Braves quotes from Andrelton Simmons, Freddie Freeman, Mike Foltynewicz and Fredi Gonzalez after Wednesday’s 7-5 win against the Phillies.
**FREDI GONZALEZ
On starting pitcher Mike Foltynewicz
“I thought he did a nice job. It was nice to see his second start. Now we go six days from now, get him cranked up again and start running him out there. It was nice for him to get his second win of his career for us. It was good. Solid outing.”
On Foltynewicz limiting the damage since spring training
“Spring training I know it was about two or three outings he couldn’t even get out of the third inning and, knock on wood right now, he’s been able to get us some good outings. You still want to work towards seven innings, quality starts, those kind of outings. But I’m pleased with what I’ve seen the last couple starts.”
On bunching together four singles in the fifth inning, and needing all those runs
“Our top of the order. We are going to need every single run. We can’t leave runners out there right now with our bullpen situation like it is if your starters don’t go deep, which is still something we need to work on. I think the top of the order got eight hits, got on base a bunch of hits, scored a lot of runs. And Maybin and Peterson — Petey got a couple of hits, walked, stole a base, did some nice stuff at the bottom of the order.”
Consecutive wins for first time in more than three weeks
“I didn’t think about it that way, I didn’t notice it. But we won the series, I knew that. That’s good. That’s a good roll to get on and it’s nice to get a win before an off day. Go to Washington for a big series against them. Hopefully we continue to swing the bat like we have been and our pitching gets a little better, especially that middle relief.”
On how hard Andrelton Simmons has been working on his hitting
“This is the longest I’ve seen him stay with an approach, and I think you have to give a lot of credit to (hitting coaches) Kevin (Seitzer) and Jose (Castro) on staying on him. And also Andrelton, you’ve got to give the player a lot of credit. His approach, being consistent, I think this is the longest I’ve seen in his career. It’s a good thing.”
**ANDRELTON SIMMONS
On getting early lead for Folty
“It was good to get on the board first. I’ve been feeling pretty decent at the plate, putting a good amount of work in the cage, and it paid off today.”
Fredi G said this might be the longest he’s seen you stay in your approach at the plate. You feel like things are clicking?
“I don’t want to say that, because whenever you say that, that’s when things go south. But I’ve been feeling pretty good, and I’m just trying to keep that same feeling every day.”
On batting after Markakis and in front of Freeman
“You’ve got guys who are always on base or always drive you in, so you’re always scoring runs or you have a chance to drive a guy in. It’s always nice hitting behind Nick, and when I get on base I’m ready to run when Fredi’s up.”
Is it nice being able to contribute plenty so far this season with the bat, not just the Gold Glove defense?
“Yeah. You’ve got to score runs to win games, so being able to contribute, it’s a big deal for me.”
**FREDDIE FREEMAN
On staying hot with the bat
“Yeah, I’ve been feeling good at the plate, and it’s nice to be able to string some hits together. Hopefully that will continue in D.C.”
On getting early lead for Folty
“Andrelton got us on the board quickly. Folty was lights-out again. He gave us a chance to win, and as an offense we were able to keep some runs coming on the board, and that was enough for him. He was dominant tonight.”
On success of the lineup with Markakis, Simmons and Freeman in the first three slots in past couple weeks
“Yeah, I don’t know if that was the thing, when we switched it up we started going a little bit better. But it’s been nice. Nick’s starting to swing the bat again. He kind of went through a couple of (rough) games there. But for him to have a hit and an RBI double to left-center, I think that made him click even more. Andrelton’s been swinging it well, and the whole offense has been swinging the bats well. I hope this off day doesn’t hurt us and ice us a little bit.”
On winning consecutive games and the series before the off day
“It’s good. We hadn’t won a series in a few, I think. Just ending the homestand like this was definitely a nice way to go. Going to Washington, you wanted to feel good with a couple of wins back to back. And we definitely did that today.”
**MIKE FOLTYNEWICZ
On if felt more comfortable in his second start, now that he’s in rotation
“I did. It was a lot better out there. There was some innings where I flew by and got some quick outs and there were some other innings where I battled my butt off and got outs. I thought it was an overall good outing. I threw my slider a lot better. In the sixth, I think I just got run down with a long inning and put my bullpen in a crappy situation. Other than that it was a good team ‘W’ and a good series win.
On helping himself again at the plate
“Guys at first and second, you’re going to bunt them over. And then Maybin stole there and I just said get the ball in play any way you can. It might be a little bit of luck the last couple times, but that’s cool to help out the team like that, too.”
On if he kicks self for not getting out of sixth inning and getting a possible quality start
“It was going out there after a long outing and pitch count going up with a lot of foul balls. I think I threw a 12-pitch at-bat to Herrera there. Other than that, a long inning didn’t help me too much but that was my fault. I left a pitch over the plate to Howard and lost a little control there at the end. Overall, I tried to do my best.”
On giving up Howard’s 50th career homer vs. Braves
“He’s got my number, too. I’ve got to watch some video and attack him next time.”
Did Shelby Miller’s three-hit shutout Tuesday get you a little amped up?
“I was trying to do my best Shelby Miller impression, but I got a little high (with the) pitch count. You’ve got a friendly competition with these guys, you want to go out there and try to one-up someone. I’m just happy to get out of there with a win.”
