MILWAUKEE — Braves quotes from Manny Banuelos, A.J. Pierzynski and Fredi Gonzalez afer Tuesday’s 4-3 win against the Brewers.
**FREDI GONZALEZ
On Banuelos’ performance
“He pitched well against a really good right-handed hitting lineup. Did a nice job mixing and matching. After the first inning I thought he settled down really well, and got his first win, which is nice.”
After 29-pitch first inning, really seemed to settle down quickly
“He settled down and started getting his breaking pitches over for strikes. He really did a nice job. He minimized the damage in that first inning and got us to the middle of the game. And we had some fresh arms today; I think we used them all. Going in we knew that if we had an opportunity to close with Grilli for the third day in a row, this would be the perfect time because his pitch counts the last couple of outings were really low. So we talked to him and he said he felt great, and he delivered. We were going to lay off Johnson and Avilan, try to mix and match with some of the other guys, and we did that.
“Carpenter had a big out there against Braun. Vizcaino had a big double play against Ramirez. Guys did a nice job coming out of the bullpen.”
On Carpenter’s slider
“That’s the report – he’s got a nice slider. If you match him up well, he’s going to get some outs.”
More on Vizcaino’s double-play grounder induced in big situation
“In that sixth inning, with runners at first and second, Ramirez induced into a double play — might have been the biggest play of the game.”
More of same from offense with Maybin and especially Pierzynski in recent days
“I’m upset that we play a day game tomorrow and we’re going to give (Pierzynski) a day off, because he’s swinging as hot a bat as you (can). But you’ve got to remember he’s 38 years old and we’ve got to take care of him. But he’s swinging a hot bat right now.”
On the hitting surge that Pierzynski’s on, with 10 hits in past three games
“We saw it earlier in the year, when he was hitting over .400 for, I think, a month-and-a-half. He’s a guy that puts the ball in play. My dad told me, you put the ball in play, you’ve got a chance of the ball finding holes. And he’s doing that right now. And he’s hitting the ball out of the ballpark. So, good for us.”
“He’s a good baseball player. He’s a guy who, whenever he gets done playing, he can be in this game for a long time. Because he’s got good baseball smarts, good baseball instincts.”
On Banuelos coming back from 29-pitch first inning with five-pitch second inning
“I’m kind of watching him. Because you read the reports, and you’ve got to pass my eye test, or Roger’s eye test. And everything our Triple-A staff and our development staff said, is true. This guy can do a lot of good things. He’s a good athlete, he can handle a bat, he’s got poise, he’s got composure, he competes. So far in the two outings, we’ve seen all that.”
**MANNY BANUELOS
On getting the win
“I was pretty excited. Getting my first W was pretty fun.”
On settling in after 29-pitch first inning, what was biggest difference after that?
“Just, like, the tempo between pitches. The first inning, I was breathing a lot between pitches. After that, everything was better.”
What did A.J. tell you after that first inning?
“He was like, ‘You took a lot of time between pitches. Just throw the ball and get ready for the next pitch.’ And I did it. It worked well.”
How important has it been to have Pierzynski behind the plate, a guy who’s been around for so long
“It’s big. I have a lot of confidence with A.J. behind the plate. Every pitch he calls, I have confidence to throw it.”
Did you feel your confidence growing tonight during the game?
“Yeah, the first inning I made a mistake leaving the changeup up. But after that A.J. talked to me and I got more confidence.”
You did it against a team that’s been hitting over .350 with power in the past 10 days or so
“Yeah, they were very aggressive. But we made an adjustment with that, we mixed the pitches pretty good and we got outs.”
Was that something you adjusted after seeing how aggressive they were in the first
“Yeah, A.J. and me we mixed the pitches. And my defense played really well.”
**A.J. PIERZYNSKI
On Banuelos’ performance
“I was really happy for him, to get his first win. He wasn’t horrible in the first inning, he gave up a home run on a change-up that was up. But as the game went he got more comfortable. That’s sometimes with young pitchers, like (Matt) Wisler last night, once they kind of get through the first inning and get the nerves and the excitement calmed down, they’re better. He did that, and to his credit he kept us in the game and gave us a chance.”
On what he talked about with Banuelos after the first inning
“We talked about needing to get more than one or two pitches over, so we started throwing some curveballs and some sliders. And he’d throw them for strikes, so they kind of had to change their gameplan. Because they were going up there looking for first-pitch fastballs and swinging, so we changed it up a little bit and he did a good job throwing them for strikes and getting ahead in the count and working from there.”
Fredi said he was sorry it was a day game tomorrow and he needed to give you a day off
“Well, I’ll take tomorrow off – probably. Some of us 38-year-old guys need breaks every once in a while, you know. I’m not Uribe’s age (36), you know? Duck all these guys.” (He was razzing his friend Juan Uribe, implying he was avoiding facing hard throwers.)
“We (Gonzalez and him) had talked about that, he told me before the series even started. It helps when you know ahead of time what the schedule is and what the plan is, and you go from there.”
What’s it like when you’re on a hitting surge like this?
“I don’t even try to think about it. I’m just going up there trying to hit the ball, I’m not even thinking about anything else. First at-bat, I hit a home run on a change-up; I thought it was a fastball. I don’t even know what I’m doing. I’m just trying to get a good pitch and put a good swing on it, and whatever happens, happens.”
