Braves quotes after the 5-3 victory against the Marlins on Friday at Marlins Park.
FREDI GONZALEZ
On Todd Cunningham’s big night in first career start
You run him in there and he got three hits. The first ball (Martin) Prado hit to the gap and it came back to him a little bit and he ran it down. But we knew he could do that. We knew he could defend. That was a nice play. He swung the bat really, really well. (Phil) Gosselin, same thing. He got the start and got three hits. We held on. We were able to add on late in the game and get to (Jim) Johnson and (Jason) Grilli.
On re-taking lead in the eighth inning
That’s what we do. We may have some shortcomings in some places. We don’t have shortcomings in want-to and fighting and battling back. There is no shortcoming there with our club. It was nice. They tied the ball on (Gincarlo) Stanton’s ball to straightaway center and then we came right back and scored a couple runs and Grilli and Johnson did a terrific job.
On Julio Teheran settling in after error
I think that first inning he had 20-something pitches. Normal 1-2-3 inning he gets us into the seventh inning. He battled. We gave him every opportunity to get out of that sixth but we bring (Luis) Avilan in that situation to face maybe the hottest hitter in America (Dee Gordon).
On Teheran competing
There was some times during those situations we saw the miles per hour crank up: 93, 94 I think I saw once. That’s what we need. We need him to pitch off that fastball more. It’s there. He reached back and gets it anytime he wants. He competed and kept us in the ballgame. It wasn’t his best ballgame but he only gave up two runs and you’ve got to tip your hat to him.
On Teheran’s hit
In the National League if you can handle the bat you stay in the game a little longer. He surely did that. Those two RBIs got us on the board. He’s dangerous in those situations. It makes the opposing manager walk that eighth hitter early in the game to get to the pitcher, we’ve got a couple of those guys you’ve got to go, wait a second, this guy may be a little hotter than the eighth hitter. He’s one of those guys.
On if he’s disappointed by Phil Gosselin’s failed squeeze bunt
No, not disappointed. That didn’t start off right like we wanted to. I think E.Y. (Eric Young Jr.) broke to the point too quick and gave a chance for the pitcher to make an adjustment and get the ball up and in. We already talked to E.Y. about it. It’s not the base runners’ responsibility so steal the base there, it’s the hitter’s responsibility to put the ball on the ground. I think by E.Y. leaving a hair too early he was able to throw the ball up and in a little bit.
PHIL GOSSELIN
On Todd Cunningham’s big night
Yeah, it’s pretty cool. We got drafted the same year, played every single year together, been through the whole minor-league system together. To see him grow from Rome to here it’s pretty cool to reflect on that.
On Cunningham chasing down Prado’s hit in the gap
He’s one of the best outfielders I’ve played with defensively. He gets great jumps out there and he always puts himself in the right spot. I’ve seen him do that a lot.
On getting three hits in his start
Yeah, it’s good man. ‘Skip’ gave me an opportunity to get in there and get a couple at-bats and I was able to help out, get some hits. It’s always fun to get that Game 1 win.
On the failed squeeze bunt attempt
I don’t know about E.Y. because I’m locked into the pitcher, I couldn’t tell. He threw me a first-pitch changeup and then 1-0 count, I figured that he might put (the squeeze) on there. (Sam) Dyson, his ball kind of runs up hard on you. He ran up and in on me. I tried my best to get on top of it but popped it up.
On Julio Teheran
He didn’t have his best stuff, obviously, but he did a great job keeping us in the game. We were joking saying his bat carried us early on. He’s always going to give you a good outing and compete no matter what.
JULIO TEHERAN
On settling down after first inning
One bad inning but after that, I feel good. I feel like I was working really good with my pitches. Other than the other pitch that I made, the same mistake made last week to (Ryan) Zimmerman. It was a battle and I did really good today.
On Cunningham’s range
I was impressed by that. I didn’t
On if he was frustrated when Ichiro’s hit got past him before leaving in the sixth
It was really hard. I thought I was going to get it. The same thing happened in the first inning when Dee Gordon hit it. I wanted to stay in the game but he (Gonzalez) decided to take me out. That’s part of the game.
On Gincarlo Stanton
He’s a good hitter so we’ve got to be careful and make good pitches to him. If you make a mistake he will let you pay for it. He did it to me and then next at-bat I worked really good with him.
TODD CUNNINGHAM
On three hits, including go-ahead RBI, in his first career start
Yeah, we should do this more often.
On how good it feels to help team
From the first inning, being able to help Julio with our defensive setup and making the play on Prado. Got a couple knocks early and kept getting them. I wish they were all this easy.
On if the ball finds you
It’s like that whether you are coming in the game late or starting the game for the first start, it will find you.
On if making that catch helped him settle in
Definitely. Any time you can make the play and have the first one out of the way, it makes it pretty nice.
On if it was nice to see Phil Gosselin’s three hits
We are living together back in Atlanta, so there is something good going on in that apartment. ‘Terdo’ (Joey Terdoslavich) needs to get back, he’s living with us, too.
On getting the big hit
I don’t get fired up very often but I think I gave a little fist pump or hand clap or something. I was pretty excited.
