**FREDI GONZALEZ
On odd second inning, Uggla out at 3rd on K/2-5 and B.J. picked off at 1st
“That was an aggressive play at third. And I haven’t seen the video, but it looked like he might have been safe over there.”
On Maholm
“The game could have gotten out of hand in a heartbeat after he gave up those (four first-inning) runs, but he kept it right there. We battled back and made it a two-run game, you feel pretty good that we’ve got a chance. Then they added two runs there late in the eight inning. But I thought after the first inning, he settled down a little bit and tried to go as long as he could.”
On Maholm getting hit in the leg by sharp one-hopper
“His legs took a beating today. That line drive, and I think he fouled two balls off the legs when he was hitting.”
Did it seem like he wasn’t ready in first inning, due to early start maybe?
“I don’t think so. Balls were either cut way too far inside on right-handers, or just going the other way. He couldn’t find the plate.”
On the series, 3-3 trip
“We won the series. That’s what we always like to do, win series. We had a chance to sweep the series and go home 4-2. That didn’t happen. Now our goal is the Cincinnati Reds, who’ve played pretty good. Try to beat them, win that series before the break.”
On Jacob Turner
“His fastball had some good life to it. It was only, at times, 93-94 (mph), but it sure looked like he was throwing a lot harder than that, especially down the in strike zone. Had some really good life to it.”
On Gattis batting practice before game
“He looked good to me. I’m sure in the next day or two maybe another round of BP. And then we’ll see how many rehab games, and where we can get him some at-bats.”
On Beachy’s 3-inning rehab start in Triple-A on Tuesday (3 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 29/45)
“Good. Velocity was good, reports were really good. Normal velocity. He’ll end up meeting us tomorrow back home, throw a ‘pen either tomorrow or the next day, then go from there.”
**PAUL MAHOLM
On his rough start to the game
“In the bullpen (warming up) I was kind of off, fighting it. Obviously in the inning I wasn’t in rhythm, throwing well. Stanton’s the only one who hit the ball hard, and it wasn’t even supposed to be a strike. The first inning was what it was. I was fighting it, they capitalized. Walking the first hitter of the game, and getting some hits here and there.
“Obviously you battle as hard as you can. I foul one off my foot, take a line drive or one-hopper that hits both my knees. Laird tries to foul one back at me. The next at-bat, I foul one off the my. So it was a tough day. Obviously we would have liked to get the sweep. We won the series. Hopefully we can finish up, go in the All-Star break pretty well when we go home.”
On rest of his game
“I felt fine. I throw a 1-1 sinker to the pitcher, left it up a little bit, and you guys saw the play. It was what it was.”
On his road struggles, home success
“I don’t know. It’s kind of been my whole career where I’ve thrown – I think if you look at most players, they probably do better at home than on the road – that’s part of the game…. If you look at (just) my home record and what I did at home, I’d probably be a leading candidate for a lot of awards. Obviously we’ve got to take everything into account, and I haven’t done as well on the road as I wanted to. I’ve had some good games. I’ve had some games where I got hit hard. I’ve had some games where there were some bloop hits and some misplays and some different things. A lot of things go into it. Now I’ve got a little while off to adjust a few things to hopefully regroup and go for the second half, and pitch like I did last year in the second half. That’s my goal.”
On bad first inning
“I was off. They took advantage of it in the first…. I did my normal thing and prepared. My bullpen was one of the worst I’ve thrown all year. There’s been games where I’ve done that and had a great game. There’s been games where I’ve done that and pitched OK. But it just kind of sucked to do that and then not do very well in the first, and then get back somewhat into rhythm. After the first inning, the walks were … not intentional, but I’m not going to give in to Stanton. The pitch that he hit wasn’t supposed to be a strike.”
Pitched better after the first inning
“But the first inning needs to be cleaned up.”
**FREDDIE FREEMAN
On Jacob Turner
“He was good, man. He had his two-seamer and a cutter, and he had a good changeup today. He mixed in that curveball every once in a while just to let us know that he had it. That’s the first time seeing him.”
“He made his pitches when he needed to. It’s tough when you face a guy the first time. We went in there thinking he was going to throw a lot of cutters to lefties, and I didn’t get one cutter all game. I got two-seamers and changeups. It’s just a gameplan, you’ve got to put that in the back of our mind. He beat us today. Hopefully we can get him next time.”
(Turner made one start against the Braves in September, which Atlanta won. Freeman was 1-for-3 against him.)
On the 3-3 trip
“I never thought we’d ever win another road trip — (he was joking) — so at least we came and tied it up. But we played a little better on the road, so hopefully after the All-Star break we can get in there and get some wins on the road.”
