Quotes from manager Fredi Gonzalez, pitcher Paul Maholm and other players following Wednesday's loss to the Padres.
**FREDI GONZALEZ
Uncharacteristic first inning for Maholm?
“He settled down. I think we misplayed a ball and they got three runs, then he settled down and did a nice job. Carpenter did a nice job, Woody did a nice job. I tell you what, take nothing away from the Padres, but this was a weird series. We out-hit them in all three games. Nevertheless, we lost all three. Let’s not forget that. But our guys busted their ass every single night.
“We’ve got the right guy up there at the plate there in the ninth inning with Justin, and the tying run or the winning run, and we just didn’t catch a break. I’m surprised they were able to turn a double play on Chris Johnson’s ball. That’s the way baseball is sometimes – you run into a hot team and don’t get any breaks. That’s just the way it goes. But I’m really proud of our club, the way they kept battling their ass off.”
On some line drives right at people Wednesday
“The whole series, we hit some rockets. I mean, rockets. They turn two on the line drive to the shortstop. They turn a double play on first and third with Freeman. I mean, they’re allowed to catch it. I’m not taking anything away from the San Diego Padres; they still beat us three. But we just didn’t catch (any breaks), we really didn’t. And that’s just the way it goes sometimes.”
On Justin Upton, has he been frozen a lot lately on some called third strikes?
“I think he’s OK. He hit a big home run today, had a two-hit game. He’s not going to be able to hit every single night or every single at-bat.”
“Other than that, we’ve got an off day tomorrow and a big series against the Giants. So, get it going.”
On the sweep
“I thought this whole series, we swung the bats. They got outs when they needed to get them. Again, I’m not taking anything away from the Padres; they swept us. But we felt like we played a lot better than that.”
**JASON HEYWARD
On unusual feeling of series
“They had a lot of infield hits, some outfield hits that fell in, that came at good times for them, with people on base, kept innings going or got innings started. Their pitchers threw well enough obviously to stay in the games long enough. But we fought. We fought and fought. Little too late sometimes, but that’s the way it goes. Go home, get ready for another series.”
Despite 2-5 record on trip, you felt like you saw some good things?
“Outstanding things. Our pitchers have been throwing well for the past few weeks. It just so happened so were other pitchers, and they were able to catch some breaks. We hit some balls hard, some hops didn’t go our way. We put up some big late innings, which I know we can do. I’m not too worried about this team, as far as scoring runs when it’s down to the grit time. Again, those are things we did well.”
Did it feel like a 2-5 trip?
“Yeah. We lost five. We played well, that’s to be understood. We all know we played well. But sometimes we need to stop the other team from scoring when we score. We can score some runs, when it comes down to it. But sometimes the ball’s not going to go your way, it’s going to go the other team’s way. Again, that’s why you’ve got to keep playing. It’s just one series out of so many other ones.”
**DAN UGGLA
On his first-inning error
“It’s just one of those plays where I was actually just fortunate to get to it and catch it. I was trying to lead him (Simmons) to the bag, just one of those plays that didn’t work out.”
On Braves hitting ball hard all series
“Yeah, we did. They did what they needed to do to win. We competed, we battled, but we just came up short.”
Strange feeling trip?
“Yeah, it was. Kind of the story of our games on the road so far. We hit balls hard, but it just didn’t work out for us. But you’ve got to look at some bright sides. Me and B.J. really swung the bats well, so that’s a good sign of things to come, hopefully. Justin hit a freakin’ 700-foot shot today. Looks like he’s back on track. Freddie’s being Freddie. Our pitching’s awesome. We just came up short.”
More on the first-inning error
“I should have made that play. It’s my responsibility. I was trying to lead him. Just one of those weird plays that just didn’t get made.”
**JUSTIN UPON
On the series
“We thought we did all we could. We swung the bats well and we played pretty solid defense. Sometimes the game doesn’t go your way, and it didn’t work out for us.”
Do you feel like you’re getting back to where you were in April, little by little?
“Little by little. It’s obviously a process. I’ve obviously struggled. It’s a process every day trying to get that feel back. I look at the positives and try to move on.”
On hitting long home run today, can that be impetus to get turned around?
“I don’t even think it’s the homers I’m looking for. Everybody can run into a home run. It’s the consistency, being able to get those hits back through the middle to the big part of the field, and kind of get that feel for that back first.”
On the trip
“We came out slow in L.A. We don’t have any excuses for that one. But I feel we played pretty good baseball here, and they just beat us.”
**PAUL MAHOLM
On the Padres' three-run first inning
“I try to throw the ball down. I try to get ground balls. They didn’t swing at the ones just below the knees, and I missed down and they hit a couple of choppers up the middle. Obviously I’d like to take back a couple of walks, but I was trying to challenge them down.
“The worst ball I threw was the home-run ball (in fifth inning). I was trying to get it up a little bit more and I missed, and he took advantage.”
“I was just trying to get a ground ball, and I was missing down. Usually when you’re sitting there in the first and there’s too much adrenaline, you’re missing up. I was just throwing sinkers and changeups and trying to get a ground ball, and just kept missing in the bottom of the zone. For me, that’s where I’m trying to throw it. It’s not like I’m off.
“I didn’t feel great in the first inning, but I was throwing the ball pretty close to where I wanted to. It’s not like they were crushing the ball. A couple of walks, a couple of ground balls that go through. Obviously a swinging bunt.”
