BOSTON -- Braves quotes after Friday’s 6-2 loss to the Red Sox in a series opener at Fenway Park, the third loss in four games on the six-game trip for the Braves after they had won 11 of their previous 12 road games.
**BRIAN SNITKER
What was reasoning for going with Matt Wisler in the seventh inning with Mookie Betts up and a runner on in a one-run game in the seventh?
“Them other guys…. I wanted to give him that opportunity and I just didn’t want to use (Dan) Winkler and all them guys we use when we’re ahead. We may win the next two games and I just feel like I’ve got to be careful with them guys. They’ve all had a lot of work and they’re all first-year major league bullpen guys. Some other guys are going to have to help carry the load a little bit, because we just can’t keep going to them guys even in a one-run game. ...
“Wis (Wisler) has got the breaking ball, it’s been really good, and that’s kind of why I went to him. I thought with the improvement in his breaking ball that it was a good time to use him, and we’re behind. The next two days we might have a lead in that situation where we want to use the other guys. Like I say, some other guys are going to have to help bridge.”
On squandering some early opportunities against Boston starter Eduardo Rodriguez
“Nick (Markakis) got a big hit there, good baserunning by Freddie (Freeman). And then that was pretty much it. We just had a hard time. He (Rodriguez) has got that change-up, too, that seemed like it keeps him in counts and was a good pitch for him to go to. And we didn’t execute a couple of pitches, and when you don’t to these guys I can tell they’re going to hurt you.”
On Julio Teheran pitching decently except for the two hanging sliders for homers
“Yeah, couple of hanging sliders. He elevated the ball well. I’ve seen him a lot sharper, obviously. But he kept us in the game and kind of battled his way through it. He went back out in the sixth inning and had one of his better innings, I thought. His stuff kind of picked back up again. He kept the game manageable, we just had a hard time putting anything together.”
How tough is it facing Betts and J.D. Martinez the way they’re swinging the bat?
“Hard.”
On Braves’ offensive struggles lately
“You’re going to go through it. We had the (difficult) weekend a couple of weeks ago. You’re going to go through that, it’s not going to be the last time it happens, and we’ve just got to keep grinding and show up tomorrow and have a good stretch. We’ve ran into some really good pitching too. There’s something on the back end of that also.
“These guys have been great, they’ve been grinding, they’ve been putting together good at-bats, and they will again. And you’re going to go through some stretches where it’s just not going to go the way you want it.”
**JULIO TEHERAN
On getting through six innings after giving up the two homers in the fourth
“I feel good by the way I finished. Obviously I made two mistakes again in the fourth inning. I knew that I wasn’t doing bad, just tried to bounce back and give my team a chance to score some runs. It’s one of those games, we were facing a tough team and they got the win today.”
On the second homer, it looked like you knew as soon as you threw the pitch, a hanging slider
“Yeah, as soon as I threw the ball I knew it wasn’t the best slider. It’s a 3-1 count, obviously you want to throw it for a strike. But it kind of went in the middle. Whenever you miss in the middle here, you pay for it. Especially here, those hitters and that left field – it’s going to go far.”
On your stuff getting better in the sixth
“Yeah, the same way I started the game, me and Flow (catcher Tyler Flowers) had a good plan and we did it today. Obviously in that fourth inning we went away from the plan, but we were able to bounce back.”
Last two starts on the road, Cubs and tonight, you only gave up four hits other than the four homers. Are you just making mistakes you’re paying for?
“Yeah, when you make a mistake – especially me, I feel like when I make a mistake it’s a homer, it’s not a base hit or a double, every time I make a mistake it’s a homer. But it’s something that I don’t think about, I just go out there and try to throw my pitches without thinking about it, because when you think about missing that’s when you do it more. Today I made two and gave up two homers.”
** ENDER INCIARTE
On whether he thinks the offensive struggles have been more about facing tough pitching or something Braves not doing
“I don’t know, I think we’ve got some pitches to hit and we haven’t been able to take advantage of them. Sometimes it’s going to go for us and sometimes it’s going to go for them. We keep trying our best, we keep working on our approach, and they do the same thing. We’ve got to give it to them, they made good swings on the pitches they got and their pitchers did a good job.”
This stretch against the Phillies, Red Sox, Mets and Nationals – does it mean more than others?
“It’s always going to be important to win, it doesn’t matter against who. Of course it’s important to win these next few games, but it’s a long season, it’s a lot of games. We’re going to go through some really good stretches and some tough ones like the last couple of games that we haven’t been able to win. But we keep grinding and hopefully it’s going to go our way the rest of the series.”
On Red Sox starter Rodriguez
“That inning we scored two runs, I felt like it was a good time to score more. We put good swings on it, we couldn’t find the holes. But he did a good job tonight.”
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