MIAMI — Braves quotes from Cody Martin, Brandon Cunniff, Alex Wood, Freddie Freeman and manager Fredi Gonzalez following Tuesday's 12-2 win over the Marlins.
**FREDI GONZALEZ
On first-inning scoring blitz
“We had some good at-bats, we got deep in the count, and we kept the line moving. The thing I liked about the whole game was, we never gave any at-bats away, even at the end. Guys kept grinding, pitch after pitch. They bring in Cishek to get some work in, and we get him in trouble. So now they’ve got to go to the bullpen (again), Cishek’s got to come out of the game. There were no at-bats given away.”
On Alex Wood
“Woody wasn’t at his best. He just grinded. It was a hard 85 pitches for the five innings, to get through that. I think the long first inning, that didn’t get him going. Because we hit around (the order). He goes out, walks, the bases loaded (after two singles) and we ended up turning a double play to get out of that jam. Anyway, we got the win, and I’m real pleased with the way we swung the bats.”
On EY getting a walk, stolen base and RBI single all in the first inning…
“We had a lot of good things in that first inning. What’d we have, two doubles? (Three.) And I liked we ran the bases. Lot of good things in that first inning.”
On Cody Martin’s two-inning MLB debut with four strikeouts, one hit allowed
“I think at one point he had 10 or 11 strikes in a row. It was good to see we had a couple of guys get their feet wet in a major league game. We had Cunniff, also. Try to get him in a non-leverage situation in the sixth inning. I didn’t want to wait until later in the game, so he got his feet wet, Cody got his, threw two good innings … everything was good.”
On hitters having good two-strike approaches, going deep in counts
“They battled. Fouled some pitches off. We made Latos work, and we kept the line moving.”
On Wood getting run support after getting so little last year
“Hopefully this is a good sign for Woody, that we’re going to score some runs when he pitches. But really, it’s only the second game of the season but I’m really pleased with the way our offense has been grinding out at-bats.”
On Cunniff bing nervous
“He should be. He’s coming in with a five-run lead, seven-run lead, but he’s got to face Stanton and Morse, that group of guys – they ain’t giving any at-bats away. And then Cody (Martin), he comes in and did the same thing he did in spring training, just get people out throwing 88-89 miles an hour.”
**BRANDON CUNNIFF
On his feelings after making MLB debut and pitching a one-hit inning
“It was amazing. To get out with a scoreless inning in my debut. Amazing.”
Still feel the adrenaline?
“I do. Definitely. My phone’s blowing up. It’s crazy.”
How many texts or emails?
“I don’t know. So many.” (nervous laughter)
On coming in and having Stanton and Morse as his first two batters faced
“I was just trying to throw strikes. I didn’t do it to Stanton, but I was just trying to get ahead.”
Quite a leap from Double-A
“Yeah, it definitely is. To face Stanton, first batter, is pretty amazing. I wouldn’t want anything different, though.”
To think, two years ago at this time, you were preparing for indy-ball season….
“Yeah. I mean, it’s crazy how stuff can change so quickly.”
“It was good to get my feet wet, get that outing.”
On pitching in independent league ball in the Frontier League
“I was with the Rascals and the Southern Illinois Miners.”
The Rascals?
“The River City Rascals.” (nervous laughter)
So yes, that’s a bit of a step up to facing Stanton and the Marlins
“Oh, yeah, definitely.”
**ALEX WOOD
On sitting through seven-run first inning before he pitched
“Yeah, that wasn’t what I was expecting. Forty, 45, 50 minutes before I even threw a first pitch. I got an AB (at-bat) before I even got out there. Anytime they want to do that, I’m definitely alright with it. I’m just glad we came out like we did and how we played the first two nights. We played really well, really good baseball. So, a win’s a win.”
How tough to wait through a first inning like that before you pitch?
“Really tough, because I get my AB and the adrenaline really starts going. I told Roger (McDowell) I almost felt too good. Once I got warmed up and got out there, first start of the year, us coming out and jumping on them like we did, it’s exciting. We’re off to a good start.”
How’d you feel about your performance overall?
“It was OK. Like I said, I thought I almost felt too good, I was a little sporadic. I competed. I felt like I made some good pitches. When Skipper (Fredi Gonzalez) told me I was done, I was like, really, five-and-dive my first time out? (smiling) But we had a good lead at the time, and I was really pumped for Cunny (Cunniff) and Cody as well. That’s awesome. I told Cunny when he came in, I said I don’t know, since I’ve been here, if we’ve had two guys in the bullpen debut in the same night. It was really cool to see them go out there and get their feet wet. And they looked great.”
So you’re OK with seven support runs in first inning, instead of one or none while you’re in the game like what happened so often last year?
“Yeah, you could say I was alright with that, for sure. (Laughs.) I could get used to that, definitely.”
**FREDDIE FREEMAN
On the offensive explosion
“We came out and scored seven early, shut it down for a few innings, then picked it right back up. It was good to see that we were able to come back in the late innings and score some more runs and we didn’t completely shut it down. Everybody got into the action today, even our pinch-hitters got some hits, Maybin and Alberto. It was good to see Chris Johnson get in there and get a couple of hits against some tough pitchers, and get a couple of RBIs. It was a good team win all the way around.”
On getting some run support for Wood
“Woody pitched great, and obviously the bullpen, with a couple of major league debuts. They came in and threw some strikes, especially Cody Martin, he did an incredible job. Brandon did awesome, and Juan was a little erratic but he settled down and got some strikes.
“It was a good team win. Hopefully we can come out tomorrow and get a sweep and get back to Atlanta.”
On first inning, working good approaches, getting deep in counts
“And we were going from first to third (taking extra base), doing a lot of hustle plays. That’s what we were trying to stress in spring training, put a lot of pressure on the defense. We’re not going to wow you with the long ball this year, that’s what we’ve got to do – we’ve got to go first to third, second to home, if we can take that extra base, take it whenever you can. That’s what we did tonight. We got some great at-bats. Jace looks awesome. At the top of the lineup, EY leadoff walk, he’s getting some knocks. Cameron coming in at the end and getting some RBIs, that was awesome.”
On team not striking out much
“The only one striking out is me. I’m part of the 2014 season, so I’ve got to keep that going. (Laughs.) No, we’re putting up some good ABs. If we can keep going like that…. Obviously it’s only two games, but it’s better than no games. We’re going out there and putting up some good ABs, and that’s usually what happens, you score some runs.”
**CODY MARTIN
On his debut
“The juices got flowing pretty good. There’s nothing better than pitching in a big league game. I know that feeling now, and I’m going to enjoy it.”
On coming in with a big lead, makes it a little easier in debut
“Yeah, I wasn’t really worried about the outcome, I was just trying to throw the ball over the plate, and I happened to throw a lot of strikes. Good things happen when you throw strikes.”
Surprised you were able to throw a lot of strikes in you debut like that?
“Yeah, when I first threw (warming up) in the bullpen, I probably would have killed about four or five hitters. I was a little jacked up. But once I got in the game everything just dialed in and I was good to go.”
Nice to get it out of the way?
“Yeah, it’s something that I’ve been thinking about for about six weeks now – what if? And then once they told me I made the team, and now it’s the best feeling in the world.”
At least you didn’t have to face Stanton first like Cunniff did
“Oh, I know. I didn’t even notice that that’s who was up when Cunniff went in. I was telling him, this is a good one to get out of the way. But he did great, too. Threw a lot of strikes. It’s good stuff.”
“Just got to keep it rolling. Long season ahead, we’ve got some good things going on.”
