ANDRELTON SIMMONS
On his rhythm at the plate:
“I feel good. I had some luck and executed too. There was some luck involved. That helped today, but that’s part of the game, right?”
On the “bomb squad” lineup:
“Everybody on the team is capable of doing the job. No matter who you put out there I feel like we still have a good chance, and we definitely showed that today.”
On him and Schafer setting the table:
“It was good….It makes it easier for the other guys to just knock us in. They don’t have to play long ball every day. It definitely helped getting on base for the 3-4 guys.”
On first career four-hit game:
“The last one fell, I was like yeah, that’s my day today.”
DAN UGGLA
On salvaging series after Tuesday’s loss:
“To lose one like we did last night, it’s going to happen. Just sucks when it does. It was nice to get out here and Mikey battled and battled and held them right there and got some late. One of those less stressful wins.”
On feeling more like himself last six games:
“Yeah definitely, still a work in progress but definitely going in the right direction. Just feeling more and more comfortable each time up.”
EVAN GATTIS
On the throw home:
“I don’t think I’ve ever had the opportunity before today to throw somebody out at home, so it was sweet.”
On if working at it:
“You throw to bases, other than spring training last time working on balls in the air, balls on the ground and throws to home.”
On not a slow runner either in Phillips:
“I was kind of surprised he went. The ball kind of brought me in. Just glad I made a big throw.”
On a big play in the game:
“At the time it was kind of big so it was awesome.”
MIKE MINOR
On confidence from getting out of bases loaded jam:
“To get zero runs out of that, I was at least thinking they’re going to get one or two right here, ‘let’s just try to limit the damage.’ But I got the double play with Gattis making a nice throw and Laird making the diving tag. That was huge, a big relief. The next guy I just had to go after him.”
On giving up four home runs last time in Cincy:
“Last year as a staff as a whole we gave up a lot of home runs and we still gave up a few this time but it was limited compared to last year. And with me giving up four solo shots last year and coming in and only giving up one, that was a plus. But it’s huge.”
On what’s changed since then for him:
“A lot of things but I think the main change from last year would be if things do go bad, I don’t dwell on that and think about that the whole time. I can kind of move on. This season I can move onto the next batter and focus on him.”
On 117 pitches, finishing out seventh:
“I felt good, then I gave up that hit on a curveball. After I gave it up, I was mad at myself because I had him 0-2 or 1-2. I felt like I was having a good inning. Another guy gets on, I was just hoping it wasn’t going to spin out of control there. Then they had the pitcher up, it was one of those situations where you’re supposed to get the pitcher out but it’s a good hitting pitcher so you don’t want to leave anything over the plate. Roger came out and told me I needed to make some pitches.”
On if surprised didn’t pinch hit for Leake:
“Yeah I was surprised. We thought maybe there was something on, try to move some runners or double steal, something, so I did an inside move just in case. They didn’t and they left him in. That’s how much confidence they have in him hitting. I can see that though because I faced him in college at Arizona State, we played those guys, and he was a good hitter over there.”
On Leake hitting one of the homers last year, on a change-up:
“Yeah, that was in my mind. I really didn’t want him to do that again. So I was trying to make quality pitches. I threw him fastballs pretty much the whole time this time. I broke his bat the first time but it was a base hit. He kind of smiled about it. He looked at me and started cracking up. That last AB I jammed him again but yeah I wasn’t going to throw him a change-up.”
FREDI GONZALEZ
On the bomb squad:
“Yeah how about that. Get some guys in there and get them some at-bats, they did a nice job. Schafer, Reed. You feel good about that kind of stuff. Gerald (Laird) did a nice job handling Mike the whole game. I’m so impressed by him every time he catches and calls a game. He did a nice job getting him out of there in the seventh inning in that situation when he got himself in a little job. But Mike did a nice job. He really did a great job and gave us a great opportunity to win the game and we were able to add on and put a crooked number up late in the game. You still don’t feel comfortable. Bruce comes up in the ninth and hits a laser to center, we got two guys warming up in the pen in a five-run game.”
On not many stressful innings for Minor:
“He did a nice job. It might have been the highest pitch count maybe in his professional career but he did a nice job, and Simmons did a nice job getting four hits, hit-and-run, broke that game open in a one-run game with him and Schafer. It was good all the way around. It was a good win after last night, after coming out with what happened last night. Good resiliency of our club to get back after it and get a win.”
On getting Francisco in against his old team in this ballpark:
“Juan’s got some juice. And we talked about it a little bit, just get the ball up in the air here and in any ballpark with his power but he got a pitch out over the plate with the bases loaded and it was good to see.”
On seeing a guy hit a grand slam of pitcher he was traded for:
“I didn’t even think about it until you just mentioned it. I’m sure there’s a state some place, somebody has that. We broke it open there in the eighth.”
On Gattis’ throw:
“His defense is not that bad. The more he plays out there. Obviously our days are getting short when Jason (Heyward) gets to come back but at least it’s a nice option to have. You can run him out there and catch the ball and he made a nice assist, nice throw to the plate.”
