Atlanta Braves tie Baltimore Orioles 2-2 in Spring Training 2012 - MLB Update
Mike Minor keeps his Spring Training show afloat as he helps Atlanta Braves tie Baltimore Orioles 2-2 at Champion Stadium in Kissimmee, Florida during their Grapefruit League clash on March 18, 2012.
Braves look to recover from the plunge they experienced couple of days back on the table position. Their pitchers are coming up with much improved performances now. Not only their starter, Minor, spent five innings on the mound and went scoreless; Cory Gearrin,
Eric O'Flaherty and Craig Kimbrel also did not concede any run.
Minor gave one walk and managed three strike-outs.
"He's been great," Fredi Gonzalez, Braves’ manager, said. "You can see the command and his secondary pitches are getting better and better."
Braves' Gearrin in one inning alone took two strike-outs. Jonny Venters was the only reliever with Braves who gave up two runs in one inning, while bringing no strike-outs and giving two hits.
While Braves pitchers did tremendously well, Orioles proved equally hard for Braves batters to get away with. Braves centre-fielder, Michael Bourn missed three of his at-bats and similarly Braves first baseman, Ernesto Mejia wasted two at-bats.
Orioles’ starter Jason Hammel while allowing only one run in over four innings spent on the mound, he grabbed five strike-outs.
Following him was their reliever C. Petrini who pitched for just over one inning and took one strike-out while not conceding any run.
Arguably the best for Orioles was, Tsuyoshi Wada who gave up one run in two innings, fetched three important strike-outs in the end.
"I was happy to finally get out there with my new teammates and compete," Wada said via an interpreter. "It showed me I have a chance to do well at this level."
As Wada had an elbow problem and doubts were about his effectiveness on the mound under a likely impact of his elbow on the pitches before the game. Baltimore manager Buck Showalter was extremely pleased by the way he showed comfort and composure there.
"I didn't look like he had much anxiety," Buck Showalter said. "He was impressive. You can see why he's had success."
Braves can now look to build on their positives and find ways to keep the momentum going. As confidence is high, they have all what it takes to give tough time to the stronger opponents they are going to face in their next games.
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