Braves quotes after Saturday win against Mets

BOBBY COX

On Hudson

“He gave up two bullet home runs right down the line. He pitched a tough ballgame, I felt. He gave up a couple of line drives in the sixth or seventh inning and both of them were outs, right at people. He was a little tired.

“Our bullpen’s still fresh, so we went to it.”

“It was a big day for our Nos. 6 and 7 hitters. They drove in all the runs.”

On Gonzalez getting some big hits

“He has ever since we got him. How ’bout the play he made up the middle? For you guys who haven’t seen him play, he can put on a show.”

On McLouth’s catch in LF

“First ball hit [with him out there], he runs it down in left field.”

… and McLouth’s hitting

“Nate’s just … I can’t say enough about how great he looks [at the plate]. It’s a huge turnaround. Huge.”

Almost like trading for a good player for the Braves?

“Well, we’ve been waiting for him for a while. It’s coming at the right time.”

“Derrek Lee had two hits today, too, and Wright took two other doubles away from him down the line. So he’s starting to come on.”

What was your scouting report on Mets rookie pitcher Dillon Gee?

“Good changeup. Establish the fastball early and go to the changeup up a lot, and he did. I thought he threw the ball really well. He only throws 87-88, but that’s plenty fast with the way he pitches. His fastball looks a lot quicker because of the changeup. I like him. He’s a strike-thrower and knows how to change speeds already.”

On winning first two games of the trip

“It’s a good start, because the homestand was a little bit of a disappointment, going 3-4. It’s a good way to start a real tough road trip.”

BRIAN McCANN

On McLouth

“It speaks a lot about him and his character to go down to the minor leagues and get right. He didn’t complain, he just went and did it. He came back and he looks like the old Nate McLouth. What he does on a baseball field, not many people can do. Play great D and hit for some power.”

Can it be like adding a good player late in season for Braves?

“Yeah. We know what he’s capable of. I mean, he was an All-Star, he had one of the best seasons you can possibly have two years ago, and that doesn’t just go away. He works extremely hard, shows up here every day and is as professional as it gets, and like I said, it speaks volumes of who he is as a human being, to go through what he went through and come back to where he was.”

On late-innings defensive outfield of McLouth in LF, Ankiel and Heyward

“It doesn’t get much better than that.”

On Hudson

“It wasn’t his best outing of the year, but he made his pitches when he had to. They never really had back-to-back hits. Had some key double plays – I mean, we played unbelievable defense today. Gonzo made one of the best plays I’ve seen all year. Nate made a great play. It was a big team win right there.”

TIM HUDSON

“It was a battle out there. I gave us a good chance to win. It wasn’t a game where I went out there and felt like I had things in hand all day. They battled me and I had to go out there and make pitches. It wasn’t easy, but it was good enough.”

On the double play when Beltran grounded back to mound

“It was huge. They had the top of their lineup up with some of their boppers coming up. You never know what could happen if that play’s not made, or if he gets a hit or walk or whatever.”

“Two of the smallest guys on the team hit home runs off of me. They weren’t horrible pitches, but weren’t exactly where I wanted them. Made the game a lot closer than I would have liked, especially after getting that two-run lead.

“But it was a big win for us. It’s never easy to come in here and play. They’ve got a lot of talent over there. Even though they’re not in any kind of pennant race, they still go out and play hard and they still have a lot of talent. Teams like that are dangerous.”

On team win, good defense and big hits

“That’s what we’ve got to do. We’ve got to go out there and play together, do the little things. We’ve got to have everybody chip in and pull their part. That’s the reason why we’ve been winning all year. It hasn’t really been one guy or one aspect of our game, it’s been everybody doing enough for us to win. That has to come from our pitching, it has to come from our bullpen, it has to come from our guys up and down the lineup.

“We’ve won two games in a row. We still have a lot of baseball left. It’s a tight race. We were just good enough to win today, and just good enough to win is good enough for me. I don’t care about blowing teams out, and I don’t care about guys going 4-for-4 with two homers. If everybody can pitch in and do the little things and chip away, at the end of the day if we win 3-2 or 8-7, I don’t care. As long as we can just win.”

On Hernandez’ homer after breaking foot

“He did break his foot? Good. [Laughs; he was joking.] No, it was impressive. I knew that he was hurt. I knew it got him pretty good. When B-Mac came [to the mound] I told him I didn’t thought they’d probably bring in somebody to hit for him, because it hit him really good.

“He ran the bases like it was broken.” [joking again]

“He hit it good. I’ve got to tip my hat to him. I can’t believe he hit it, to be honest with you, considering the shape that his foot was in.”

NATE McLOUTH

On coming back and contributing down the stretch like he has been

“It’s very satisfying, especially when every game means so much. To get out to a 2-0 series lead here is big, and win the first two games of the road trip. If you’re going to contribute, this is certainly the time.”

This what you had in mind when you went to minors?

“Yeah, that’s the reason for going down, is to get right. To not complain about it and feel sorry for yourself, to go down and get my swing right. At least so far, it looks like it’s starting to get right.”

Did you think you could come back and do this?

“Yeah, I definitely did. It’s just a product of, I’ve really been working hard at swinging at the pitch I want to swing at, and so far I’ve been putting pretty good swings on them. That’s what I’m going to try to continue to do.”

On moving to left field late so Ankiel could play center

“I don’t mind. Rick’s such a good defensive outfielder, and his arm is the best there is. I’ve played [left field] plenty and taken fly balls there for a while, so I feel comfortable. To get the best defenders in there at the end is what you’re looking for.”