Braves quotes from Alex Wood, Chris Johnson and Fredi Gonzalez after Wednesday’s 13-4 loss to the Nationals.
**FREDI GONZALEZ
On Alex Wood’s start
“Not the same Woody. Good first inning and then just a lot of deep counts. He had 100 pitches in five innings. He battled. The Woody we love to see, the competitiveness, it was there. But (he threw) a lot of pitches, a lot of deep counts.”
On using Trevor Cahill out of the bullpen
“We were a little short in the bullpen and we were thinking he goes a couple innings just to get us through the game.”
Does this open the door for Mike Foltynewicz to take Cahill’s scheduled start on Friday?
“We will wait and make a decision. Sometime tomorrow we will let you guys know. Obviously we are going to need (a starter Friday).”
Did Wood look different early in the game, after getting one strikeout his previous two games and striking out four in first two innings tonight?
“His first three hitters were good, and then they got some deep counts. They fouled some pitches off, and he just couldn’t get through the inning. I didn’t want to run him back out there. I think he had 100 pitches in five innings. Shoot, I was ready to pinch hit in the fourth when we had some people on base. We didn’t get any shutdown (innings). They got four shutdowns and we didn’t get any. That’s probably the ballgame, until (it became a rout at the) end of the game. If you get those shutdowns early in the game then it might be different (relievers) pitching in the back end.”
On losing the series but getting solid offense for most part
“Our offense has been really good. We got eight hits today, 12 runs yesterday. The series is over. We lost the series and now we’ve got the Cincinnati Reds for four games. We’ll see if we can get back on track.
**ALEX WOOD
On whether he felt he had something good going early
“Yeah, mechanically and from a stuff standpoint I felt that’s the best I’ve been all spring. From that standpoint and the process of it, I was happy. Obviously I was disappointed in the result. Usually when I get that early lead is when I thrive. The inning when they got those runs, definitely disappointed from that standpoint.”
On falling behind 3-0 in count with bases loaded to pitcher Jordan Zimmerman before his three-run single
“I don’t think it was to him. You get (Dan) Uggla up with first and second and two outs and you’ve got a pitcher on deck. You throw some pitches you kind of hope he swings at, some pitches around the zone. You are not going to let one of their hitters beat you. So it’s one of those things where four straight (balls or) whatever to him, bases loaded. And then I don’t know if it was a focus thing or you are kind of pitching around him and then it carries over to the pitcher and you are behind 3-0 and then you are just in a bad situation. You work it back to full count, and with one of their other eight guys you might mix in something else there once you work it back to full count. You throw a fastball and play the odds. Zimmerman ended up getting a knock and you’ve got to tip your cap to him. It’s definitely tough on my part.”
**CHRIS JOHNSON
On losing to the Nats and Jordan Zimmermann
“He’s pretty good. There’s a reason why he’s, in my opinion, their No. 1. They just whooped us tonight. That’s really all you can say about it.”
On losing the series, do you come away feeling like you could have easily taken two of three?
“Yeah, but we didn’t. Good teams win those games (Tuesday’s 13-12 loss after 9-1 lead), and we didn’t do that. Shoulda, coulda, woulda, I guess. Had us a chance to win the series tonight, but they put it to us tonight.”
On the rollercoaster nature of this season so far
“Yeah, we try to be consistent and we’re having a tough time being consistent, I think that’s the biggest thing. That’s really it.”
On Freeman being locked in now after that brief slump
“I don’t think anybody’s ever going to worry about Freddie Freeman. He’s going to be around .300 with 20 homers again, so…”
