Quotes from manager Fredi Gonzalez, starting pitcher Mike Minor and other players following Wednesday's 9-0 victory over the Rockies.
**MIKE MINOR
On his dominant performance
“No, there was a lot of hitting in there. Mac helped me out a lot. We attacked the guys, we didn’t want to give up any runs right there, even though we had a lot of runs at the beginning. We still wanted to keep the ERAs low and go after guys.”
How hard is to stay focused when lead gets that big and you’re in dugout that long between innings?
“I think the biggest thing is sitting in-between innings when we have a long inning. I’ve realized that you need to stretch and move around, not just sit there the whole time, or you go out there and everything is stiff. You kind of get out of rhythm if you do that.”
Were you as sharp as you’ve been in recent starts?
“Not as sharp, but I was still making pitches. I was attacking guys with the fastball and using both sides of the plate.”
“I left some curveballs up in the zone and got lucky with roll-over (grounders) to shortstop and third base. That was pretty much the pitch I left up in the zone a lot. On 0-2, 1-2 counts, it’s supposed to be in the dirt. Mac’s putting his glove down there and I’m leaving it right over the middle of the plate, getting lucky with roll-overs.”
On adding an RBI single of his own
“It’s just fun. Added fun out there. Early in the game I thought it might have been big.”
On wanting to go back to pitch eighth
“I wanted to, but it was just one of those innings where with the down time, it was not worth it.”
On different during this five-start roll he’s been on, after struggling for a few starts before that
“I feel like I’ve thrown good all year though, so it’s not really lately. I guess lately I’ve had better starts, but I still feel like I’ve had the same stuff. Like I said, maybe those curveballs, or if I threw a slider over the plate, in those (just) OK games when I gave up two or three runs or whatever, maybe those balls are hit. And tonight and the last couple of starts, I’m getting by with that, I guess. And when I get by with that, I make better pitches the next time through.”
**FREDDIE FREEMAN
On the offense
“We’re clicking on all cylinders. We’re coming after them early on and keeping it going throughout the game. And Mikey did what Mike does – he went out there and threw zeroes up.”
On the pitching during homestand
“It’s been huge. Starting with St. Louis, they’ve been lights-out this whole homestand. The offense has kind of given them some breathers the last few games; we’ve been putting some big innings up there, and hopefully we can keep it going tomorrow.”
How to explain your success against the Rockies?
“There’s no explaining it. I don’t know what it is. I was struggling against St. Louis and got it clicking a couple of days ago in the video room and in the cage. Fortunately, the Rockies were the ones that, when I started clicking again, it was against them.”
On McCann
“McCann’s putting together great at-bats and staying through the ball and starting to hit the ball over the fence. He’s a force in the middle of our lineup. It’s a tough 1-through-8 lineup right now. Especially with Mikey, it’s 1-through-9.”
**BRIAN McCANN
On his swing
“It feels great. I think just with the way everybody’s swinging the bat right now, you’re seeing really good pitches to hit, everybody is. Our lineup never quits. One through eight, you’ve got to make your pitches.”
On the team’s performance this series
“You’re not going to get this kind of production for 162 games, but it’s what we’re capable of. And when we get hot, we’re as good a hitting team as any in baseball. I’m hoping we keep this momentum going for the rest of the way out.”
On the pitching in this homestand
“That’s the reason we’re where we’re at. Our starting staff keeps us in every single ballgame, our bullpen is lock-down, and I think the offense is that last piece to get a little bit more consistent. And I think we’re showing you that we’re a dangerous ballclub.”
On Minor’s performance
“I’m not surprised by any of this. This is what he does, this is who he is. He’s a guy that takes the ball and knows exactly what he’s trying to accomplish. Knows when to bury pitches, knows when to throw them for strikes. We’re used to this.”
On Freeman
“He gets hits in bunches. His stroke is so nice, so short to the ball. It’s a treat to watch him hit every day.”
** EVAN GATTIS
On the Braves’ pitching
“They’ve been getting the job done. I think it helps take the pressure off us a little bit. Then once we get a bit lead, we won’t let up. We kind of relax and play as a team.”
Did the momentum of the Cardinals sweep carry over?
“Maybe so. I know the feeling in the stadium that first (Cardinals) game was huge. It was like what a game should feel like. Everybody was up, everybody was ready and knew it was going to be a good series. Maybe it has. Maybe it has carried over and just kind of sparked us a little bit. I can see that.”
On the team’s confidence level right now
“The confidence is good, but the objectives stay the same: Wake up tomorrow and go win a baseball game, you know?”
On keeping the foot to the gas
“I think you’ve got to accumulate as many wins as you can, as quick as you can. Win as many games as you can right now, absolutely.”
Bury the teams behind you in standings?
“Absolutely. It’s good in these series, like against the Rockies we dropped a series against them earlier in the year. It’s good to beat up on some teams.”
The offense showing what it’s capable of doing?
“I think so. I see that. I see, like, the potential of everybody playing a role. We’ve got home run hitters, but we get a lot of RBIs on base hits, too. And moving runners. J-Hey, two days in a row got on first on a strikeout, and that’s huge. Little stuff like that, turns into runs. The little things kind of get overlooked with the home runs.”
**FREDI GONZALEZ
On offense overshadowing Minor’s pitching performance
“He did a nice job. The offense, we swung the bats, 1 through 8, and kept putting pressure on, the third night in a row we put a big number up early in the game. So that’s good. And Mike did a nice job because it’s hard sometimes to pitch with that type of lead. And you keep going out there, and there was a lot of delay between us scoring some runs and them changing pitchers and he did a nice job keeping the edge going. That’s something that sometimes young pitchers can’t handle and he did it.”
On what McCann has done the past month
“You put him in that lineup between Gattis and Freeman and he’s a threat. He’s a presence and we know that. Last year with his injury to his shoulder he wasn’t, but this year he’s a presence in that lineup. It’s nice to have him out there.”
Nobody was hurt, injury not reason for any of the late substitutions?
“No, we were thinking give Mikey a chance to see if he could get a quick inning in the eighth. It would have been tough because he had I think 95 pitches when he came out. But once the umpire got hit and I knew they were going to change umpires, I knew that was going to take what 15, maybe 20 minutes, for all that stuff to happen, I didn’t want to take a chance with it. Get him out of there. Same thing with Simmons, same thing with McCann, same thing with Freeman. Give those guys some kind of breather. They haven’t had any days off since we came out of the All-Star break, so it was good to get those a couple innings of rest.”
Freeman’s consistency what’s been impressive?
“Absolutely. Right from the very beginning of the season. He’s had a couple, two or three games that he hasn’t got hits and you start wondering what’s wrong with Freeman, but throughout the course of the year, he’s been outstanding.”
On three hits for Justin Upton
“Yeah, he’s got himself a nice little homestand going.”
On offense stringing hits together
“Keep the line moving. We put up some good at-bats, right from 1 through 8, even Mike Minor, we’ve got to go 1 through 9. He drove in a run. Good offense.”
On team continuing to build off weekend series
“You know what, momentum is usually that next day’s starter and we’ve had that next day’s starter keep going out there and throwing some quality starts. That’s always good.”
On the umpire
“Bubba said he got hit his last (time umping behind the plate). Maybe a little bit above where he got hit before. It looked pretty bad when he came by me. It looked like it was purple.”
On how Snitker is (got hit by foul ball)
“Snit’s good. He’s icing down right now.”
