Braves lose tough game one against Phillies

Here is the reaction from the clubhouse after Friday night's 3-2 loss to Philadelphia.

BOBBY COX

Q: Have you ever seen so many balls hit to the warning track like that?
A: We played in the wrong park tonight. If we're in Philadelphia, we got five homers, or at least four. The high fly balls weren't traveling. I knew Utley's was out. And I knew Howard's was out. And I thought, you know, some of our guys normally they're home runs here this time of year. I think we just played in the wrong ballpark tonight. We did everything but win the damn game.

Q: Jurrjens seemed to get stronger as he went along.
A: J.J. was strong all night. He made two bad pitches I think - one line drive and the home run. You make bad pitches, they're a power team.

Q: Did you think McCann's was out?
A: I thought Mac's was out. And they play deep and they're going to catch balls on the wall. Yeah, I thought Mac's was out for sure.

Q: Soriano just seems to just be missing.
A: He just made a little breaking ball that he hit out, and then he struck out the side. I don't think Howard's ever had a hit off of him.


BRIAN MCCANN

Q: Bobby said you guys just played in the wrong park tonight.
A: We hit some hard balls. You know, they just weren't enough. Blanton pitched a great game, as did J.J. It was going to come down to probably who hit the long ball.

Q: Did you think your ball was out?
A: Yeah, I did. I thought it would leave, but it didn't. He (Victorino) is a good center fielder, and he covers a lot of ground. You've got to hit it over his head.

Q: Can you guys still accomplish what you want to do?
A: Yeah, it's one game. We'll get back out there tomorrow and try to get a 'W.'


JAIR JURRJENS

Q: What are your thoughts on the game?
A: I felt good. I was getting ahead of all the hitters. Just one mistake to Utley cost me two runs. I keep the game close and give my teammates a chance to win. We lost the game to them. I was trying to keep the ball down, and just try to throw less pitches and make them hit ground balls, hit the ball early in the count. My changeup was good, everything was working good today. Just one mistake, like I said, to Utley cost me two runs.

Q: It was a pennant-race environment out there.
A: It's always exciting when you pitch a big game like this, especially this late in the season. Last year we didn't have a chance to pitch in a big game like this. I'm enjoying it. We're having fun. Tomorrow we just need to come back and try to get a win.


Bill Shanks hosts The Bill Shanks Show on WFSM Fox Sports 1670 in Macon, Georgia and The Braves Show Talk Show. Shanks writes a weekly baseball column for The Macon Telegraph and is the author of Scout's Honor: The Bravest Way To Build A Winning Team. You can email Bill at and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/billshanks.