**KRIS MEDLEN
On getting better after first couple innings
“The same with the first start, I think once the adrenaline kind of wore off I was able to calm down and stay back in my delivery and just make some better pitches. I walked a couple of guys, but I didn’t walk the pitcher (as he did in his first start), so that’s good.” (laughter)
On staying down in the strike zone
“Once everything kind of clicks in the delivery, I don’t have to think about it. You just get comfortable and I was able to repeat my delivery later on. Early on with the walks – I think Coghlan (first inning) was a walk — I just lost feel again. I mean, it happens, but I think it’ll slowly start going away the more I throw.
“The other walk was to Brantly. He always has some pretty good at-bats against me. Open base, too. So I kind of tried to trick him. I didn’t throw him a fastball. I always throw him fastballs, but I just kind of junked him to death. Left the changeup up for the walk. Got out of it, too, so I can’t be too pi**ed about the walks. I don’t play Fantasy Baseball; I’m not on my own team (laughter). And If I would, I don’t care. We won, so we’re good.”
On not getting strikeouts, but getting more efficient later in game
“Once I felt my delivery kind of kick in, kind of click, I just felt comfortable and knew if I made the pitches I was trying to make, I’d have some quicker at-bats. I know the last three innings I threw I think I had single-digit pitch counts each inning, so that felt like, I guess, the old me. I was just mixing in pitches better and executing pitches.
I felt like I was all over the plate in the first few innings.”
“It’s early. I’ve still got some work to do. I think I had a quality outing, but it’s going to get better.”
On Gattis
“What else can you say about Evan Gattis? God. He was the difference in the game, for me. And I was a little nervous, honestly, in the spring, having thrown to two catchers my entire career and having to throw to two new ones (Laird and Gattis). And I mean, this is the first time I’ve thrown to (Gattis) and I was blown away. He’s really good back there.
“He starts trying to invent stuff, too. That’s what Rossy (David Ross) kind of did, too. The double to Polanco, he called an inside curveball, and I’ve never intentionally tried to throw an inside curveball. I mean, he’s just inventing stuff out there. That’s what I try to do. I try to mix in as many pitches as I can and just be aggressive, and he was great back there.”
**FREDI GONZALEZ
On Medlen settling in after first couple innings
“I think the last three innings he didn’t even get to double digits in pitches. He did a nice job. He had a good game, the whole seven innings really. They got an unearned run on a ball we dropped in the outfield, and that was pretty much it. He did a heck of a job.”
Looked like he got stronger as game went on
“He got sharper. His stuff was moving everywhere. He did a fantastic job. I’m glad we were able to get him some runs and get him the win.”
On third run on Upton’s RBI double in eighth inning
“Any chance you get to add on, it’s big. It eliminates some stuff from the opponent, and we were able to do that. That was a big run there that Justin drove in, it really was.”
“We got ourselves in a little trouble there in the eighth by walking people, but hey, we got out of it.”
On Pena’s defense
“The slow roller, that wasn’t an easy one. Then he read the bunt off of Brantly and charged in there and got it in the air, turned a double play, got us out of that jam. If not we might still be playing that game.”
On Gattis
“He really has been great. He makes our lineup (solid), he fits in our lineup in the four-hole when you don’t have Freeman or McCann or one of those guys. It may be temporary until we get some of the other guys going, but it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to put him behind Justin.”
Simmons said he watched some video of Chipper’s swing before today’s game (then got 3 hits)
“I didn’t know he didn’t that. That’s always a good guy to be watching, a guy who’s going to the Hall of Fame and has 20-something hundred hits. Maybe we could have everyone watch those guys.”
On pitching carrying lot of the load
“What have we scored, five runs in two nights? And won two games. We’ve only given up two runs. We keep doing that, we’re going to be OK. The offense will come around. We’ve got too many guys who are too good a hitters for it not to come around. But I’m really pleased with the way we’ve been pitching, and the guys out of the bullpen.”
On intentionally walking Stanton to put potential tying run on base with 2 out and Polanco up
“He’s a guy who can hit the ball out of the ballpark. We talked about it just before he came up, I said he’s a guy that can hit the ball out of the ballpark and tie the game. Polanco could do it, but chances are he’s not. He’s going to hit a single or maybe even a double, and here we go. To tell you the truth, I didn’t like doing it. But you’ve got to pick your poison a little bit. And knowing that Dobbs is behind Polanco, with O’Flaherty on the mound, that gave you a little comfort that you could get the lefty. But it’s not an easy decision. I think it depends on who you’ve got on the mound at that particular time.”
(Note: Sorry, but because of deadlines, I could not continue to wait for Gattis to come out of for postgame interview.)
