The Braves fell behind 3-0 after making costly mistakes in a three-run Mets eighth inning, but then rallied behind Freddie Freeman’s two-run double in the eighth, Johan Camargo’s tying RBI triple in the ninth and Ender Inciarte’s surprising walk-off RBI bunt singe for a 4-3 win.
Here’s what some of the Braves had to say about the effort:
** ENDER INCIARTE
On thought process of bunting in the ninth a runner at third and Mets closer Jeurys Familia pitching:
“I feel like I’ve been swinging the bat against Familia in the past. All along I was thinking I’m gonna swing, I’m gonna swing, I’m gonna swing. Then I walked into the box and I saw Camargo and I looked to first and I changed my mind. I said, you know what, I can lay a bunt right here; it’s the right situation. So it ended up working to perfection and Camargo made a great slide at home, so that’s a great play.”
On team effort:
“This team never gives up. It’s unbelievable how we’re never out of the game, it doesn’t matter what the score is. We knew once you walk into the dugout that we’re not done, it’s not over. And Camargo hit that ball hard, it was a ground ball and it got to the wall. Dansby’s been Dansby the whole year, that’s the same guy we saw his first year (Swanson’s 2016 call-up), he’s been playing great and he’s fun to watch. Everybody’s in synch right now and the good thing is we’ve been winning important games.”
** FREDDIE FREEMAN
On the comeback win:
“That was huge.”
On coming back after some mistakes in three-run Mets eighth:
“Yeah, I mean, you’re not going to play a perfect ballgame every single time. That’s what good teams do is when you don’t play a perfect game you come back and still find a way to win. We didn’t play a perfect inning in the eighth and then we were able to come back and get a couple of runs, get closer, and then that was a huge, huge inning for us to come back and win that game. That’s big.”
On Camargo’s triple:
“It’s good to get him back and get him going. It was nice for Snit to get him a start and get his feet going. That was just an awesome win all the way around.”
On Inciarte’s bunt in that situation:
“Very surprising. But what a great baseball move right there. I didn’t even grab my stuff (Freeman was on deck) because I told Snit, ‘I believe in Ender, I’m not even going to go up there.’ Next thing you know he’s bunting and I just, like, start panicking. And then all of a sudden just awesomeness happened. I don’t think anyone else would have thought about that except Ender.”
**JOHAN CAMARGO (through translator)
Did you think your ball was going to get through and roll all the way to the wall (on the game-tying triple)?
“Everyone knows that Familia throws hard, so I had a feeling when I connected with the ball that it was going to be hit hard.”
Inciarte’s bunt surprise you?
“I wasn’t necessarily expecting it at that moment, but I know Ender is kind of an agile, ready player at any time, so when you play with him you have to be ready for that. Fortunately I was able to take advantage of that situation and able to score off of his bunt.”
On how he felt after his game-tying triple
“I was happy, glad that I was able to help the team in that situation. I knew it was a key moment in the game, I guess at that point I was just trying to live in the moment and enjoy it, just kind of be in the moment.”
On getting a start and getting a huge hit late in the game:
“I’m grateful for the opportunity and glad I was able to take advantage of it. Obviously everyone here wants to be in the starting lineup every day, so you have to make the most of every opportunity that you have and I’m glad that happened. Just got to keep going forward.”
**JULIO TEHERAN
On the emotions of watching the team give up three runs in eighth after Teheran pitched seven scoreless innings, then watching them come back and win
“It was loud in here (watching in clubhouse on TV), especially coming back from three runs. We all through that we lost the game, especially late in the game. But the guys have been great with the offense, they’ve been battling the whole time. And we came back in the last inning, it was a big win....
“We want to win as many games as we can right now. I think we’re playing the best baseball we’ve played in a while and we’ve got to take advantage of it. Everything is working our way now. Starting pitchers, we are doing great. The offense is on point. We’ve just got to go and win games and see if we can make it later (in the season) and see how we’re going to be.”
** BRIAN SNITKER
On Inciarte’s decision to bunt in the ninth inning
“It was well-placed. Great situation, and it’s perfect for a left-hander. If he can put the ball over there it’s just hard to defend when you’re (a first baseman) holding a guy on. It’s a tough play that you almost have to give up really quick as a first baseman to defend that.”
On team effort, guys continuing to find ways to win
“They just do. It’s really cool to watch. They’re just a real driven group of guys. I mean, they’re never out of a game. The guy (deGrom) had his way with us pretty much. We knew that going in, that it was going to be a tough battle. And Julio matched him pitch-for-pitch; he was really, really good.
“So this is a big win. This is a really good win for our club, to beat this team like that, it’s got to give a club confidence, I mean in believing what they’re doing.”
On Teheran
“He’s keeping the ball down and he’s just really more crisp. He’s been spot-on, making pitches when he has to. Some really good hitters are having some funny swings against him. That’s a good sign, too.”
To come back after that mistake-filled three-run Mets eighth
“That was a bad inning. Not like us. We’ve been so fundamentally sound, it was just one of those innings that you’re going to have. My God, we’re going to play for six months and there’s going to be innings like that. But it’s just to guys’ credit that they came roaring back. Freddie put us on his shoulders and Camargo gets his first hit of the year here. It’s a great comeback and a really great team win.”
On Jesse Biddle getting win in debut (scoreless ninth inning)
“First outing, first win. You give up that homer like that (to Cespedes, intially called homer and then ruled foul) and then get a ground ball. I really liked what I saw. I liked him in spring training. I said right before we called him up, I told Chuck I’d keep my eye on him because it’d be nice to have that extra lefty after what we saw in spring training. Hopefully he can be a guy for us.”
On the sellout crowd
“It was high energy, and they saw a great game. Hopefully they come back. They’ve been supporting us really well and the guys love it. This place gets to rocking and it’s a fun place to be.”
About the Author
