Braves quotes after 5-3 win over Padres

Braves quotes from manager Fredi Gonzalez, Tommy La Stella, Julio Teheran and Chris Johnson after Saturday’s win over the Padres.

FREDI GONZALEZ

On fourth inning

“It wasn’t real pretty baseball. We got the better end of it but we made some base running mistakes, one, and (Chris Johnson) got out of that one. They didn’t get the outs and we made them pay for it. I thought today was one of those days that was exactly what it ended up being – back-and-forth, back-and-forth, somebody makes a mistake and we’ll capitalize. (Julio Teheran) pitched great. The last two innings were almost a full game. They took a lot out of him. There were people on base every single inning. We didn’t want to push him out there for the seventh. The fourth, fifth, sixth innings he battled with people on base. They scored some runs. He gave us everything he had.”

On Kimbrel getting save to end game

“He is so good at the back end of the bullpen. (Jordan) Walden did a nice job. (Anthony) Varvaro is going to go in the boxscore by just getting two outs. That game could have gotten out of hand very quickly in the seventh inning. Shae walks two guys and doesn’t command his fastball and we bring in Varvaro with one out and he gets out of it. Nice job by the back end of our bullpen.”

On walks keeping fourth inning going

“No question. I think we had a great game plan against their starter (Odrisamer Despaigne). This guy looks like he pitches a Wiffle ball game. He throws every pitch with different angles. Sometimes it’s 93 (mph) and sometimes in 63 (mph) curveballs. But we were patient. Our No. 2 hitter got on base every single time with base on balls or base hits. I think his batting average now is going to be a little bit better than when he started the game. It was nice to see (Freddie) Freeman swinging the bat well and got a couple hits there. We did a nice job being patient with their starter.”

On Evan Gattis

“We talked about that this afternoon, the at-bat last night carried over to tonight. That was a really nice at-bat with the bases-loaded and the game on the line.”

On fourth-inning squeeze play

“There are a couple of guys in our rotation, pitching-wise, that you feel confident can handle the bat. We always talk about guys who can handle the bat, field the position, usually hang around the game a little longer. (Teheran) is one of those guys obviously. Your heartbeat always goes a mile a minute. I knew Julio would get it because I told him verbally before he went up that we were going to do it. … Sometimes when you put the squeeze on you feel like if the hitter doesn’t get it you are going to run right into a swing. I felt comfortable because I told him verbally we were going to do it. And he can handle the bat. We could have done so many things with him there. We could have sac bunt. We could have hit-and-run because he works at it and you feel comfortable you can do anything you want with him.”

On making the decision to squeeze

“It’s one of those things. Gut feeling. If it wouldn’t have worked or he would have bunted through it that I would have to answer that question. It was just a gut feeling.”

TOMMY LaSTELLA

On win

“It was obviously a long game. It wasn’t the greatest tempo ever. I think it’s important when you are playing games like that that you grind it out and ultimately come out on top.”

On Teheran

“He really battled out there. It’s a testament to him. He obviously didn’t have the best stuff he ever had but good pitchers find ways to win when they don’t have their best stuff.”

On capitalizing on Padres mistakes

“They made those three errors and you have to capitalize if you want to win those games. If you leave those chances out there and don’t score those runs it’s a totally different ball game.”

On Despaigne’s change of speeds

“It’s different. You don’t see that all that often. He definitely has a unique repertoire. We put together good quality at-bats and made him work for his outs and ultimately we were able to scrap a few runs across.”

On all three hits coming with two outs

“I don’t know what to attribute that to. Whether there are two outs or no outs, I’ll take them.”

JULIO TEHERAN

On win

“I felt really good. I had to work a little bit today. I had a couple of innings in trouble. We got the win.”

On his stuff

“I felt kind of like I didn’t have my best stuff. They were swinging and they were getting my pitches that I was making. It’s part of the game.”

On the squeeze play

“I just wanted to get the lead again. That is what I concentrated on and just put the ball in play.”

On whether it was more difficult after being told squeeze play was on

“I got a little bit of time, since I was walking to the plate, just to concentrate on what we were going to do.”

CHRIS JOHNSON

On Despaigne’s change of speeds

“It was tough, especially the first time you see somebody. The speed differentials were that big. It was tough. It was a grind. Even when he threw his fastball it had a lot of movement on it. You just have to play small ball with him, get a few guys on and come up with some big hits.”

On getting needed win

“We’ve got a pretty good club. We don’t get too high, too low. We come in and grind every day and have fun. It was definitely a good win. We have to keep going. We are still behind.”

On squeeze play

“Julio is a pretty good athlete. I would have been more nervous if there was another pitcher up there. He is pretty athletic. I was just hoping he would put it on the ground.”

On whether he was surprised by the call to squeeze