2/26/18 4:30pm
Braves play small ball on their way to 2–1 win vs Nationals
By. Andrew Rodberg
On Monday afternoon, the Braves headed back to Orlando to face the Nationals in their 1st spring training home opener. With the 1:00 pm start time, the Braves called on Julio Teheran to take the mound. Teheran had difficulty keeping the ball in the park last season so he was determined to pitch well today. In doing so, he pitched 2 scoreless innings while the Braves scored 1 run on a double by catcher Kurt Suzuki to send Ronald Acuna home. After that 1 run to give the Braves a 1-0 lead, the game became a pitching battle as the Nationals and Braves bullpen’s dueled out, not allowing any runs from innings 3-6.
In the bottom of the 6th inning, the Braves applied some pressure courtesy of a walk to Preston Tucker who was able to move from 1st-3rd base after back-to-back wild pitches. With Tucker in scoring position, the Braves made the most of the opportunity and Danny Santana delivered. A 2 out single gave the Braves a 2-0 lead.
At this point in the game, the Braves had all the momentum and were sensing their 1st 2018 Spring Training victory. In the 7th , 8th and 9th innings the Braves sent Socolovich, Akeel Morris and Rex Brothers to the mound and they completely shut down the Nationals batting order after only giving up 3 hits. Among those 3 hits, Rex Brothers made a mistake that ended up being in the form of a home-run in the top of the 9th to make the score 2-1. Brothers was able to regroup and closed out the game with a ground-out and 2 strike-outs to end the game.
Highlights:
Ronald Acuna got his first MLB hit of 2018 in the bottom of the 2nd inning
Braves earned their 1st victory of 2018 Spring Training
Ozzie Albies contiunes to impress after going 2-3 in today’s game
Julio Teheran got the win and didn’t give up a home-run
Looking Ahead:
The Braves now look ahead to a matchup with the Pittsburgh Pirates tomorrow afternoon at 1:05pm.
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