Braves’ quotes after Saturday loss to Cubs

BOBBY COX

On Hanson

“He wasn’t tagged hard, the hits. Some broken bats and ground balls hit at the right spots. He pitched fine. Could have had better luck. He didn’t have much luck today.”

“We still almost pulled it off. We know we’re not going to do it every night, but we had the runner on to do it. Marmol’s tough. If he’s around the strike zone, he’s just about unhittable.”

More on Hanson

“The three-run inning were nothing but head-knockers. Can’t do much about those.”

On the errors

“The cut-off play, Prado got off-balance, tried to make a miraculous throw and couldn’t.”

BROOKS CONRAD

“We had a good fight back. Tough loss today, but we showed our heart there at the end like we always do. Just came up a little short.”

On his at-bat vs. lefty Marshall

“Every situation, whether you’re hitting right or left, you’ve got to go up there with a plan. I got ahead in the count early, which helped me. Saw some pitches early, then got one to hit 3-1 and squared it up pretty good.”

More on the comeback attempt

“You start to think, here we go, this is our game to win now. We’ve done a good job this year winning those games, and it’s a big reason we are where we are right now, with our record. But, I mean, it’s tough. You can’t win them all like that. We’ve sure won a lot this year and that’s been a big reason.

“You get that feeling, OK, here we go. We just came up a little short.”

Is it to the point where it’s surprising when you don’t pull it off?

“I wouldn’t say that, but we’ve had a bunch of big ones like that this year. You keep getting in those situations where you come back to one run and you’re like, OK, we’re in good shape. We can win the game. That’s our kind of mindset in those games.

“It’s tough when you come back all the way, then you end up losing. It’s kind of tough to swallow. But we showed our resiliency again. We’ll come back tomorrow and hopefully get a win.”

TOMMY HANSON

“I just felt like from the beginning, my command wasn’t quite there where it has been. That’s the biggest thing. I got behind some guys and it came back to bite me. Even though there was a couple of times where I felt like I made some good pitches and they just got hits — the broken-bat [hit by] Ramirez and just a couple of times where it didn’t work out.

“But today my command just wasn’t quite there.”

Could tell early?

“My fastball just didn’t feel like I was commanding it that well. I knew it was going to be one of those days. I knew it was going to be one of those days where I had to go out there and just try to keep us in the game, do the best I can.”

“I wasn’t quite getting the ball down, wasn’t quite getting it to the corners, and it kind of showed.”

Try to aim pitches after getting behind?

“Sometimes I’d get behind, ball 1, ball 2, and try to throw a strike instead of just making a good pitch. Whenever I’m getting behind in the count it’s not good. I need to go out there and throw strikes and go right after those guys. When I’m throwing the ball well, that’s how I pitch. It just really didn’t work out today, as far as my command.”

It’s been a long period of strong pitching for you until today

“I’ve been feeling great. I think today was just one of those days. I just didn’t feel that good and the ball just wasn’t quite coming out [right]. I kind of want to not look at this one too much and just keep doing what I’ve been doing. Just chalk it up as a one-of-those-days kind of deal.

“Obviously I wish I could have gone out there and given us a better chance and kept us in there a little bit closer, especially with what happened at the end there. But it just didn’t work out that way.”

The walks bother you as much as anything?

“Yeah, I think the two guys I walked ended up scoring. So yeah. Walks will always kill you, especially on a day when I don’t have good command and I’m not hitting the corners.”