretty good.”
You still think it’s just a matter of location
“Yeah, a couple of base hits they got me, it was location. Other than that I was commanding pretty good, throwing a lot of strikes today, throwing all my pitches, and I feel good.”
What do you think is causing so much problems this year for you against left-handers?
“I don’t think I’m doing anything (different from last year), missing a little bit more. I feel the same, trying to throw in and out, change-up, my curveball, working the same way. I don’t know. That’s part of the game, sometimes you’re good, sometimes you try to do things the same way and it doesn’t work.”
On the Red Sox having some good hitters despite their record
“They’ve got a good lineup. You’ve got to know what you’re doing with all of them. And they have the DH, so you don’t have the one out with the pitcher.”
Any problem adjusting to new catcher? (first game today for Braves catcher Ryan Lavarnay, called up from Triple-A Monday)
“I felt really good with him. This is the first time working with him, I felt pretty good.”
