—Quotes compiled by Michael Cunningham and Erica A. Hernandez
**FREDI GONZALEZ**
On early offense and manufacturing a run making a difference
“Absolutely. Tommy (La Stella), we talked the other day about him a little bit in the two hole, he can move the ball around a little bit. Yesterday he did it with swinging the bat and getting a ground ball and today he bunted and got the runner over and we got an early run. The top of the lineup got some base hits, scored some early runs. (Freddie) Freeman it was nice to see him get back on track. I thought yesterday-he didn’t get any hits but his swings were getting better and better and today it was nice for him to get some production.”
On Ervin Santana looking as good as he did in April
“He pitched well, he really did. We were trying to push him in the game a little bit because of the situation with our bullpen because the last couple nights we had to cover some innings out of there. And he gave us everything he had. (Jordan) Walden came in and did a nice job. It was nice to see (Chasen) Shreve come in and get an inning, he hadn’t pitched in a while. We got him in the mix a little bit.”
On if Freeman’s opposite-field home run is a reminder of his power
“That’s his stroke. He’s a guy that can drive the ball out there in left-center. We’ve seen it. To see that that is nice for him, a confidence builder to get him going again.”
On B.J. Upton putting the ball in play
“He leads off the game with a double, we get him over and he scores a run. Then he pops the ball (off the plate) and gets on base. He’s done a nice job up there in the lead-off spot.”
On if he was worried when Jason Heyward went down after diving back to third base
“I didn’t see the play because I was trying to yell at (Chris Johnson) to take second base on the rundown. When I saw him laying down on the ground, I thought something really bad happened until we got halfway there and he gave the OK sign. We saw him do it at San Francisco on a play at the plate. He’s, what, 6-7 and he kind of got really tiny and got by (Buster) Posey. He’s an unbelievable athlete.”
**ERVIN SANTANA**
Was this as good as one of your April outings?
“It feels good every time when you come up and throw strikes and get people out, it’s amazing for me.”
How effective was your slider tonight?
“It was very good. I throw any count, for ball, for strikes and I was very confident throwing that pitch today.”
Did you feel you were pitching well early on?
“Of course, throw a lot of strikes and I mix every pitch that I have and it works. It was a good game today.”
How much of a difference did it make to have five-run lead early?
“Huge, every time when we score first and score like five runs it’s good for us and it takes a little bit of pressure off the pitcher.”
Fredi Gonzalez was looking for you to go deep with the bullpen having to cover innings in past two days
“I don’t even think about that, I just go out there and just get people out and just do my best.”
**FREDDIE FREEMAN**
On if it was nice to get the monkey off his back with the home run
“Yeah. I’ve been struggling the last couple weeks. It was nice to hit some balls hard all night.”
On getting the early lead tonight
“It was good. B.J. set the table again tonight. He’s been doing that since he got in the lead-off spot. He’s been awesome. We were able to manufacture a run in the first inning and then got a few more in the second and that’s all ‘Magic’ (Ervin Santana) needed tonight.”
On if it feels good to hit a curveball that far to the opposite field
“Obviously it feels good. I’ve been working hard the last couple weeks trying to get the swing back. It kind if disappeared on me in Chicago. In BP today I was driving the ball to left center again and I was able to carry over into the game is definitely a nice thing. Hopefully I can keep that going.”
On having better success against Nathan Eovaldi after he’s been tough against the Braves
“It’s just we were able to hit his mistakes. He hung a couple curveballs and he left a couple fastballs out over and Justin was able to get one into the outfield for a sac fly. It’s just one of those things. He had our number before and we were able to get him today.”
Did you know your stats against the Marlins so far this season (2-for-45 entering the game)?
“I did because somebody told me about it today. They seem to catch me at the right time but it’s pretty terrible numbers against them this year still. But if I can carry it over tomorrow and keep hitting the balls hard and carry it into the Padres, you know, I’ll give 3 for 100 hits tomorrow as long as I do alright against everybody else.”
Do you laugh that kind of stuff off?
“Yeah, I do. Its’ just one of those things. I can’t explain it and you guys can’t explain it, no one can explain it. It’s just one of those things. It’s usually going back the series before, I’m usually not doing very well and it just carries over into the Marlins and it’s just one of those things I guess. But I was able to get a hit finally tonight.”
Did Ervin Santana remind you of how he was in April?
“Oh yeah. I think that he’s been doing that for the last five or six starts. He had a couple of, three or four, starts in the middle that weren’t his best. But the way he’s been pitching and going into the eighth inning, that’s pretty special and he was special tonight.”
**GERALD LAIRD**
On Ervin Santana’s performance
“He threw the ball really well. He had all three of his pitches working, he had both sides of the plate with his fastball command going good and that’s the guy we signed. He had a few hiccups here and there but tonight he was commanding the zone he was throwing a slider he was bouncing the slider when he needed to and he was throwing some good changeups. I mean he go in that one little jam in that one inning but for the most part I though he threw the ball really well the whole time.”
Is the slider the biggest key for him?
“Definitely, that’s his bread-and butter-pitch and when that pitch is working and is getting good tilt on it that’s the equalizer. But I think for him tonight the biggest key was the command of his fastball. He was getting a lot of early outs early in the game with the fastball and I think that just kind of set the tone. I couldn’t really look for the slider because he was so good with the fastball and once we had them like that we just kept them off balance all night and he did a really good job.”
Did you see anything different from Eovaldi?
“I mean it was just one of those nights. We lost the first two games and we had to lock it in. That’s one of those things, like we talked with (hitting coach Greg Walker) today. We needed this game tonight and the guys locked in. We knew we were going to face a really good, talented pitcher. He struggled his last time out, and we knew that, so we knew he’s capable of giving up runs. We had a couple big hits and Freddie got a big hit for us and that’s huge. When Freddie gets going he can carry us.”
Was it nice to see Freeman with the opposite field power?
“He’s been struggling against these guys and we all knew it and he never shows any emotion. He takes one at bat at a time and in that at bat (Eovaldi) left up a pitch and that’s what the good hitters do. He hung it and (Freeman) gave us a comfortable lead and let Santana relax and make pitches. It was just good to see him let some get deep and drive it out of the ballpark.”
