The Braves got a first-inning homer from Ozzie Albies off Noah Syndergaard but mustered just two runs in the next 11 innings and lost 5-3 to the National League East-leading Mets at SunTrust Park.
**Starter SEAN NEWCOMB
How’d you feel tonight?
“Average. I didn’t have everything at all times, but I did go out and make some pitches, give us a chance to win.”
On competing without having best stuff
“With everything I’ve been doing, just having a little better overall command has helped. When I start missing I’m able to get back in the zone better. Just overall things are feeling better.”
What wasn’t working?
“Consistency of my off-speed, I wasn’t getting my change-up down in the zone like I usually do, and my curveball wasn’t too good today. Just got to start working on those this week and go forward.”
**Reliever JOSH RAVIN
On hitting pitcher Gsellman with pitch to start the Mets' two-run 12th
“Especially with it being the pitcher, that’s not something … that’s not ideal.”
Were you a little rusty? (Activated from 10-day DL earlier in day.) You got out of the two-on, none-out jam in the 11th
“Yeah. I battled there. But not rusty. I was feeling good. I had a few good outings in Triple-A, so…. Baseball.”
On hitting the pitcher, or rather the pitcher’s jersey (it grazed the front of Gsellman’s billowy jersey)
“That just can’t happen, especially with a pitcher being up there. Just throw strikes. That’s…I paid for it.”
Tougher to lose like that than to give up something like a double?
“Hundred percent, yeah. No doubt.”
**BRIAN SNITKER
On the game
“That was a heck of a ballgame right there. Shame we didn’t come out on top, but there were a lot of really good things again. To face a guy like that (Syndergaard) and just kind of go toe-to-toe with him. It was an exciting game, a fun game.”
On Newcomb
“I thought he was OK. Really good. He hung in there. The kid’s making strides, he’s competing. He wasn’t as sharp was he was probably in Colorado. But he’s mixing his change-up in, he’s starting to pitch and I think get confidence, and I thought he was real good.”
Neither team could get a big hit for so many innings
“I know. Had some guys in scoring position, had some guys with really good at-bats, hit some balls hard, just one of them nights where we couldn’t pierce a gap and get anything going. But overall a lot of really good things happened. You just want to win a game like that.”
On growth of Mike Foltynewicz in his last start and Newcomb tonight when don’t have their best stuff
“Yeah, he wasn’t as sharp as he has been but he hung right in there, made pitches when he had to, let the defense play a little. So it’s good, especially when they go back out there and finish off their innings like they did.”
On Inciarte missing a cutoff man
“Yeah, if we’d have hit that guy we might have had a chance at him. But it’s just one of them things, you can’t fault a guy for trying to – they make plays, and sometimes it goes like that. But other than that, everything was pretty good. Just hate to hit the pitcher in extra innings to lead the inning off. Other than that the bullpen was solid, guys did great job of getting us back in the dugout and giving us a chance to win, the bullpen did. That’s all you can ask.”
On the big Friday night crowd
“It’s nice when the place is hopping. Fans were into it, and they saw a good ballgame.”
On Ozzie homering on a 100-mph fastball
“I know, and it was inside. I mean, it was inside the plate, it was fun to watch.”
On Kurt Suzuki’s great catch and diving tag on play at plate
“Just an athletic, great tag right there. It was a good job by Tuck (left fielder Preston Tucker), he ran a long way and was full speed when he – that’s tough to even grab that ball and get it that close on that throw, because he was playing way around for him. He did a good job of running a long way and getting it even where Zuke could make a play.”
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