Braves quotes after Friday’s win against Mets

FREDI POSTGAME

On the bullpen

“Durbin and Avilan got us out of that sixth-inning jam, then Jonny and O and Kimbrel did a nice job. They keep us in the ballgame, the starting pitching and then the bullpen has been terrific.”

On the hitting

“Saw some great stuff offensively today. I really thought we swung the bats good. Early on, I thought we hit some balls hard. Danny hit a rocket one-hopper to shortstop and we don’t get anything. Couple other guys had line drives, Heyward had a nice at-bat. We were able to score a runner from third, which was nice, on Rossy’s sac fly. And then Danny’s home run in the ninth made it a little easier.”

On Uggla getting a double and homer

“His last six or seven games, he’s been getting some hits. So good for him. We need him to swing the bat. And I think if we keep putting guys on base…. The problem is when you don’t put guys on base. That’s when you start worrying about your offense. When you get people on base, something good’s going to happen sooner or later.”

On Maholm getting in tight spots

“He wiggled out of a lot of jams. And then that sixth inning, we thought he was going to wiggle out again. Then that double play we don’t turn, we make an error on that double play. Then Durbs and Louis came up with some big outs there.”

On Kimbrel pitching three days in a row

“Him and O’Flaherty both three days in a row. I think O’Flaherty was only a third of an inning yesterday, but still, three days in a row of getting up and getting in the game. So we’ll check with them tomorrow, see how they feel. Probably one of them or both of them may take a day off. But you’ve got other guys down there that you feel comfortable giving the ball to in the ninth inning.”

On what he was thinking when score was 1-0 after six

“I’m wondering what the record is for winning one-run games. I don’t think my stomach could take another one-run game.”

On pitching three straight shutouts

“Good things happen, you feed off it. Even offensively. It’s contagious when you hit. And I think when you pitch it’s contagious, also. And right now we’re pitching it pretty good and I think Roger’s doing a helluva job with some of these young pitchers also.”

**DAN UGGLA

“We scraped a couple across and got another shutout, another win.”

On his big night, a double and homer

“I’m back. Just because I hit the ball hard, if I have a bad night and go 0-for-4, it’s not about feeling for it anymore, it’s not about searching for it. It’s here. This is me. And like I said, I’m going to battle and compete the way I know how to.”

On his recent performance

“The last month or whatever, I haven’t been on fire or anything, but I knew it was right around the corner. And you know what? I just said screw it. There’s no more searching. This ain’t searching time. This is September. This is go out and lay it on the field, and put together and compete to the best of your ability. And that’s what I’m going to do.”

On team’s recent pitching

“It’s unbelievable. These guys are battling like I’ve never seen. They’ve had runners in scoring position. We’ve only given them one run, so they’ve had no cushion. They’ve really stayed calm and kept their cool and made their pitches, and did what they needed to do to get out of it. It’s really been amazing to watch, because you don’t see too many ballgames won on unearned runs, a 1-nothing game, and then tonight 1-nothing till the seventh. It’s been fun to watch them.”

**PAUL MAHOLM

On getting out of trouble early

“It wasn’t the cleanest game. The last time I pitched [against the Mets], they were aggressive early and they were getting a lot of ground balls. Tonight I was a little erratic. They kind of waited me out. I made pitches when I had to, and the defense made some plays. Obviously with J-Hey going deep to get us the one run, and then Uggs coming through with the double and the home run, it allowed the bullpen to kind of relax and do their thing. I think whenever you hand the bullpen a lead you’re feeling pretty confident.”

On his recent performance, how he’s feeling

“I’m good. When I first got over here I was on a good run and I was pitching well. You’re going to have struggles. It had been two months since I had a bad start, and my last one was not good at all. I’m confident I can go out there and compete and win games. Some nights it’s going to be a battle and you’re going to have to throw some stressful pitches and expect to get out of it. That was tonight.

“You just continue to work, continue to do your thing. I’m not going to change my routine or change anything. I’ve been through the gauntlet of a 30-start season for … this is my seventh year. So it’s part of it. Luckily, these guys are picking me up.”

What about the bullpen

“I think you look at any guys down there, you can put them in any spot and they’re going to come up big for you. Obviously the inning that I came out, huge strikeout for Durbs and then a groundout by Avi. You hope you can get seven innings and hand it over to the back end, but you’re also confident in getting into the sixth and them picking you up and taking it from there.”