NEW YORK — Braves quotes from Phil Gosselin, Trevor Cahill and Fredi Gonzalez after Tuesday’s series-opening loss to the Mets.
**PHIL GOSSELIN
On his costly error
“No excuses. Trevor made a very good pitch there, should have been a double play. I just didn’t make the play.”
“I think I’m going to make that play every time it’s hit to me. Unfortnately it didn’t happen today. I think I just tried to throw it before I caught it, just tried to be too quick. It’s a play I’m confident I’m going to make, it just didn’t happen tonight.”
How much did that play change the game?
“It was big. If I make that play we maybe get out of there with only one run (allowed), and Trevor’s still in the game, saves our bullpen. It sucks when you let the team down like that, but hopefully we can come back tomorrow and get a win.”
On Trevor’s performance after last week’s struggles
“He was really good. Changeup looked good, getting a lot of ground balls. Even that one inning when I made the error, a couple of (hits) were just ground balls that found holes. So he looked really good. Could have easily went another inning or two if I make that play and maybe get out of there with one run.”
What was Jonathon Niese doing that made his so effective?
“Just mixing it up. He always does a good job mixing it up. Cutter, changeup, curveball. You can never really sit on a pitch because he mixes it up good. He throws strikes and makes you beat him.”
**TREVOR CAHILL
On progress since last start
“I felt good. Just that one inning, that leadoff walk just kills you. And I left a couple of pitches up. Up to that point I was going pretty well, and when they got me out of the stretch, after that it was a struggle.”
Can you be encouraged by the improvement?
“Not really. I still, you go out there every time to put up a quality start. It was a little bit better than last time, but at the same time you like to at least get through six, and I feel like the first four I definitely had the pitch count and I was thinking I could go past that. Kind of just let things unravel in the fifth.”
Pitching from stretch been more difficult for you so far?
“No, it was just kind of different. Because I felt like I was in control the whole game when I was using my windup a lot. Then they got a couple of people on, couple of hits, and I was out of the stretch. It just felt like my command after that went away.”
On the Gosselin error, could have been a different outcome if not for that?
“That stuff’s going to happen. It’s our job to pick him up and get out of it, minimize (damage) as much as I can. It was tough that I wasn’t able to do that.”
Stamina an issue in the fifth?
“I don’t know. I felt good. Felt pretty much the same. I felt like it was coming out (of his hand) the same way.”
**FREDI GONZALEZ
Encouraged by Cahill at least for first four innings?
“If you go back and look at it, I thought he did a nice job. His job is to have the other team put the ball in play, put the ball in play on the ground. And he did that. Couple of balls got through the infield. We don’t make a play behind him on the double-play ball and, well, that inning just kind of unravels on him. But I was pleased that, I think other than a couple of hits, were balls through the infield, ground balls. So that’s encouraging. I thought it was an improvement from the start before, and now he goes back out in four or five days and build on that.”
On Gosselin’s error on routine play
“Yeah, that’s a routine play, and I’m sure Goose is going to go back and not sleep real good, because he makes that play, shoot, almost every time. Maybe he hadn’t been out there in a while and got a little jumpy, but he makes that play every single time of the day.”
On Cahill’s sinker, did it look better than last week?
“It looked better, and I think the proof is ground balls. The first five hitters, six hitters, hit balls on the ground. For me, that’s a good, encouraging sign that that sinker is sinking. Guys are putting the ball on the ground.”
On going 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position, was that more Niese or you guys, or both?
“You’ve got to give him a little bit of credit. We had him on the ropes a few times, but we just couldn’t punch it through.”
On Mets’ nine-game streak and 11-3 start
“Well, they’ve got good players. They’ve really got good players, and sometimes when they’re up against it — they lost three guys in a matter of two or three days. But they’ve got a good club, a dangerous club, and they’re playing really good baseball right now.”
Did you expect or know Maybin could do this, three homers already?
“He’s got some juice. You make a mistake with him and he can run you out of the ballpark.”
