CRAIG KIMBREL
On things rolling in first two outs:
“Yeah I did until he hit a home run. All around it’s frustrating. It’s been frustrating the last few weeks. I just feel like I just can’t get it done, can’t finish it right now. It’s frustrating. I’ve blown three saves and I feel like those are three wins we should have under our belts. It’s just frustrating.”
On if can pinpoint anything that’s made him less effective:
“Giving up the home run. I’ve been relatively good about keeping it in the ballpark so far in my career until the last week or so. I’ve got to figure some things out, try to keep it in the ballpark.”
On how not let this affect his confidence:
“It’s not going to affect my confidence, it’s just going to push me to go out there and go harder, I can tell you that. I don’t, I’m frustrated, I can tell you that. I can’t wait to get back out there on the bump.”
On if felt the pitch to Mesoraco was pretty good pitch:
“I did. It’s 3-2, in that situation you don’t want to walk him with Choo on deck. He hit it good and in this ballpark it went out.”
On fastball to Choo not where he wanted it:
“It was a fastball exactly where he wanted it is what it was. The game is over. Come back tomorrow.”
KRIS MEDLEN
On if best he’s felt:
“I think so, using both sides of the plate really for the first time this year consistently, throwing in and out for strikes. I’d say that was the best I’ve felt. It was the best my curveball has felt. I threw some pretty good change-ups too. The hits that I did give up, a couple 0-2 hits. The first one was Choo and I don’t know if he necessarily likes it in or out, but I threw not a good pitch a great pitch, a pitch I get a lot of guys with. He put a really good swing on it. Other than that I really felt like I threw the ball well, pitched around that Votto leadoff double which was huge for me. Just tried to keep the lead, when we got those four runs off Homer Bailey in the first couple innings. Any time as a starter, you just want to get your guys back in the dugout.”
On if could brush aside thinking so much about mechanics:
“Yeah, that’s what I did last start. I corrected myself in the second and third inning. I told myself like just throw the ball. Let it naturally take over and that’s exactly what I did today, I just made sure I was driving my legs to where I wanted my direction to go and it all kind of clicked from there.”
On knowing how hard it is to come out of bullpen:
“Ugh. Especially, any time we’re here, the park is always some kind of excuse but that Mesoraco ball I think is a flyball out a lot of places. But you know he put Craig in a situation where he knew he was going to get a fastball and he put a pretty good swing on it and Choo, he’s no leadoff hitter. In a lot of lineups he’d be hitting four or five. So he’s a good hitter. I know what it’s like to come out of the pen and not necessarily have your stuff that day, but Craig went out and was throwing strikes just trying to challenge guys. With good hitters, they put good swings on the ball and this park, man, you get some home runs that normally wouldn’t be home runs but like I said, you put good swings on it, you get good outcomes.”
FREDI GONZALEZ
On get two outs from Kimbrel, figure it’s all but over:
“They swing the bats so you’ve got to get the last out. The last three outs are usually the toughest ones to get and we didn’t get them. I thought the pitch to Mesoraco was a good pitch down. He drove it to straightaway center. I didn’t even think it had a chance to go out but it just kept carrying and kept carrying. Even then I thought B.J. had a shot at it. And then the one Choo hit was just a pitch right over the plate. We’ve got to get over that, come out tomorrow and still try to win the series. and that’s what we try to do always.”
On if any similarities with blown saves vs. Colorado and Mets:
“Other than it being blown saves. We’ve got to get the third out in the ninth inning to close out games.”
On O’Flaherty in eighth got singled to death:
“Well chopper to third to start the inning and then a ground ball through the hole. But when you don’t add on in this ballpark against that club that’s pretty good and has got the history here at their ballpark, you don’t add on runs – we didn’t score after the fifth inning – you’re going to get yourself in these situations.”
On if best Medlen’s looked this season:
“Medlen was good. He was really good. He mixed some pitched. I think he got hurt on a couple 0-2 or 1-2 pitches that came back over the plate but other than that he did a hell of a job.”
On Kimbrel:
“Hitters go through their slumps. Pitchers do the same. We’ve just got to get through it.”
